By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net

Riga, Latvia – The match-up of Lithuania against Greece in the Eurobasket quarterfinals has a long history, and one of the big parts of lore is the current Lithuanian national team GM Linas Kleiza.

The former NBA player, who spent most of his career in Denver, also had a memorable season in Greece with EuroLeague powerhouse Olympiacos. When he saw the Greek press, he started shouting, “I love Olympiacos.”

A few hours later, he explained his reaction: “I love Olympiacos. It’s my big love. Greece rhymes with Olympiacos for me. I have very fond memories and love the country. I love the fans. I love the team. So it was a special time in my life when I was there”.

Speaking about the upcoming quarterfinal of Eurobasket 2025, he explained that Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo are a big challenge: “It’s a very tough match-up. You guys have a very good team and a major superstar, one of the best, if not the best, players in the world. So this is a huge challenge for us, and we’re going to try to do our best, play hard, work hard, and see where it goes. But you guys definitely have a great team”.

So how do you stop Giannis? “I don’t know. We’ll see tomorrow. Hope he has a bad game. That’s all you can hope for. We’re going to try our best, but that’s why he’s the MVP. How do you stop that?”

Can Lithuania be satisfied with what they have achieved so far, considering also that they lost to injury point guard Rokas Jokubaitis?

Kleiza explained that this version of the Lithuanian national team is still a work in progress: “We don’t set goals. We put a lot of work in, and sometimes you’ve got to put the work in and see if the basketball Gods reward you for it. So, we go game by game, and guys leave everything on the floor. So it’s definitely been a challenging tournament, but we feel good and we’re ready to fight”.

His Olympiacos teammate, Vassilis Spanoulis, is now the head coach of the Greek national team, and Linas Kleiza commented on that, bringing Sarunas Jasikevicius into the conversation, his former national team teammate and Lithuanian legend, who is currently the head coach of Fenerbahce and reigning EuroLeague champion.

Saras beat Spanoulis’s Monaco in the 2025 EuroLeague final, and Kleiza didn’t forget that, speaking about Spanoulis: “He was definitely a special player. So he’s a great coach already, but lost to the best coach in Europe, Saras, in the EuroLeague final.  It was a huge matchup, and he made it there. He had a good team. He’s still a young coach for that high a role. It took a long time for Saras to go to many Final Fours and win it. It’s very hard to win in the EuroLeague. Still, the future is very bright. Those players became very good coaches”.

Will Sarunas Jasikevicius coach the Lithuanian national team in the future? Kleiza thing so: “Definitely one day. Now we have a great head coach, and it’s going to take a while. Saras is now enjoying his family after a very tough season. But I think one day, for sure”.

On a personal level, Kleiza explained why he accepted a managerial role in the national team: “I just enjoy being with my national team. It’s always a great honor. It’s always the most fun time of basketball in my life. It’s good to be here. Share my knowledge, help the guys, you know. So, we’re trying to bring the winds back, and it’s definitely a steep hill we’ve got to climb”.

And when he was reminded that back in the 2007 bronze medal game, he beat Greece together with Saras playing against Spanoulis, he simply added that he doesn’t dwell in the future: “It was a long time ago. Every win is a great win for me. It was a metal game, but it was a long, long time ago. I’m done playing a long time ago. So, I don’t think it has anything to do with these teams that will play tomorrow.”