In the first episode of the show, the EuroLeague had to wait – the story of Mindaugas Balčiūnas, president of the Association “Lithuanian Basketball” (ALK), which shook the Lithuanian basketball public space, became one of the hottest topics of conversation. Lekšas reacted very emotionally to his resignation from office on September 11.
“I launched ‘Three Million’ and it sounded inside me as if we had won a medal, like at the 2015 European Championship. That’s how I felt,” said Jonas. “The day of liberation, that’s what I called it.”
The decision was announced where Lastauskas usually dominates – on the “Facebook” platform.
“I want to emphasize this right away,” said Benas. “I myself write intensively on Facebook, this is my platform. For ten years everyone has been telling me: ‘Get out of there, it’s a dying platform.’ But the numbers there are astronomical, and the fact that the ALK president resigns from his post exactly like this shows what Facebook is in Lithuania.”
However, the show’s hosts did not limit themselves to discussing just the resonant decision. A much more important question is what will happen next in Lithuanian basketball – from ALK leadership to the national team’s coaching staff and the organization’s financial situation.
“Balčiūnas is stepping down, automatically Rimas Kurtinaitis has to send a letter to the new ALK head saying: ‘Thank you, goodbye.’ Remigijus Milašius comes for the transitional period, and whether he will run in the main elections should be largely answered by what the audit shows, how many holes there are in the budget,” explained J. Lekšas. “And from what I hear, there are quite a few holes. If Lithuania does not qualify for the World Championship – it loses huge amounts of money, and then when a new person comes, almost everything would have to be rebuilt from scratch financially.
I think now we need to grab a straw, quickly organize everything. From what I heard, the new leadership wants to have Dainius Adomaitis as a coach, but for that to happen, the current leadership must be cleared out and guarantees given. He wants peace and clarity, that the current people will be cleared out and new leadership will come. Remigijus Milašius is seen as the savior of Lithuanian basketball in this case. I couldn’t think of a better option at this time.”
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B. Lastauskas summed up the atmosphere in Lithuanian basketball over the past months in a much shorter description.
“A lot of chaos, the sauna is heating up. This is the aura of Lithuanian basketball – Lithuanians care, the whole public space has turned that mill,” rejoiced the public figure.
How will “Žalgiris” do?
Naturally, most of the attention in the first show was on Kaunas “Žalgiris”. The EuroLeague season for the Kaunas team will start on September 24 in Belgrade against “Crvena zvezda”.
In the preparation phase, Žalgiris defeated Riga “Zelti” (97:85), Utena “Juventus” (82:77), Baku “Sabah” (112:77), and Wroclaw “Śląsk” (86:56), and suffered the only defeat against “Paris” (82:83).
“Now we already have the label that ‘Žalgiris’ is a contender for the Final Four,” said J. Lekšas. “Despite all the fears, I am somehow calmed by Tomas Masiulis’s calmness and concreteness, he clearly lays everything out even in a few minutes of interview. He is the kind of coach who makes you believe that everything will be fine.”
Both interlocutors agreed that Jonas Valančiūnas’s move to Kaunas is the most resonant transfer of the entire EuroLeague summer, but Lekšas also warned about the inevitably growing public expectations.
“He will have impressive numbers, but will ‘Žalgiris’ be a winning team? The average compatriot now sees Valančiūnas in Kaunas, what is his expectation? That ‘Žalgiris’ will win the EuroLeague,” explained Jonas.
B. Lastauskas at the same time considers Ąžuolas Tubelis one of the most important people of the entire “Žalgiris” season.
“I think Tubelis is the key to ‘Žalgiris’ victories,” he said. “Everyone has good guards, but such fourth numbers, such athletic, such running… Well, there aren’t many like that in the EuroLeague, this is a big advantage for ‘Žalgiris’.
If he shot long shots a little better, he would be in the NBA without question.”
Both interlocutors gave their predictions for the Kaunas club in the regular EuroLeague season.
“I think it will be fifth again,” said B. Lastauskas.
“I gave sixth place,” Lekšas guessed similarly. “I still think the expectation is the playoffs. The Final Four would be very good.”
A flurry of coaching changes in the EuroLeague
When the conversation turned to the overall EuroLeague picture, the first thing looked at was the carousel of coaching changes that took place over the summer.
