Kazlauskas steps down as head coach of Lithuanian basketball team

The head coach of Lithuanian national men's basketball team Jonas Kazlauskas revealed on Tuesday he is to step down since his contract has expired.

"My contract has expired and there is nothing to think about. It was not a secret that this was my last year," Kazlauskas told journalists at Vilnius airport after returning from Rio Olympics to Lithuania on Tuesday.

Kazlauskas said he is happy and proud of what he has reached, noting that there were painful losses and beautiful victories as well during his 10 years at the national team.

"But the time comes when everything has to end," Kazlauskas said, adding that there are "many and good" coaches in Lithuania to replace him.

Kazlauskas hasn't revealed his future plans but says he doesn't think he has ended his "career as a coach".

In his words, the main reason Lithuanian national team struggled at the second phase of Rio Olympics was the lack of physical preparation.

"We were only trying to maintain that physical shape rather than charge our batteries," said Kazlauskas.

The Lithuanian team ended their Rio Olympics after losing 64-90 against Australia in the quarterfinal, and they have achieved their goal to finish the tournament among the top eight.

During his career as the head coach of Lithuanian basketball team from 1997 to 2001 and from 2012 to 2016, Kazlauskas helped the team to win bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won silver medals at the EuroBasket 2013 and 2015.

Formerly, Kazlauskas was the head coach of Chinese and Greek national men's basketball teams. He was also a coach of Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. Endit