page_title: Lithuania men's national basketball team
section_title: EuroBasket 2001
hierarchical_section_title: Lithuania men's national basketball team / History / EuroBasket 2001
caption_attribution_description: English: Basketball player Rimantas Kaukenas
context_page_description: The Lithuania men's national basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania. Despite Lithuania's small size, with a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a traditional force of the sport in Europe.
  The Lithuanian national team won the last EuroBasket tournaments prior to World War II, in 1937 and 1939. The 1939 team was led by Frank Lubin, who helped popularize basketball in the country and was called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball". Following the country's annexation by the Soviet Union during the war, Lithuanian players frequently formed the core of the Soviet national team. The most prevalent example was the 1988 Olympic basketball gold medal-winning team, which got most of its scoring from four Lithuanians: Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Arvydas Sabonis.
  After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, the national team was resurrected.
context_section_description: The start of a new millennium. Another European Championship, held in Turkey, awaited Lithuania in the autumn. While most of the 2000 roster was returning, many up-and-coming stars such as Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Darius Songaila, Rimantas Kaukėnas and Robertas Javtokas would make their debut. To prepare for the championship and give international experience to the young players, Lithuania participated in many prestigious competitions in Europe and South America. In Braunschweig, Germany, Lithuania achieved the third place among the four very capable teams (Yugoslavia, France and Germany). Then the Lithuanian squad played for the first time in South America, taking part in a four team tournament in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires. Lithuania won two games, including its 500th international victory against Brazil (the last 100 in just 4 years), but only finished second after losing to the hosts Argentina 56–67. Lithuania also competed in the Acropolis Tournament for the second time after nine years, this time losing twice and finished fourth.
  EuroBasket 2001 ended as an unexpected failure to Lithuania. The group stage started with two victories, 82–60 over Ukraine and 68–59 with Israel, before losing to France 65–76. A match against fellow Balts Latvians would give a spot in the knockout stages. And there Lithuania suffered an unexpected and overwhelming defeat to the Latvians, 64–94. By falling so early, Lithuania lost all the chances of participating in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and was threatened to miss the next EuroBasket as well. The disappointment made head coach Jonas Kazlauskas resign.
caption: Rimantas Kaukėnas had a tough debut, during a disastrous Eurobasket 2001 campaign.
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