2023–24 King Mindaugas Cup

2023–24 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė
Tournament details
CountryLithuania
CityKaunas
Venue(s)Žalgiris Arena
Dates10 October 2023 – 18 February 2024
Teams13
Defending championsŽalgiris
Final positions
ChampionsŽalgiris (7th title)
Runner-up7Bet–Lietkabelis
Third placeRytas
Tournament statistics
MVPLithuania Laurynas Birutis

The 2023–24 King Mindaugas Cup, also known as Citadele Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė for sponsorship purposes, was the ninth edition of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup. Žalgiris successfully defended the title for the 4th time in a row after defeating 7Bet–Lietkabelis in the final 86–70.

Format

All 12 teams from 2023–24 LKL season and one wildcard team from 2023–24 NKL season participated in this tournament. Five teams that participated in Euroleague Basketball and FIBA tournaments, have received bye's to quarterfinals stage, while the remaining teams were drawn into two groups, with the group winners advancing straight to the Quarterfinals, while second-placed teams faced off each other for the final Quarterfinals spot.[1][2]

Group stage

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification NEP JUV GAR MAZ
1 Neptūnas 6 5 1 547 513 +34 Advance to Quarterfinals 92–90 84–78 109–80
2 Uniclub Casino – Juventus 6 4 2 517 463 +54 Advance to Eightfinal 92–78 84–61 90–91
3 Gargždai 6 2 4 478 514 −36 87–97 66–75 95–93
4 M Basket-Delamode 6 1 5 506 558 −52 86–87 75–86 81–91
Source: LKL.LT

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification SIA NEV OLI PZV
1 Šiauliai 6 5 1 565 506 +59 Advance to Quarterfinals 89–74 82–90 104–93
2 Nevėžis–Optibet 6 3 3 525 512 +13 Advance to Eightfinal 98–102 83–57 112–107
3 Olimpas 6 3 3 457 474 −17 75–88 77–66 80–71
4 Pieno žvaigždės 6 1 5 511 566 −55 76–100 80–92 84–78
Source: LKL.LT

Eightfinal

Second ranked teams from each group faced-off each other in a home-and-away format, with the overall cumulative score determining the winner of a match. The winner earned the last quarterfinals spot.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Uniclub Casino – Juventus 208–203 Nevėžis–Optibet 107–90 101–113

Quarterfinals

Five teams have received byes to the Quarterfinals stage due to participating in FIBA and Euroleague Basketball competitions. Those teams are:

All qualified teams will be drawn into pairs, where they will face-off each other in a home-and-away format, with the overall cumulative score determining the winner of a match. The winners of each pair would then qualify for the Final four.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Žalgiris 177–158 Wolves 95–76 82–82
Rytas 202–153 Uniclub Casino – Juventus 98–86 104–67
7Bet–Lietkabelis 168–167 Neptūnas 89–91 79–76
Cbet 149–163 Šiauliai 77–80 72–83

Final four

Žalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania

The final four was hosted by the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas on 17–18 February 2024.

Semifinals
17 February
Final
18 February
    
Žalgiris 87
Šiauliai 77
Žalgiris 86
7Bet–Lietkabelis 70
Rytas 86
7Bet–Lietkabelis 94 Third place
18 February
Šiauliai 89
Rytas 94

