2024-07-05 14:59:38
Portal lrytas.lt the interviewed Jurbarkas team leader said that it is still difficult for him to describe the path his team took to become champions, but mentioned that a considerable amount of luck also contributed to it.
“Fantastic season. I spoke with coach Povilas Valaichis, who said that if someone had offered us third place without playing the championship before the season, we would have accepted such an offer. We really did not expect to go to the final and win it. In fact, I only now realize what we have done, what we have achieved.
It’s hard to describe everything in words, because we were definitely not favorites, we had a hard time climbing to the top, we experienced a roller coaster. We started the season well, then we fell into a hole, then players dropped out, after which we realized that there will be no additions and we will have what we have. When we finished fourth in the regular season, that was already a victory for me.
As newbies to the league, we overachieved and finished fourth in the regular season, and even then my pants were full of joy. Then we were already swimming downstream, as everything was going, so we climbed. Of course, there were many factors of success: “Kretinga” was tired after the series with “Žalgiris”, “Telšiai” and “Sūduva”.
Of all the teams we could have gotten in the finals, we got probably the best option. “Kretinga” could be said to be an equal opponent to us, as they had a short bench, just like us. If we had received “Telšius” or “Sūdūva”, we probably would have needed more substitutions, because these teams had longer benches. I think we would have lost more physically than tactically,” said T. Delininkaitis.
The 190 cm tall defender reached his best form during the decisive battles of the season. T. Delininkaitis led his team to the NKL finals with a performance of 37 points and 40 utility points in the decisive semi-final match against “Olimp” of Palanga, and in the final he continued his impressive performances and collected averages of 21.5 points and 22.8 utility points during the entire series and to the surprise of no one was recognized as the MVP of the final series.
When asked about such impressive performances, at the late stage of his career, in such a season, the Klaipėda native mentioned that although he tries to maintain his athletic form all the time, he does not do anything special when preparing his body.
“I don’t know where the reason for the success lies. I don’t do anything magical, I eat the same as other athletes. Of course, I take care of my diet, I exercise maybe not every day, but I try to move every day, because I know that after a week of rest, it’s very difficult for my body to catch the rhythm again, and I start to think that maybe I don’t need to exercise anymore.
So, I try to keep that rhythm, move a little bit. And where is the reason for success… I don’t know, maybe it was my experience, because at that age, because that speed is gone, I do everything slowly, and when I do everything slowly, fouls are often not called because everything happens too slowly.
At the beginning of these playoffs, I had a lot of conflicts with the referees, but then I realized that I wouldn’t change anything, so I had to calm down and it paid off, because I realized that I need to play basketball and enjoy it. Perhaps the result was concentration. I don’t really use or do anything special, sometimes I ask myself where it all comes from,” the long-time defender of the Lithuanian national team thought.
We remind you that on the way to the NKL title, Jurbarka’s team beat Šakių Vyčio-VDU 3-2 in the quarter-finals, in the semi-finals they also dealt with the Palanga Olimpo basketball players, considered by many to be favorites to win the league, 3-2, and in the final they defeated the 10th place in the regular season 3-1 the “Kretinga” team that won the season.
– After playing such an impressive first season of the club in the NKL league and winning it, don’t you feel a little sad that Jurbarkas cannot move up to the LKL due to lack of resources? – we asked T. Delininkaitis.
– No, there is no sadness, because I think it was a very smart decision of the “Jurbarko-Kario” organization not to jump above the navel. I think that Jurbarka’s team could have a real chance to enter the LKL in 3-4 years, because a bigger arena is also needed, and the organization itself needs to grow, which is already moving towards it purposefully.
People want, work, strive, improve, but in my opinion everything is a bit too fast and it was the right decision to wait and fully mature to that level as a team and as an organization. There are still a number of nuances that should be corrected. And to come and dance above your navel, throw a lot of money and be cannon fodder in LKL… There is more than one example in the last few years, the same “Gargždas”…
Maybe it’s better to stay in a lower league, get stronger, be competitive for several years and after some time win the league again, go to a higher level. Last year, we had a conversation with Jurbarkas team managers and coaches – their goal was to win the NKL and enter the LKL within four years. This year the situation turned out to be that we did it in the first year. Nobody expected us to win.
