2024-04-04 16:58:09
Italian “LaGiornadaTipo” arrived in Kaunas and created a special 20-minute long documentary about A. Trinchieri, his arrival in Kaunas and his work in “Žalgiris”.
In the middle of the season, the specialist took over from Kazis Maksvytis in Žalgiris and has been managing the Lithuanian champions since the first day of January.
A. Trinchieri remembered his first days in Kaunas with a smile.
“I had the opportunity to join Zalgiris when the club was in a difficult situation. “Zalgiris” is a historical club. I thought that after my career I would be able to say to everyone: “I coached Partizan and Zalgiris”.
I left home on the first of January at 3 in the morning, I was at the airport at 6 in the morning… Making an impact at the initial stage is very difficult. I arrived in Kaunas at 4:00 p.m., I had training at 5:00 p.m. and the next day we played the first match. Also, it was a double week then. We played on Tuesday and Thursday. During the double week, the details are not particularly important, the most important thing is quality and energy,” said the Italian.
In the debut match in Kaunas, A. Trinchieri and his team “Žalgiris” beat Berlin ALBA 77:71, but already in the next match of the double week, they wasted very important points and fell 79:93 against the ASVEL basketball players of Villerban.
“I tried to approach the team in a different way, because I couldn’t get to the details in such a short time, so I introduced a macro system where I told the players that they have to follow me. I have learned to avoid anything that drains our energy.
Being objective is very difficult. Basketball is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the least mistakes wins. But this is not true after all. You can make twice as many mistakes as your rivals and win if you have twice as much energy,” A. Trinchieri thought.
Only after arriving in Kaunas, the Italian realized that “Žalgiris” and basketball are the most important things in Kaunas, and at the same time he singled out the excellent base of the Lithuanian champions club.
“About 380-390 thousand people live in Kaunas. population and is the second largest city in the country. Lithuania is a small country, but it is great. The most important thing in Kaunas is “Zalgiris”. Everything about basketball is here – in a hotel, restaurant, bar… if there is a TV, it will show basketball. Everyone knows who you are. In Lithuania, basketball is life and religion.
If someone wants to become a coach, Zalgiris is a great place to start. The coach has a clear role, there are no gossips… although there may not be luxury in Kaunas, you have a great training hall, you travel to matches on chartered flights, everything (SPA, recovery area) is near the locker room,” the specialist opened.
This season, “Žalgiris” sold out tickets for 15 out of 16 matches.
The only time when the “Žalgiris” arena was not crowded was on March 19. On that day, Kaunas beat the Bologna “Virtus” basketball players 96:81.
A. Trinchieri himself saw the influence of the arena on the results.
“I know that playing in the Zalgiris Arena makes my team 20-30 percent better. This is because the team has an impressive connection with the fans. I just want people to be proud of this team. I always ask my players to go beyond the limits of their energy and desire,” said the Italian.
The special documentary showed how members of the Žalgiris staff had fun after the match, and Lithuanian basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis also visited the coaches’ room that time.
“After every game, whether we won or lost, the whole staff goes to drink cold drinks (smiles – ed.). After we were sitting after the match, Arvydas Sabonis, the most important person in the history of Lithuania, came to visit us. He is a true genius,” the Italian said frankly.
A. Trinchieri also talked about the connection with the players and his big dream.
“I communicate a lot with my players because I want to understand who they are as a person and what they want to achieve in their career.
Brady Manek told me, “You’re the most open-minded person I’ve ever met in my life.”
I think we can be ready for the playoffs. I really want to be in the final four of the Euroleague one day and try to win. It is like a cherry on the cake”, said A. Trinchieri.
On Thursday evening, A. Trinchieri and “Žalgiris” will face a particularly important battle, where they will seek to extend their relegation dream. Kaunians from 8:00 p.m. will compete with Donatas Motiejūnas and Monaco basketball players. In order to try to jump on the relegation train, Žalgiris needs a win tonight.
The course of the match between the mentioned teams from 8:00 p.m. you will be able to follow on the website lrytas.lt.
2024-04-04 16:58:09