On November 14-16, Brazil is hosting the FISU World University 3×3 Basketball Championship, in which Lithuanians – basketball players from Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) – are participating among 12 teams.
The VDU trio earned the right to compete in the World University 3×3 Basketball Championship organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) at the European University 3×3 Basketball Championship held in Salerno, Italy, on August 1-5 this year. Titas Januševičius, Augustinas Mikštas, Gabrielius Čelka, and Rokas Jocys did not lose a single game, defended the championship title they won two years ago, and became European university champions in this sport for the fifth time in the history of Vytautas Magnus University.
Before becoming European university 3×3 basketball champions, they won the Lithuanian student 3×3 basketball tournament, the SELL Games 3×3 basketball tournament, and became champions at the FISU Rhine-Ruhr World University Games.
The unchanged VDU 3×3 basketball team is already in Brazil. Their coach, Dainius Novickas, is concerned that the guys left for the championship right after the 5×5 basketball tournament, where all the players represent the Šakiai Vyčio-VDU team in the URBO-NKL championship.
“The trip was tough. All in all, it took us about 26 hours just to get there,” said team coach D. Novickas after the trip. “The capital isn’t an impressive city; it has no sea, no rivers, just high-rise buildings. There is little beauty there. The living conditions are good, the food is delicious, what more could we need? Yesterday we ate and went to bed early. Today we will have training.
I am concerned that the guys flew here after the big basketball game without any training. All this talk about us being champions and having to win doesn’t help either. It’s my job to get them in the right frame of mind and shield them from all that talk.”
The Lithuanians are in Group A, which also includes teams from Mexico and Australia. D. Novickas highlighted the physicality and large bodies of the Mexicans, while the Australians have already been met before and are also known for their physicality and good three-point shooting.
“We saw the Mexican players during lunch. They are big, impressive bodies, but we will see what they are worth on the court,” said the team’s coach when asked about their upcoming opponents. “We met the Australians at the World Championships in Qatar, and as far as I remember, they were also very physical and scored a lot of three-pointers. It will be difficult in the group, but it will be a good fight. We are two-time champions in a row, so we’ll see if we can defend our title again.”
The VDU basketball players will start the championship on November 15 at 3:50 p.m. with a game against the Australians. On the same day at 8:50 p.m., the Lithuanians will face the Mexican team.
www.lssa.lt information / M. Gailiūnas photo
