This is a friendly match between Lithuania and Finland, in Metro arena, Espoo, Finland. It is an interesting game as these teams have already seen each other recently. It’s very entertaining to watch teams in their preparation period, so please review our thoughts about this International game here below.
Finland
Finland played two games in the preparation period so far. They lost both games by a big margin. Lithuania has beaten Finland 80:60 and Serbia beat them 95:75. Things are looking very negative for Finlandia National team, but there is still time left before the most important matches.
This is no surprise that Finland lost both games by 20 points margin. Their biggest stars Lauri Markkanen, Petteri Koponen and Sasu Salinu, Jamaar Wilson did not play in any of these games. Without these players, Finland basically does not have any offensive game and on the defensive end, they are weak one way or another. It is not clear if these stars will play against Lithuania, but reports show negative signs.
Finland’s leaders in preparation period: Elias Valtonen (9.0ppg, 2.0rpg, 1.0apg), Tuukka Kotti (7.3ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.8apg), Andre Gustavson (6.5ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.5apg).
Lithuania
Lithuania is after two straight disappointing losses against Serbia. They want to jump back to winning and this is a great opportunity for them to do that.
Lithuanians are still looking for the best shape, but they are starting to click. Their offense is pretty salad lately. Big men lineup in Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis are playing aggressive and great basketball in the paint, this is a guarantee for the success. Guards duo in Mantas Kalnietis and Marius Grigonis are also showing great basketball lately. This year’s Lithuanians team is very well balanced and finds ways to get buckets, easily.
The dark side of their game is a defense. Lithuanians are late to their rotations and do not understand coach’s defensive systems clearly. There is still time to fix this, but they should hurry up as the World Cup is coming very soon.
Lithuania’s leaders in preparation period: Jonas Valanciunas (11.5ppg, 6.5rpg, 2apg), Marius Grigonis (11.5ppg, 2rpg, 2apg), Domantas Sabonis (10ppg, 3rpg, 1.3apg), Mantas Kalnietis (9.3ppg, 4.7apg, 2rpg)
Lithuania vs Finland H2H
This is going to be a 2nd meeting between Lithuania and Finland in this preparation period. Lithuania won last game at home 80:60. This time Lithuania is a huge favorite as well. It is likely that they will play with the best lineup that they have. And then there is a different situation in Finland. It is likely that they will play without their stars and their reserves are not high caliber players. We can expect that Finland will be dominated by Lithuania.
Article image is taken from https://www.lrt.lt