Semifinals

17 February 2024 Žalgiris 87–77 Šiauliai Kaunas
18:15 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 21–22, 26–16, 20–14
Pts: Lekavičius 17
Rebs: Birutis 6
Asts: Evans, Lekavičius 4
PIR: Lekavičius 18
Boxscore Pts: Romančenko 17
Rebs: Pavelka 8
Asts: Thorpe 5
PIR: Romančenko 22
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 5,343
Referees: Jurgis Laurinavičius, Gintaras Mačiulis, Juozas Barkauskas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2 United States Keenan Evans 10 3 4
SG 9 Lithuania Dovydas Giedraitis 9 0 2
SF 10 Latvia Rolands Šmits 8 2 3
PF 92 Lithuania Edgaras Ulanovas 8 5 1
C 45 United States Brady Manek 5 4 3
Reserves:
PG 4 Lithuania Lukas Lekavičius 17 1 4
C 8 Central African Republic Kevarrius Hayes 3 0 0
C 15 Lithuania Laurynas Birutis 12 6 1
G 26 United States Edmond Sumner 2 2 1
SG 33 Lithuania Tomas Dimša 13 2 2
F/C 35 Lithuania Danielius Lavrinovičius 0 0 0
SF 51 Lithuania Arnas Butkevičius 0 2 2
Head coach:
Italy Andrea Trinchieri
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2 United States L.J. Thorpe 14 2 5
SG 4 Lithuania Eimantas Stankevičius 2 2 1
SF 9 Lithuania Daniel Baslyk 5 5 0
PF 8 United States Ben Vander Plas 3 4 2
C 21 Slovakia Tomaš Pavelka 11 8 0
Reserves:
G 3 Lithuania Karolis Giedraitis 4 1 1
SF 23 Canada Shaquille Keith 6 0 4
F/C 25 Lithuania Dovydas Romančenko 17 4 0
G/F 29 Lithuania Nojus Mineikis 11 6 2
SG 45 Lithuania Deividas Žukauskas DNP
PF 77 Lithuania Paulius Danusevičius 4 2 2
Head coach:
Lithuania Žydrūnas Urbonas
17 February 2024 Rytas 86–94 7Bet–Lietkabelis Kaunas
15:30 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 23―15, 18―16, 17―27, 28―36
Pts: Foster 23
Rebs: Echodas 13
Asts: Velička 4
PIR: Echodas 24
Boxscore Pts: Gagić 31
Rebs: Gagić 10
Asts: Orelik 4
PIR: Gagić 44
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 4,508
Referees: Gytis Vilius, Saulius Račys, Gvidas Gedvilas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 17 United States Marcus Foster 23 0 2
SG 8 United States R. J. Cole 4 1 3
SF 4 United States Justin Gorham 4 1 0
PF 7 Lithuania Gytis Radzevičius 7 5 2
C 12 United States Javin DeLaurier 5 3 0
Reserves:
PG 1 Lithuania Arnas Velička 7 2 5
G 2 Lithuania Margiris Normantas 14 3 3
G/F 10 Lithuania Lukas Uleckas 0 0 0
C 14 Lithuania Martynas Echodas 12 13 3
PF 21 Lithuania Gytis Masiulis 10 5 1
PG 22 Lithuania Gantas Križanauskas DNP
F/C 41 Lithuania Oskaras Pleikys DNP
Head coach:
Lithuania Giedrius Žibėnas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 7 United States Diante Baldwin 4 5 2
SG 91 Lithuania Deividas Sirvydis 18 8 1
SF 10 Lithuania Vytenis Lipkevičius 4 4 1
PF 17 Lithuania Gediminas Orelik 13 4 4
C 41 Serbia Đorđe Gagić 31 10 1
Reserves:
PG 2 Lithuania Dovis Bičkauskis 11 2 3
G/F 3 Lithuania Liutauras Lelevičius DNP
SG 9 Lithuania Nikas Stuknys DNP
F 11 Lithuania Džiugas Slavinskas 0 1 1
F/C 12 Lithuania Gabrielius Maldūnas 7 4 1
G/F 13 Lithuania Martynas Varnas 4 1 3
PG 66 Lithuania Paulius Valinskas 2 1 0
Head coach:
Serbia Nenad Čanak (basketball)

