Lithuania’s Jonas Valanciunas during a game against Montenegro in the Fiba World Cup. -FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Jonas Valanciunas is looking ahead to the tougher games Lithuania will face after sweeping Group D of the Fiba World Cup.
“We’re not done yet,” Valanciunas said after Lithuania’s 91-71 win over Montenegro on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena to finish with a perfect 3-0 in the group.
Lithuania won all three games by double figures, including meetings with Egypt and Mexico, but that may not be the same with the United States and the winner of the Greece-New Zealand match on tap.
Greece and New Zealand contest the other second round slot in Group C later at 8:45 p.m.
“We have big pictures ahead of us,” said the New Orleans Pelicans center. “And now we’re going to face super strong teams, so it’s gonna be fun.”
Lithuania’s Jonas Valanciunas. -FIBA WORLD CUP
Second round games at Mall of Asia are set for Friday and Sunday, with first and second-placers in the four-team Group J advancing to the quarterfinals.
As much as the attention has been on Valanciunas given his NBA pedigree, Lithuania has had plenty of talented players who delivered in the initial phase of the tournament.
Rokas Jokabaitis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas were among the major contributors in the faceoff with Montenegro that was initially billed as a tight matchup, but ended in a one-sided affair.