“I just really hope that everyone – the league, the spectators – doesn’t think that “Žalgiris” is guaranteed to win first place in the final. I hope they will look at us as an equal opponent and it will be an interesting series,” L. Uleckas hopes.
He himself, in the LKL playoffs, supported by “Betsson”, scores 15.5 points in 27 minutes, grabs 5 rebounds, makes 3.8 assists, and collects 18.7 efficiency points.
With such a performance, L. Uleckas also caught the attention of the Lithuanian national team coach Rimas Kurtinaitis. However, the forward looks at it modestly: “It’s fun,” he smiles.
Watch the start of the final series from 4:30 PM on BTV and the “Telia Play” platform, and before that, on LKL.lt – a conversation with the Utena team’s leader.
– This season, Utena already had opportunities to celebrate: when was the celebration bigger – after the victory against “Rytas” or “Neptūnas”?
– After the victory against “Neptūnas”. It wasn’t like we saw what was happening in the city – we weren’t really distracted, but there were a lot of happy people visible in the arena.
– You know what it means to win the LKL title, supported by “Betsson”. Is the feeling of reaching the final with “Juventus” comparable to a trophy, or is it still different?
– Hard to say. When we won the first championship with “Rytas”, I was a big part of that final, an important player, and now I was also one of the main ones. In reality, the feeling is similar. Of course, now we won the semi-final, then – the final. But for the seventh team to be in the LKL final, that hasn’t happened before.
– The example of “Rytas” already showed, and others can be found, how easy it is to burn out after a good run and achievement. How did your team maintain maximum focus until now after the triumph in the quarter-finals?
– There was no feeling that we had already done what was needed. We knew we would win against “Rytas” and that we would overcome “Neptūnas”. The coach convinced us of that, and we all believed it. And it happened. Now he says we won’t give an easy final, we’ll go for the title, we’ll try (Laughs). We have no reason not to believe the coach, we will go all the way.
– Is Laimonas Eglinskas the first coach in your career who shows such immense faith in the team?
– No, there are such coaches. I like the quality of coaches when they don’t say: the opponent is strong. When they look at our team and say that we are better than them, we just have to prove it from defense to offense. We look not at the opponents, but at ourselves.
– How much were you driven forward not only by the coach’s motivation but also by the desire to prove to everyone that you are not as bad as your position was in the regular season?
– When there were 11 consecutive losses, we sat with the team in the locker room and talked among ourselves that we weren’t that bad. We just didn’t know what was going on. We were all like dead: more physically tired, but precisely because of that emotional fatigue. We knew we were good, we talked: we are such good players, but we don’t win. Laimonas came, changed the emotion, although we knew we were good, we needed an extra push.
– The situation and mood are one thing when losing, another when winning. Did you get to know some players anew when a better streak came?
– I wouldn’t say so, but there was a funny moment when we lost in Klaipėda, we were sitting in the locker room and Venskus told me: I don’t remember that feeling of losing. Because the last time we lost was against “Žalgiris” at the end of the regular season, when we played quite well. And after that, we had a winning streak. We didn’t even remember that feeling, it was a fun emotion, we are in a winning team.
– After the defeat in Klaipėda, was there any lack of confidence or panic before bringing the series back home?
– No. We played, we were close, but we didn’t cling to victory, victory wasn’t felt in all games. We just knew we would close the series in Utena.
– There were discussions about what would happen if the series became tied – whether you would manage to survive a decisive battle in Klaipėda. Do you think you would have psychologically withstood such a test?
– This is a hypothetical question, what if. I don’t know, I think we would have won the series either way. We closed it in Utena because we simply played better, both against “Rytas” and “Neptūnas”. We simply deserved it.
– How emotionally draining was this semi-final series with “Neptūnas”, which was really hot?
– Emotionally it was difficult, but it’s fun to play on those emotions. Adrenaline is high, full of energy, you never get tired. I think everyone enjoyed it.
– You are already in the final, can it be said that “Juventus” has already won its gold – in the form of silver?
– We achieved what the club had never achieved before. I just really hope that everyone – the league, the spectators – doesn’t think that “Žalgiris” is guaranteed to win first place in the final. I hope they will look at us as an equal opponent and it will be an interesting series.
– You yourself are playing very solid playoffs, do such matches give you wings?
– I think the whole team is on wings now (Laughs). There’s great trust from the coach, we’re playing good basketball, and we’ll try to give “Žalgiris” a fight.
– What will be most important to give that fight your maximum?
– To go with the same energy, the same confidence as in the playoffs so far. Start with defense and play with confidence in offense.
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– “Juventus” has a spot in the Champions League. Do you think this will be a big card in the club’s hands to retain the current squad players, and perhaps yourself?
– This is certainly an important argument, the Champions League is a good tournament. It’s important for the city, the club, Lithuania. More sponsors should also appear. It’s fun.
– How pleasant was it for you to hear that Rimas Kurtinaitis is watching you and considering inviting you to the national team camp?
