After falling one step short of another Olympic podium spot last summer in Beijing, Lithuania, even without a lot of its star players, will remain one of the favourites in the gold medal race. Siskauskas, Kaukenas, Jasikevicius and Macijauskas might not be there, but the talent is still there, at every position...

Linas Kleiza

Once again, Lithuania will have to cope with the absence of eternal "might come... but finally won't", Zydrunas Ilgauskas. And this time, Ramunas Butautas will also have to go to war without its 2008 Euroleague MVP, Ramunas Siskauskas, who decided to retire from the national team after the 2008 Olympic Games, his third Olympic campaign after winning a bronze medal in Sydney and finishing one game away from the podium in Athens and Beijing. Right before the 2008-09 Euroleague started, Ramunas Siskauskas explained: "Of course, playing for the national team is a big honour, but also it takes a lot of energy, health, and everything. You don't get enough rest in the summer after a long, difficult season. You only rest three or four weeks before joining the national team, and you can feel tired after you finish with it. When you are young, it's no problem, but with the years, you feel in your body that you need to rest more and more. Maybe it will extend my basketball career, but I feel that I gave everything for the national team and I need to rest more at my age. It's difficult to keep going without the rest in the summer." But this time, the list of missing players also includes Jasikevicius, Kaukenas and Macijauskas.

Simas Jasaitis

But the most amazing thing about this Lithuanian national team is probably that without its 2.18 mNBA Eastern Conference finalist, its all-around forward (Siskauskas), its "winner in chief" (Jasikevicius) and its two all around guards (Macijauskas and Kaukenas), the greens still are one of the favourites to win this EuroBasket 2009. Why? Just because, to replace them at the 2 and 3 positions, Butautas can still count on Simas Jasaitis (9.3 ppg with Badalona in the Euroleague), another NBA Conference Finalist, Linas Kleiza (9.9 pts and 4.0 rbds with Denver) or even Mindaugas Lukauskis, one of the most underrated players in Europe, are all more than able to bring enough talent, creativity, shooting touch and basketball IQ to make up for the absences. Even Renaldas Seibutis, from Bilbao in the ACB, can compete at the international level. Of course, the outside power of Lithuania has been hurt, but Butaustas can always rely on the great discipline and passing game that has always been the trademark of Lithuania for years.

Under the boards? Well, with the Lavrinovic twins, Robertas Javtokas who came back strong last season with Dynamo Moscow, Euroleague 2007-08 revelation Marijonas Petravicius and a Paulius Jankunas who blossomed this season with Zalgiris, Lithuania doesn't have to fear anybody in Europe. Butautas even chose to let one of the biggest prospect in the world, Donatas

Robertas Javtokas

Motiejunas (2.15 m, 18 years old), who finished as the second top scorer of the Lithuanian LKL with 19.9 points per game, at the disposal of the Lithuanian Youth teams.

Finally, the point guard position might again appear as a weakness for Lithuania, since Saras Jasikevicius is not the easiest player to replace... Tomas Delininkaitis or the promising Mantas Kalnietis are both considered more as combos than true playmakers. And both Andrius Mazutis and Giedrius Gustas lack a bit of talent at this level.

But even without all of its best players, Lithuania will always remain a team to keep in mind while betting on who will reach the podium of EuroBasket 2009...