Who can tell science about Lithuania and why the basketball culture is so good?

Lithuanians themselves will answer: "Thank God!" God is the first belief of Lithuanians, and basketball is the second belief of Lithuanians. Lithuanian basketball should be one of the least developed countries, because basketball was invented by naismith, an American physical education professor at the YMCA Training School. The YMCA, a Protestant group, spread it all over the world, including China. Lithuania was a country with a strong Catholic atmosphere at that time, and the YMCA had no place here, let alone taking basketball to teach in Lithuania.

At that time, the eastern European country that was most cared for by the YMCA was Latvia, Lithuania's neighbor. They turned Riga, Lithuania's international city, into the center of basketball in Eastern Europe and Latvia into the earliest basketball power in Europe. Latvia 1935 won the first European Championship.

At that time, Lithuania confronted Latvia, but was abused by the other side to a score of 123: 10. Lithuanians who lost may not care much. After all, until 1930s, basketball was just a "women's sport" similar to Netball, which was first introduced to Lithuania.

However, the game inspired three Americans, who changed the history of Lithuania-a group of Lithuanian-American basketball players were among them at the World Lithuanian Congress held in kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. Seeing that sports in their country were so backward, three of them immediately decided to stay. They became the seeds of Lithuanian basketball. Two years later, more American players joined the Lithuanian basketball team. One of the most important "foreign AIDS" is Frank Rubin, who is the main center who led the American team to win the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Lu Bin's parents are Lithuanian immigrants. After they became Olympic stars, the family returned to their hometown, but his wife and sister broke their legs and had to stay and recuperate. Lithuanians took the opportunity to invite Lv Bin to be the first head coach of the national basketball team.

It is also a coincidence that Lithuanian immigrants can contribute so many basketball players in the United States, but Lithuanians who came to the United States across the ocean at the end of 19 chose Chicago as an important settlement. This is the birthplace of American basketball, and the early basketball promotion activities were mainly in the schools here. As long as Lithuanian immigrants love sports, basketball is the easiest sport to choose.

Lithuania, which is dominated by American players and practiced American training, soon became a strong basketball team in Europe. 65438-0937 The 2nd European Basketball Championship was invited to participate for the first time. As a result, they won five games in a row and beat Italy 24:23 in the final to win the final championship.

This tournament inspired Lithuanians to participate in and engage in basketball. Overnight, baskets were installed in every household's yard, and the barn in the countryside was transformed into a basketball hall without seats. Lithuania really became a country of basketball. 1939, in order to hold the third European Championship, kaunas built the first professional basketball stadium in Europe, where the Lithuanian team successfully defended its title and established its position as the basketball city of kaunas. Kaunas Gymnasium, built in 1939, is the first gymnasium dedicated to basketball in Europe.

Fertile soil of national consciousness. It is not unusual for a country to be strong in a certain sport for a while, but it is not easy to keep it. Many eastern European countries once dominated some sports, but political turmoil and the lack of commercial market made them decline rapidly. Hungary, which once dominated world football, has been absent from the World Cup for many years. Latvia's basketball team, which was inextricably linked with Lithuania before World War II, has never participated in the Olympic Games and World Championships since its independence in the 1990s.

Lithuania's national fate is even more unfortunate. In the secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany before World War II, it was included in the Soviet Union and lost its independent status. When resisting the Soviet Union's annexation, the population dropped sharply due to slaughter and exile, and the basketball cause was completely destroyed: American players were forced to leave, and local players either went into exile or joined guerrilla resistance.

However, it is this situation that has greatly improved the spiritual status of basketball in Lithuania. Not satisfied with their situation in the Soviet Union, anything that can be regarded as a national symbol is regarded as a precious tradition of Lithuanians, while basketball, which just won the European Championship before the war, is regarded as a symbol of nationalism after Catholicism. Lithuanian mass sports also attach importance to basketball because of national consciousness. Even if they are sent to Gulag (concentration camp), Lithuanians should bring basketball.

Lithuanian professional basketball rebuilt after World War II is obviously nationalistic. Zalkiris(？ ), 1944 The club established at the entrance of kaunas Gymnasium? Algiris), which means "green jungle" in Lithuanian, is a synonym for Grunwald in German, taking the story of the battle of grunwald in which the Lithuanian-Polish alliance completely defeated the Teutonic Knights more than 600 years ago.

It is the strong mass base that has continued the vitality of Lithuanian basketball and revived it in the case of a slight loosening of the Soviet system. Lithuanian basketball re-emerged from the domestic league of the Soviet Union. Zalkiri Club took advantage of the loopholes in the Soviet system to prepare the admission notice for local outstanding young players to be exempted from military service in advance, so as to prevent basketball talents from being forcibly transferred by the Central Army by conscription order. 1985, relying on these players, Zalkiris broke CSKA's monopoly on league titles for nine years and achieved three consecutive championships in the next two years.

With outstanding performance in the league, Lithuanian players occupy the main position of most Soviet national teams. 1988 Olympic Games, the performance of Lithuanian players touched NBA scouts. A year later, Matthew Leonis successfully joined the Golden State Warriors and brought the layup "European Step" to the United States.

199 1 In September, Lithuania became the first country to join the Soviet Union, and their second belief-basketball can finally return to the international stage. It was 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games that left Lithuania with insufficient preparation time and the new country had no team budget. This time, it was Lithuanian basketball players on the other side of the ocean who supported the motherland. With the help of Matthew Leonis and others who raised funds in the United States, Lithuania made up the entry fee.

Although this Lithuanian team was blocked by the "Dream Team 1" led by Jordan, it unexpectedly competed with the CIS team for the bronze medal. This is Lithuania's most coveted opponent. In the end, they defeated their opponents by 82:78. Lithuanian basketball team standing on the podium, they are wearing uniforms designed by grateful death-perhaps the most rebellious Olympic uniform T-shirt in history.

For this honor, team star Sabonis said with emotion: "In Seoul, I won the gold medal (for the Soviet Union), but this bronze medal in Barcelona is the soul of our Lithuanians."