Third place

18 February 2024 Šiauliai 89–94 Rytas Kaunas
15:45 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 21―29, 23―23, 21―22, 24―20
Pts: Keith 25
Rebs: Pavelka 6
Asts: Thorpe 3
PIR: Keith 21
Boxscore Pts: Normantas 22
Rebs: Cole, Radzevičius 6
Asts: Radzevičius 6
PIR: Radzevičius 26
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 9,933
Referees: Saulius Račys, Gintaras Mačiulis, Aurimas Borusas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2 United States L.J. Thorpe 20 4 3
SG 4 Lithuania Eimantas Stankevičius 13 4 1
SF 8 Lithuania Ben Vander Plas 0 1 2
PF 9 United States Daniel Baslyk 4 2 1
C 21 Slovakia Tomaš Pavelka 6 6 1
Reserves:
G 3 Lithuania Karolis Giedraitis 3 0 1
SF 23 Canada Shaquille Keith 25 4 0
F/C 25 Lithuania Dovydas Romančenko 6 3 1
G/F 29 Lithuania Nojus Mineikis 10 2 1
SG 45 Lithuania Deividas Žukauskas DNP
PF 77 Lithuania Paulius Danusevičius 2 5 0
Head coach:
Lithuania Žydrūnas Urbonas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 17 United States Marcus Foster (basketball) 19 0 0
SG 8 United States R. J. Cole 2 6 5
SF 7 United States Gytis Radzevičius 15 6 6
PF 4 Lithuania Justin Gorham 15 5 1
C 12 United States Javin DeLaurier 4 1 3
Reserves:
G 2 Lithuania Margiris Normantas 22 0 1
G/F 10 Lithuania Lukas Uleckas 4 2 1
C 14 Lithuania Martynas Echodas 4 5 3
PF 21 Lithuania Gytis Masiulis 4 3 1
PG 22 Lithuania Gantas Križanauskas DNP
F/C 41 Lithuania Oskaras Pleikys 5 2 2
Head coach:
Lithuania Giedrius Žibėnas


Final

18 February 2024 Žalgiris 86–70 7Bet–Lietkabelis Kaunas
19:15 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 23―19, 29―19, 18―18, 16―14
Pts: Evans 16
Rebs: Hayes 6
Asts: Lekavičius 5
PIR: Evans 21
Boxscore Pts: Sirvydis 15
Rebs: Lipkevičius 7
Asts: Orelik 8
PIR: Orelik 18
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 12,767
Referees: Gytis Vilius, Jurgis Laurinavičius, Gvidas Gedvilas


2023–24 King Mindaugas Cup champions
Žalgiris
(7th title)

Three-Point contest

Contestants[3]
Pos. Player Team Height (m) Weight (kg) First round Second round Final round
G United States Sean McNeilC Nevėžis–Optibet 1.90 95 19 19 16
G/F Latvia Artis Ate Pieno žvaigždės 1.93 88 18
G Lithuania Eimantas Stankevičius Šiauliai 1.92 90 18
G Puerto Rico Ivan Gandia-Rosa CBet 1.85 87 18
G Lithuania Martynas Gecevičius M Basket–Delamode 1.93 95 22 18
G Lithuania Ignas Sargiūnas Neptūnas 1.96 86 13
G Lithuania Liutauras Lelevičius 7Bet–Lietkabelis 2.01 90 18
G Lithuania Marius Valinskas Uniclub Casino – Juventus 1.87 81 11
G United States Rasheed SulaimonC Wolves 1.94 93 19 20 16
G/F Lithuania Lukas UleckasREP Rytas 1.99 93 12
F/C Lithuania Danielius Lavrinovičius Žalgiris 2.06 105 22 17
G Lithuania Edvinas Paulauskas 1.90 80 15
G United States Brandon Tabb Pieno žvaigždės 1.93 89 14

^REP Lukas Uleckas was selected as Arnas Velička replacement.[4]
^C After the contest, it was noted that Rasheed Sulaimon scored only 16 points instead of 18 points and the series should have been tied. The LKL presented a prize of the same value to Sean McNeil and the contest title is shared between these two players.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Patvirtinti galimi Citadele KMT formatai, pirmojo etapo burtų ceremonija – sekmadienį". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 26 September 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Paaiškėjo KMT grupės ir tvarkaraštis". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 5 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Paaiškėjo „Betsafe Casino" snaiperių konkurso dalyviai". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 1 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Rokiruotė „Ryto" stovykloje „Snaiperio" konkursui – komandai atstovaus Uleckas". basketnews.lt (in Lithuanian). 17 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  5. ^ ""Betsafe Casino" snaiperio konkurse – dviejų žaidėjų triumfas". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 18 February 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.