Biggest EuroBasket Success
This EuroBasket 2007 will mark the 10-year anniversary of the greatest achievement in Lithuanian women’s basketball history. At EuroBasket 1997 in Hungary, the Lithuanians overcame all odds and climbed to the top of the medal podium. After finishing at the top of the group with a 4-1 record, they demolished Moldova in the quarterfinals, then survived an overtime semifinal thriller against Germany 78-77, and won the final game against Slovakia 72-62 to bring home the first – and so far only – gold medal.  Few players remain from that team, led by Jurgita Streimikyte (19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds) and guard Lina Dambrauskaite (23 points and 8 rebounds).

Biggest EuroBasket Disaster
After narrowly missing the podium at EuroBasket Women 2001 with a fourth place finish, the Lithuanian National Team carried high expectations into the 2003 event in Greece. But

		Sandra Valuzyte led Lithuania in scoring at EuroBasket 2005.

those hopes were shattered when the Lithuanians finished third in their group and failed to qualify for the final round as their aging roster struggled signalling it was time for a make-over.

Best Individual Performance/Best Player of All-Time
Jurgita Streimikyte-Virbickiene was the undisputable leader of the Lithuanian National Team for the better part of the last decade. At Eurobasket Women 1997, she averaged nearly 20 points and seven rebounds per game, was the MVP of the team and led Lithuania to the gold medal.  After almost 10 years with the National Team, her importance is still hard to overestimate as evidenced by her performance at the 2006 World Championship in Brazil.  Though she was approaching 35 years of age, ‘Jurga’ was still irreplaceable as she averaged nearly 14 points and over seven rebounds per game.  Who is going to step up to take the torch after Jurgita announced her retirement from the National Team? The answer will be found in Italy.

Scouting report
Lithuania has no big-time stars, but a united and deep roster will be the hallmark of this team.  Coach Algirdas Paulauskas has tried to put together a squad where experienced players are mixed with the best young prospects that the Lithuanian basketball school has produced over the last couple of years. Lina Brazdeikyte or Agne Ciudariene will bring their experience while Egle Sulciute (22 years of age, 13.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg last summer in Brazil) and Sandra Valuzyte (25 years of age, 12.1 ppg during the 2006 World Championship) will try to make-up for Streimikyte's absence.

Prediction
Many European teams will aim not only for the medal podium, but will have qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in mind as well and the Lithuanians are no exception. While a direct ticket to next year’s summit in China would be no less than a dream come true, finishing in the top-five will be a reasonable goal to pursue after last summer's sixth place at the World Championship in Brazil. Lithuania was kind of lucky in the draw, having to face Belgium, Germany and Romania in Group B in Lanciano and avoiding "superpowers" like Russia, the Czech Republic or France.

Likely Squad
The core of the current team played together at EuroBasket 2005 and the 2006 World Championship in Brazil.  A large number of them also play for TEO Vilnius, a club which has reached the Euroleague Final Four twice in the last three years. So the experience is definitely there and some of the youngsters can bring more energy on the court. So creating good chemistry can be the main task for coaches prior to their appearance in Italy.

Last 10 events
2006 World Championship Sao Paolo 6th place
2005 EuroBasket Ankara 4th place
2004 Olympics Athens Did not qualify
2003 EuroBasket Patras Did not qualify
2002 World Championship Nanjing 11th place
2001 EuroBasket Le Mans 4th place
2000 Olympics Sydney Did not qualify
1999 EuroBasket Katowice 6th place
1998 World Championship Berlin 6th place
1997 EuroBasket Budapest Gold medal

How did they qualify

EuroBasket 2005
Bronze Medal (6 W – 2 L)

Results

1st Round
Sept-2nd 2005   Lithuania b. Spain                           74-69
Sept-3rd 2005    Serbia & Montenegro b. Lithuania     77-74
Sept-4th 2005    Lithuania b. Turkey                         82-76
Sept-6th 2005    Lithuania b. Russia                         80-67
Sept-7th 2005    Lithuania b. Romania                      92-56

Quarter-finals
Sept-9th 2005    Lithuania b. Poland                         67-58

Semi-finals
Sept-10th 2005  Russia b. Lithuania                         65-50

3rd place final
Sept-11th 2005  Spain b. Lithuania                          83-65