If they had said at the beginning of the season that we would be among the contenders to win, we certainly would not have believed it. At the very beginning of the season, we expected to be in the top eight, then after a good start, the top four also shined. As I mentioned, when we finished fourth in the regular season, that was over the top for me. So, that whole step still needs some maturing. It is a fact that the team dreams of being in the LKL in a few years.
– It is not the first time that the NKL league has been rocked by huge betting scandals. When playing against certain teams, was there a sense that something was not going right?
– I have had many discussions with famous people and heard that such things happen, but I personally have no idea what it should look like. Do the club managers come and tell the players that they have to lose today and they will get some sort of reward for that… I’m from a different generation. I should not play if someone came and said that to me, because I’m not good at it.
If I do work, I try to do it to the maximum. Come and run around wife who, it is not my way, not my character. I don’t know how it should sound, I can’t even imagine. In my entire career, I have never had to deal with this, and for the ball to suspiciously slip out and fall out of bounds more than once while playing against us… I have never had to deal with that.
In other teams, which are at the bottom of the table and have clear results, this kind of thing is probably happening, because criminal investigations have already been launched into the actions of some teams. Perhaps such things happen there, but I personally have not encountered it either in my teams or in opponents. No one has even suggested I do it, so I don’t even know what it should sound like.
– Recently, we have also seen controversial elections for the president of the league, when the newly elected president Modestas Valiusevičius bids farewell to his post after only 6 days. Where are all the problems of the NKL that haunt the league year after year?
– I don’t know, I didn’t delve into those things this year, I had other activities, I was away on vacation. I’ve been away from basketball a bit, so I don’t know all the details and I can’t comment on who got into a fight with whom, why everything is happening like this, why the league is rocked by scandals… I don’t even have a basic idea about these issues.
– In the last two seasons, you played both in the championships of the Regional Basketball League and the NKL. In terms of organizational and media work, we can often see that RKL even surpasses NKL, which is higher in the pyramid. But how much is the difference between these leagues in terms of basketball level?
– You can feel the difference. Last season, when we had to participate in the RKL, it was clear that the teams from the second half of the standings were of a rather weak level, but for example, when we participated in the final four, we faced the teams of “Raseiniai”, Kaunas district “Omegas”. They really matched the level of NKL and it was not easy to be in the same final four. We defeated “Raseinius” with a lead of 8 points, and in the final against “Omega” – only 5 points.
So, those teams are really pushing the NKL level. And NKL itself is quite strong. I have heard more than once that what can be the level if the old people come and defeat the youth… I want to tell those people that those old people don’t walk either, they also run. Our speeds may not be the same anymore, but we have accumulated a lot of experience and know where to run and where not to overdo it without running unnecessarily.
This is where our experience came into play, we knew where to stand and how to recover the ball. I have heard many times that the league is very weakened, but believe me there is something to do here. There are a lot of young people who run, want to prove themselves, go to a higher level. If you ask Mindaugas Lukauskis, he would probably also answer that the championship was not an easy one.
– You already mentioned that after the season you had a conversation with Jurbarko-Karios team coach Povilas Valaičius. The team’s goals were to win the league in four years, you won it in the first one. Can you expand on what the team’s goals are for the next three years and what needs to be improved the most to achieve those goals?
– I think that the existing hall should be renovated first. As far as I heard, it was planned to increase it somewhat after the season. The parquet itself needs to be repaired, which was damaged last summer, when the hall was flooded during the rain and most of the boards simply bounced off. So there was the matter of managing both the floor and the 24 second timer that didn’t work.
And from the team’s side… Defending the title is always more difficult than winning it for the first time. I don’t know if I’ll be there myself or not, but I’d like to see the club stay competitive and avoid the roller coaster ride of winning the title this year and ending up in the second half of the table next season. One would like to see the team maintain their fighting spirit and remain among the top 4-5 teams in the league.
– Do you still plan to continue your career and if you do, how long could it continue and would it take place in Jurbark or somewhere else?
– I don’t know where it will be, so far I have received several offers, but I haven’t made a concrete decision yet. I would really like to play as long as my body allows, I’m not saying no. And where fate will take us, we will see.
2024-07-05 14:59:38