Club president Paulius Jankūnas spoke about the summer work in the “Žalgiris Insider” podcast, conversing with “Žalgiris TV” show hosts and basketball commentator Rytis Kazlauskas. In the second part of the podcast, P. Jankūnas answered fans’ questions.
Read more Leaked letter from Infantino’s associate to employees: «We are all thrown into chaos»
“Kaodirichi puts the final point and is our last signing this summer,” said P. Jankūnas. “When we still played, we always sat down before the season and talked: ‘good roster, nice, this year will be good.’ And indeed, not every year was good. But we are satisfied with the summer work. We know the conditions we work under – those players exist, but clubs are increasing, EuroCup teams are strengthening. We ourselves see what Greek and Turkish clubs are doing. That market is narrowing, those players exist, but they are not increasing. Naturally, we want players with EuroLeague experience, so they adapt faster, so results come sooner. We are satisfied with the roster, but a lot of work awaits.”
According to P. Jankūnas, “Žalgiris” managed to grab its main targets in the market: “These were all our highest options. We monitor, update, and refine the list of players we are interested in throughout the season.”
Having assembled one of the deepest rosters in the club’s history, “Žalgiris” will face a situation in the upcoming season where not all roster players will make the 12-man game squad. According to P. Jankūnas, no minutes will be pre-allocated to players, and everyone will get playing time over the long season.
“Naturally, all players have ambitions, all want to play, all want to be on the court, but before signing a contract, during negotiations with players, you never promise minutes. You roughly discuss what you expect from them, why we want to sign the player, what he can give to the team. ‘Žalgiris’ has always been about team play and will continue to be so. Coach Tomas wants team basketball, sharing the ball.
I think everything starts with negotiations, describing the style of basketball we play, the coach’s philosophy. There will be a lot of competition. Healthy competition is good. Many games. Domestic league. EuroLeague. Naturally, someone won’t play in some games, someone will play in others. Coaches will decide based on the opponent that someone doesn’t fit and we need to field a different lineup. I think players are not new to such a situation. They come from teams with deep rosters. They know that. It’s just the reality of European basketball now,” said P. Jankūnas, also answering how realistic it was to keep Sylvain Francisco on the team.
“Cisco is one of the best players in his position in the EuroLeague. Top-3. Replacing him equally is impossible,” said the “Žalgiris” president. “We talked with him for a long time. At times it seemed he leaned towards staying, at others that something changed again. Naturally. He also had that NBA dream, really wanted to try himself there, but in the end made a different decision. The ‘Žalgiris’ organization really did a lot to keep him, to sign a new contract. It was clear Cisco appreciated that, but as I said, his primary goal was the NBA.”
Read more Channel ship caught fire: nearly 160 migrants rescued
Finally, it was decided that several players will replace S. Francisco, making competition in “Žalgiris” even greater: “When signing contracts, you never promise minutes. ‘Žalgiris’ has always been about team play and will always be so. Tomas (Masiulis) also wants everyone to play as a team, sharing the ball. Naturally, there will be a lot of competition. Healthy competition is good, many games, LKL, EuroLeague. Someone won’t play in some games, someone in others. Maybe coaches will decide based on the opponent. I think this is not the first such situation for the players themselves.”
During the summer, “Žalgiris” also received inquiries about Nigel Williams-Goss, who was of interest to other EuroLeague clubs. However, according to P. Jankūnas, the Kaunas club immediately stopped any possible processes regarding the player’s departure.
“No, definitely not. He has a contract. When we started building the team, we talked with Nigel himself that he would be one of the most important. Many other signings are around him. There was an inquiry from agents that there is interest, but we immediately said that Nigel cannot leave this summer,” explained P. Jankūnas.
One of the biggest “Žalgiris” signings not only this summer but in recent seasons was the arrival of Jonas Valančiūnas. P. Jankūnas revealed the story of attracting J. Valančiūnas to Kaunas in the podcast.
“Last year there was Jonas’s situation with the ‘Panathinaikos’ club, which showed that Jonas is leaning towards returning to Europe. We have many acquaintances, and the conversation came up that Jonas might be interested in returning. He starts thinking about it. Maybe it’s time to do it, because in recent years in the NBA there have been many team changes. You often have to change your living place, the family grows, children and so on. Maybe he wanted a new challenge, a bigger role, and so on. When you put all those things together, why not call and ask? Jonas and I know each other, we really have a connection. It was a simple call: ‘Hi, how are you? I want to tell you one thought, maybe today it will seem one way to you, but think about it and we’ll call in a few days.’ Just everything so simple and human,” smiled P. Jankūnas, discussing both the pros and cons of J. Valančiūnas.
In the public part of the podcast, P. Jankūnas talked about how he imagines the new season’s team locker room, the upcoming preseason process, and players being released to the national team. In the second part of the podcast, dedicated to Insiders, the club president answered fans’ questions.
Read more Cold smoked sausage withdrawn from sale: you can still return it without a receipt
