Bouncing back from the curse of beating USA.
"Is there any player on this planet you hate the most and why is he Latvian?"
A Latvian reporter posed this question to Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas during the postgame press conference, after Lietuva dominated Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup, 100-84.
Valanciunas paused for a second before smiling and chuckling.
"That's a joke, right? I hope that's a joke, right?" he repeated, laughing. "I don't know what to say."
The reporter was joking of course, and then asked about seeing Latvian fans cheer for Lithuania against Slovenia. A victory by Lietuva meant they would take on the debutant Latvia in the battle for fifth place on Saturday.
"That was amazing. We support our region, our Baltic countries, our land, our neighbors. It was fun to see that," Valanciunas admitted.
"I feel like Baltic countries are in the top eight. They play good basketball. Now top six, right? I like them, I respect them, how far they go. Day after tomorrow, we're gonna fight for two and a half hours I guess," he added.
"And I don't hate nobody."
Lithuania was just coming off a tough loss to Serbia, a seeming continuation of the curse of beating USA.
France eliminated USA in the 2019 quarterfinals but was kicked out by Argentina in the semifinals. Greece in 2006, after defeating USA in the final four, was steamrolled by Spain in the Finals. Argentina was the first in 2002 to beat an NBA all-star team in the group stage but bowed to Yugoslavia in the finals.
"It was not a big challenge. Our guys were really hungry, young group of guys who really enjoy basketball, really enjoy playing good basketball," Valanciunas added.
"No matter what happened two days ago, still diving on the court, not saving themselves, leaving everything on the court. I'm happy with what we got in the locker room, I'm happy how guys contributed."
Jonas Valanciunas has plenty to do with it. He made 24 points and 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double in the FIBA World Cup. Only one player has had more over the last 30 years, Jose Ortiz with 10.
He also became the first Lithuanian player to reach the 300-point mark in the FIBA World Cup after registering 303.
Now, Lithuania will be facing Latvia, the second debutant team to play for fifth place after the Czech Republic in 2019.
"They showed that they're playing similar basketball as us, a team-oriented team. They play together, good basketball, sharing the ball," Valanciunas noted. "I guess that's their main strength, even losing Kristaps [Porzingis], they still play amazing basketball."
"Same as us, they're fighting for our country. Not giving up, fun matchup."