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Lithuania physically superior

They had staggering 69 rebounds in the test game against Argentina before the Olympics. Still, they failed to turn that physical dominance into a win

Lithuania expected an easy game with Nigeria following the opening win over Brazil. However, Nigeria exceeded expectations and surprised Lithuania in the first half, leaving them 5 points short at half time. 

- There are no easy opponents here. I said that before the game and that turned out to be true. We hit some very tough shots. The third period was crucial because we got our intensity up in defense and that is what decided the game - coach Kazlauskas said.

Maciulis did brilliantly in that quarter, hitting 13 out of his 21 points. 

- Jonas definitely stepped it out today. It was him today and it will be someone else tomorrow.

We also need to point out that Kalnietis did well with 21 points and 12 assists. He did a great job organizing the Lithuanian game. They didn't panic in any given moment even though they lost three out of 4 quarters. The third quarter was still enough for the win. 

Lithuania are now to face even tougher opponents. Argentina are in great form and the fan support they have here makes them even more dangerous. However, they will need much more than just that today because we the test game ahead of the Olympics proved that Lithuania is physically dominant. 

While Argentina have Scola, who is actually a power forward, at 5, Lithuania have many tall players who dominanted in paint on both ends of the floor. They had an almost unbelievable rebound dominance in the test game (69-37), but failed to take advantage of that, mostly because of the huge number of turnovers (30 in total). That is the consequence of the aggressive defense Argentina played in all the test games, which is why Lithuanian players complained with the refs a few times even though it was only a friendly match. 

Croatia had the same problem against Argentina in the second half. The huge number of technical errors are the consequence of the dirty defense Argentina play because they know that is the only way for them to stand a chance. They are well experienced and know where to hit. But, Lithuania will be smarter when it comes to that since they learned their lesson in that last meeting.

Croatia failed to do that and that is why Argentina recorded another win after the first round:

- We did very well but the third quarter settled it. That saw us lose focus and Croatia almost managed to turn things around. The loss of focus was also the consequence of fatigue. But the heart tipped the scales in the end - coach Hernandez said. 

Ginobili did great in the final part of the match when he took responsibility. Luis Scola, as expected, pulled his team through the entire match.

- The younger players contribute to the intensity in defense. When they don't play, our result gets affected - Ginobili said.

Both will have a much tougher job today because they will face opponents who are phsyically much more demanding. 

We'll see what kind of a lineup Kazlauskas will go with. In the test game, he surprisingly used Javtokas at 5 for almost 30 minutes. Valanciunas is a player Argentina cannot defend but Kazlauskas didn't him use much so far. 

Lithuania need to try and get advantage through their front court, which Argentina cannot stand up to. Since Kalnietis played just 17 minutes in the 50-minute test game, it is expected for the organization of the game to be much better this time around and that Lithuania won't have 30 turnovers. If they manage to control that and if the refs don't get into their heads this time, Lithuania will be big favorites in this game. 

Lithuania already displayed power in the fist two games. They trashed Brazil and played right against Nigeria. They are now to face a team which is also undefeated. I'm sure that Lithuanians will be undefeated after this match. One of the main reasons for that is their physical dominance. Argentina struggled to breathe against Croatia in the final part of the game. Had the game went on for a little longer, they would have lost for sure. Coach Hernandez said that the main players lack power in the finish since he doens't have many players he can count on. That will be a problem for Scola who will now be faced with much taller and more powerful Lithuanian centers. Playing against Valanciunas on both ends of the floor will be difficult for him. Even if he somehow manages to do that, there will be a whole other number of tough players he will have to deal with when trying to grab offensive rebounds. We saw what that looks like recently in a friendly match which Lithuania did brilliantly when it comes to offensive rebounding. They had 69 of those, while the Argentines had just 37. Lithuania lost on account on turnovers. They had 30 of those because they played without top point guard Kalnietis for 33 minutes and the refs allowed Argentina to play dirty defense, which pissed the Lithuanians off. The refereeing will be more fair today, Kalnietis will reduce the number of turnovers. The Argentines haven't grown and will not be able to stand up to Lithuania physically.