Kurtinaitis – about Buzelis’ position in the national team, comparison, and Juventus in the final

„We met Matas yesterday already,“ 66-year-old R. Kurtinaitis said on Friday behind the scenes of the „Active Vilnius“ arena.

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„Matas really wants to play for the Lithuanian national team, and that’s very pleasing. Last year he couldn’t due to objective reasons. Overall, it was a pleasant conversation. I’ve known his father Aidas for a long time, and we met his mother yesterday. A wonderful family. True Lithuanians. I am very grateful that they raised such a son who will play for the Lithuanian national team.“

Matas Buzelis’ press conference

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– How big of a victory is this for Lithuania, as there was talk about the USA…

– I don’t think so… No offense, but we create those rumors ourselves (smiles). We didn’t talk about him playing for the US national team at all. He wants to represent Lithuania. He said he had been looking forward to this moment and is happy that it finally happened.

– That’s great news. It’s just that a few years ago, M. Buzelis was on the US youth national team candidate lists and had received an invitation.

– You know, with those extended lists… We also submitted one. We listed the players we would like to see. Whether they will fit or not – we select them afterwards. This process is currently underway, so I can’t say much about the Lithuanian national team. We are coordinating with a number of players, not all championships have ended. So those lists are usually extended.

– We have all seen M. Buzelis only in the NBA league. How do you think he will adapt to European rules, a smaller court?

– We talked about that yesterday. That he will need to learn to play European basketball, which is more disciplined, more organized. I’m not saying that US basketball is good or bad – they just play differently.

Matas will need to adapt. If you remember, Giannis Antetokounmpo also said after his first attempt here that he didn’t understand what we were playing here in Europe. But now he is excellent here too.

Most importantly, Matas wants to. We talked to him about it. Plus, he has talent and opportunities, and everything else can be trained.

– In what position do you see M. Buzelis?

– We’ll see. Now I have a comparison with (Andrei) Kirilenko, who, with his height and agility, could cover 3-4 positions. That’s how I see Matas – as a better copy of Kirilenko. From the second to even the fifth position, if needed. Matas has enough height and mobility for that. Currently, he is really very useful to us.

– You probably have a lot of thoughts about what the national team’s style should be? With Matas, it can be very fast, with Jonas Valančiūnas – perhaps a bit slower…

– I think we will have a camp a week before the “window” and try it out. Because it’s one thing to put everything on paper, and another to see it on the court. We will only see all of this during the training process. What suits whom better. So we will do that. The good thing is that we already have options. That’s the most important thing.

– M. Buzelis, Kasparas Jakučionis, J. Valančiūnas – could this be Lithuania’s strongest “window” national team?

– Well… We know what kind of national team we had in the middle of the season, how we couldn’t gather the desired players. Our situation is much better now. What will the result be? How we play, that’s what it will be. It’s good that we will assemble a full-fledged national team. That’s what’s most important to me right now.

– M. Buzelis mentioned that he doesn’t know if he will be in the second “window” in August…

– Let’s enjoy what we have now. We saw before that “Žalgiris” gave us Ąžuolas (Tubelis) for one game, and when needed – we managed to communicate, “Žalgiris” understood that he was needed for a second. Let’s not look 5 years ahead. Let’s enjoy what we will gather now, and what will happen in August – will happen in August.

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– For many years it was said that the Lithuanian national team had problems with point guards. Now it seems that you can just choose – Rokas Jokubaitis, K. Jakučionis, Arnas Velička…

– Yes, the future is very bright, but we don’t have Rokas at the moment. This World Championship is very important to us right now, and we have to rely on the players we have. I am very happy that K. Jakučionis is coming, because he has European basketball experience, and his path also led through the “Barcelona” system.

I really hope that we will also have (Dovydas) Giedraitis from Kaunas “Žalgiris”. Then this link would be complete. I think we should assemble a good national team.

– Doesn’t it scare you that K. Jakučionis plays in the “Miami Heat” system, which doesn’t set screens at all…

– Let’s not go into details about how they played. I know how we need to play. With which players and how to play. I have my plan. We’ll see how we implement it.

– You probably also follow what’s happening in the Lithuanian Basketball League. Would you have included more Utena “Juventus” players in that extended list?

– We’ll see what happens in the finals, but (Lukas) Uleckas I like. He has both height and, if necessary, the third and fourth positions. With a shot. I think we will bring him into the national team. I don’t want to get ahead of myself now. Let him play, he needs to finish the season, and then – we’ll see.

– Was Utena’s qualification for the final a big surprise?

– Not surprised. Utena has always been a dangerous team. Maybe this season, let’s say, they didn’t do very well at first…

Of course, what surprised me more was that Vilnius “Rytas” failed to advance further. But I know that situation. When you win a cup in Europe, how difficult it is to reassemble a team to finish the local championship. We see that Real Madrid and Barcelona have exactly the same problems. Something similar happened to “Rytas”. There are successes and failures. Glory and honor to Utena – they are playing really well this season.

– And how did you react to the “Rytas” management’s decision to dismiss Giedrius Žibėnas?

– I don’t want to comment on such things. That’s our coaches’ job… I’ve been dismissed a few times even when we were at our peak. And work has been extended when we were at our lowest.

These are club decisions, and I don’t comment on them. That’s our job as coaches. Somewhere I once read that today – you’re in the saddle, tomorrow – under the hooves. That’s the reality. I accept it as an inevitability. How G. Žibėnas accepts it? I don’t know. But it’s normal in a coach’s job.

At the end of May, Rimas Kurtinaitis presented a list of as many as 30 candidates for the Lithuanian national basketball team.

This summer, the Lithuanian national team awaits two FIBA “windows”. First, on July 2nd at home against Great Britain and on July 5th away against Italy.

The second “window” will take place at the end of August, and the opponents will be announced later. Among the possible opponents are Serbs, Turks, Bosnians.

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The Lithuanian men’s national team will also play four friendly matches this summer.