only cartoon character to be enshrined in any sports Hall of Fame. New versions of the Skully jerseys were featured in the following two Olympic Games. To assume the head coach position, American Dan Peterson, then in Italy, was invited but declined. BC Žalgiris manager Raimundas Sargunas became coach, but problems with the players made him demoted to assistant, a job shared with Donnie Nelson and Spanish Javier Imbroda, who was invited following Sabonis' suggestion of a Liga ACB veteran. The eventual choice was Vladas Garastas, another Žalgiris veteran who was assistant in the 1988 Soviet squad. 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics Preparation for Lithuania's first major international tournament since regaining independence began in May 1992, as it was the first time a squad of players mostly playing outside the country could get together and train. While missing Sabonis, Marčiulionis and Artūras Karnišovas, Lithuania competed in the eight-teams Nordic Countries Championship. They took the second place there, losing only to the well-known opponents Latvia 80–95 in the final. Standout players included Gintaras Krapikas (22.5 points per game) and Rimas Kurtinaitis (19 points). Afterwards, the country celebrated 70 years of Lithuanian basketball, and among the events was a competition featuring two Lithuanian teams, Latvia, Belarus, Finland, and Illinois State University basketball team. The superiority of the Lithuanians, now counting with Sabonis and Marčiulionis, made them handily beat the opponents. Following it, Lithuania national team was invited to compete in the prestigious annual Acropolis Tournament hosted by Greece, along with Italy and France. Lithuanians began the competition shockingly, immediately crushing the EuroBasket 1991 silver medalists Italians 116–94 (at one point leading by 87–49). Though, then they narrowly lost to the host Greece squad 81–83 and after easily defeating the French squad 109–78, took the second place. Despite not winning the cup, this was a perfect first major international challenge for the Lithuania national team, giving the solid hopes of success for the newly reborn state. Shortly before the opening of the Olympic Games, Lithuanians also overcame the Olympics host Spain 107–97 in Ibiza. Lithuania was among the many European independent states that due to the dissolutions of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, would return to the Olympic competition for the 1992 games. For the 1992 Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament, held in Spain from June 22 to July 5, Lithuania was joined by the debuting Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia, and Estonia, along with the non-Baltic Soviet