“Of course, the most interesting is Željko Obradović in Athens,” said B. Lastauskas. “But I have a feeling that he also needs to rest. He is a basketball genius, but whatever it is, it is no coincidence what happened at the ‘Partizan’ club. If a coach starts explaining that players spend too much time on their phones, it already smells a bit like Kurtinaitis to me.
Of course, he is very respected in that club, but how will he get into the players’ hearts? It seems that players now respect Obradović because of what they have heard, because of the past, not because of the present. Everyone respects Šaras not because he was a good player, but because he is now a good coach, charismatic and quite youthful.”
Meanwhile, for J. Lekšas, one of the biggest losses is Ergin Ataman. However, he predicts that the temperamental Turk may not stay long outside the EuroLeague and already sees a potential place for his return.
“I am very sorry that Ataman is leaving, the EuroLeague loses a lot. My guess is that he will return to the EuroLeague soon. You know where? In place of Pablo Laso at ‘Anadolu Efes’,” Jonas predicted. “When you have Mike James, a conflict is very likely to arise quickly. And for a player like James, Ataman is the perfect coach.”
Even more pronounced domino effect, according to J. Lekšas, was caused by Xavi Pascual’s decision to move from Barcelona to Dubai.
“If Pascual had stayed at ‘Barca’, James would have come, Moses Wright would have stayed, there were talks about Sylvain Francisco,” the expert explained. “Now Pascual left, took Tornike Shengelia with him, and ‘Dubai’ looks impressive, while ‘Barcelona’ looks like a G League team.”
PAO roster impressive, but favorite – Šaras?
Moving from coaches to the overall club picture, attention again turned to the Greek capital and the “Panathinaikos” team.
“This is absurd, old man, absurd,” B. Lastauskas could not believe the PAO roster.
“Last year it was already the best roster of all time, and now they added Francisco, Guerschon Yabusele, and Isaac Bonga on top,” J. Lekšas marveled.
But Jonas chose not the Greeks as his favorite. In his eyes, the summer work of Šarūnas Jasikevičius’s “Fenerbahçe” created perhaps the most impressive roster the Lithuanian has ever had.
“They signed such super veterans: Shane Larkin, Will Clyburn, Shavon Shields, Trent Forrest, Talon Horton-Tucker stayed, Nicolo Melli, Wade Baldwin… To me, this is Šaras’s most impressive team he has ever had. I consider them the favorites,” said the expert.
The show’s hosts included Piraeus “Olympiacos” in the clear top three tournament favorites, and behind this trio lines up a very wide circle of contenders.
“There are many teams, including ‘Žalgiris’, but we are talking about ‘Dubai’, ‘Real’, ‘Hapoel’, ‘Efes’,” said Jonas.
Who will be the season’s disappointments and most interesting transfers
Not all 20 teams had such optimistic forecasts. J. Lekšas singled out a group of clubs before the first round that, in his opinion, face a long season at the bottom of the tournament table.
“The season’s scrap, I think, is clear – Villeurbanne ASVEL, Vitoria ‘Baskonia’, probably also Istanbul ‘Beşiktaş’,” listed J. Lekšas. “Also somewhere there will be Munich ‘Bayern’ and ‘Paris’. Well, Bologna ‘Virtus’ will be the biggest season disappointments.”
Valančiūnas was unanimously named the most resonant EuroLeague summer transfer, and the show also compiled the remaining symbolic top three brightest newcomers.
“For me, second place would be Yabusele to ‘Panathinaikos’, and third – Jean Montero to ‘Olympiacos’. Yabusele is generally one of my favorite players,” said J. Lekšas.
“I would also put Yabusele in second place, and Larkin in third. Because I am curious that Šaras chose him, curious how he will use him, how he will look in Šaras’s system,” added B. Lastauskas.
VIDEO: 7 EuroLeague Days #1: Day of Liberation and where we see “Žalgiris” in the EuroLeague
7 EuroLeague Days #1: Day of Liberation and where we see “Žalgiris” in the EuroLeague
Brief predictions
The first “7 EuroLeague Days” show ended with a quick predictions segment.
Champions:
Benas Lastauskas – “Fenerbahçe”. Jonas Lekšas – “Fenerbahçe”.
MVP:
Benas Lastauskas – Talon Horton-Tucker. Jonas Lekšas – Jonas Valančiūnas (if “Žalgiris” finishes in the top four).
