{"id":515729,"date":"2026-09-15T17:40:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=515729"},"modified":"2026-09-15T17:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:42:07","slug":"rimas-kurtinaitis-resigns-as-lithuania-head-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/rimas-kurtinaitis-resigns-as-lithuania-head-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Rimas Kurtinaitis resigns as Lithuania head coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rimas Kurtinaitis has decided to step down as head coach of the Lithuanian national team<\/strong>. The entire coaching staff will resign alongside him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new head coach will be appointed after the election of the new president of Lietuvos krep\u0161inis<\/strong>, and no later than the start of preparations for the next FIBA World Cup qualifying window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurtinaitis took over the national team in October 2024<\/strong>, remaining in charge for nearly two years. Under his leadership, Lithuania finished fifth at last year\u2019s EuroBasket<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurtinaitis: \u201cNow is the right time to say goodbye\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kurtinaitis explained his decision:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI have decided to say goodbye to the national team. I believe that now is the right time, because the new coaching staff will have enough time to prepare for the upcoming qualifying window.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The coach revealed that he had already made his decision after the first qualifying stage but was asked to remain in charge for the following window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI had made my decision after the first qualifying stage, but I was asked to help the national team and continue working in the next window. I\u2019m happy that we managed to say goodbye with a victory over a strong Bosnia and Herzegovina team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania remain in contention for the World Cup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kurtinaitis believes Lithuania remains in a competitive position in the World Cup qualifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThat kept us in a competitive position in the World Cup qualifiers. The situation in our group is still manageable, just as it is in many other groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to Kurtinaitis, Lithuania could potentially need just one win from their two remaining games against Serbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI think that if we beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, who practically no longer have a chance to qualify and will probably also play without their NBA players, and Turkey, who have already qualified for the World Cup, one victory against Serbia in our two remaining games could be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThat is a completely realistic scenario, similar to the one we had when I took over the national team in 2024 during the EuroBasket qualifiers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish the new coaching staff good luck\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kurtinaitis concluded by thanking his players, staff and supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI want to wish good luck to the coaching staff that will replace me and to the entire Lithuanian national team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI also sincerely want to thank my players, who came to help at such an important moment for Lithuanian basketball. Thank you to the entire national team staff, the assistants and all the fans who supported the team during this difficult period.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coach steps down after nearly two years in charge, with the entire national team staff also resigning. A new head coach will be appointed after the election of the new Lietuvos krep\u0161inis president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":459111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[369,383],"tags":[],"rumors":[407],"typology":[185,15727],"posizionamento":[16775],"class_list":["post-515729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-teams","category-world-cup","rumors-basket-rumors","typology-official","typology-press-release-en","posizionamento-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nRimas Kurtinaitis resigns as Lithuania head coach - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/rimas-kurtinaitis-resigns-as-lithuania-head-coach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rimas Kurtinaitis resigns as Lithuania head coach - Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The coach steps down after nearly two years in charge, with the entire national team staff also resigning. 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