Lithuania EuroBasket 93
This is a random question...Why did Lithuania not play in EuroBasket 93? I don't think they even got to play in qualification games.
Yugoslavia did not play because of UN sanctions, but Croatia played in the tournament.
Good question! I am wondering too.. it is a mirracle that LT palyed in Olympics 92...
This is a quote of our NT history in Eurobasket 2007 webpage:
Biggest EuroBasket Disaster
While Stockholm is a shining city in the minds of Lithuanian fans, Wroclaw is just the opposite. Fourteen years ago it became the place where the most shocking catastrophes in Lithuanian basketball unfolded. Three teams – Lithuania, Belarus and Poland - gathered in Wroclaw which hosted the additional qualification round for the EuroBasket 1993. Despite missing Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania still had brought most of the key players from the squad that had won an Olympic bronze medal just a year ago and was considered to be the favourite. A narrow 102-99 win over Poland in the first game set the tone and the second game produced a disaster in the form of an 88-80 loss to Belarus. It still stands as the only time the national team of independent Lithuania missed the final round of EuroBasket.
Thanks...that is sad. They probably could have won.
Oh I remember now that thing. One of the biggest dissapointments ever. Now Lithuanian 5th NT would crush Belarus about 50 points
Bosnia played at the 1993 Eurobasket, we made it to the quarterfinals there.Originally Posted by cwilson13
What was it that caused them to lose to such a weak opponent? Our team underestimated them? A bad day? A bad coach maybe?
In the game against Belarus, Sarunas Marciulionis was limited by a minor injury. Lithuania lost 80-88.
The Poland-Belarus game was very strange: Poland was winning by 24 points (minute 32) but allowed Belarus a huge comeback. Poland won by 6 points (81-75), good enough to qualify for the next stage and to knock-out Lithuania from the pre-EuroBasket.
1st Poland (1-1): +3 (qualified)
2nd Belarus (1-1): +2 (qualified)
3rd Lithuania (1-1): -5
To not only lose to Belarus but to lose by such a margin that the team dropped to last on the basis of the tie breaker is particularly incomprehensible.
In 1993 I had no ongoing sources for news on European basketball. The Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun carried the Eurobasket scores and that was it. So I wasn't aware that Lithuania had not even qualified for the European championship of 1993. I was accordingly surprised and disappointed when Lithuania had no team in the World championship tournament held the subsequent year right here in Toronto and Hamilton!
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