Despite the
major disappointment of losing to the F.Y.R. of Macedonia in the quarterfinal
of EuroBasket, Vladas Garastas, the President of the Lithuanian Basketball
Federation (LKF), has voiced his opinion that current coach Kestutis Kemzura
should stay at the helm of the Lithuanian national team.
“Has he accomplished the goals set for EuroBasket? Yes, he has. And that’s why he should stay in the position,” said Garastas, who’s term as the head of LKF ends in October.
After it became clear that Linas Kleiza and Jonas Maciulis will not be able to help Lithuania in the European Championship, which was a host to, the LKF lowered the goal to qualifying to the pre-Olympic tournament, which could be achieved by a finish amongst the six strongest teams.
Coach Kemzura and the national team of Lithuania accomplished that goal by bouncing back from a painful loss to F.Y.R. of Macedonia with a victory against Slovenia in the battle for the 5-8 places.
The Lithuanians will now play for the fifth place against Greece, who defeated Serbia after losing to France in the quarterfinal.
“We signed a three-year contract with Kemzura. You can’t axe the coach for one bad game. If that was the case, either you or I would have to go coach the team in a month,” Garastas explained, adding that Kemzura is a talented coach, who’s still growing and learning from his own mistakes.
