Italbasket seeking redemption in Lithuania with an extra Nico Mannion
It is not and never will be just any competition: Italy and Lithuania meet again, for the 33rd time since 1937, tomorrow in Klaipeda at 5:30 p.m. Italian time.It’s the second match of the first “window” of qualification for the 2027 World Cup but considering the formula of the Qualifiers and last Thursday’s results, the stakes are already very high. CT Luca Banchi has chosen the 12 Azzurri who will take part in the competition: compared to Tortona there is Nico Mannion. Still out from the roster Assui, Candi and Rossato. Lithuania confirms the 11 players from the first competition.
Chief coach Luca Banchi spoke this way on the eve of the game: “We will measure ourselves in an extremely stimulating and probing context for which it will be decisive to show personality, cohesion and collaboration. I am sure that this competition will serve to gather further indications on how to become a better team.” We play at the Svyturio Arena (6.200 seats), home of the Neptunas Klaipeda (in Venice’s round in Eurocup and third in the Lithuanian championship) and where the Azzurri had already faced Lithuania in February 2019 during the Chinese World Cup qualifiers: 86-73 for the hosts with 22 points by Michele Vitali and 15 by Gytis Masiulis, the only one along with Stephen Tonut who will also be on the field tomorrow. In total, the comparisons are in favor of the Baltics, who since the 22-20 European Championship in Riga in 1937 have collected 20 wins in 32 matches. Only 12 the successes of Italy, which, however, did not miss perhaps the most iconic match of our basketball, namely the Olympic semifinal in Athens 2004: the 100-91 in OAKA that then opened the door to the final closed with Silver. 26 points by Arvydas Macijauskas, born in Klaipeda and among the three basketball players honored with the retirement of the jersey (number 5) inside the Svyturio Arena (the others are the 7 of Martynas Mažeikaand the 9th of Eurelijus Žukauskas).
The last crossover in the semifinals of the Tournament PreOlympic San Juan in Puerto Rico in the summer of 2024 (defeated 88-64). Against Lithuania Luca Banchi’s golden cycle at the helm of Latvia, which was eliminated in the Baltic derby in the Round of 16 of EuroBasket 2025 last Sept. 6 (88-79), came to an end. On the hosts’ bench sits Rimas Kurtinaitis, a multiple medalist first with the Soviet Union National Team (Olympic Gold in Seoul 1988 among achievements) and then with the Lithuanian National Team (Olympic Bronze Medals in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 and beyond). For the World Cup qualifiers in Doha, Kurtinaitishas set his sights on the RytasVilnius bringing with him as many as 5 elements including Captain Arturas Gudaitis, Scudetto 2018 and Supercoppe 2017 and 2018 with Olimpia Milano and also passed by Napoli. At Rytas also Ignas Sargiunas, a class of 1999 guard who rose to headlines for posting three consecutive triples in the final seconds of the London match against Great Britain giving his team a now unhoped-for victory.
