After two years of playing in Spain, M. Blaževičius is back in his hometown. But this time – in another team.
The 22-year-old center knows the Twinsbet arena very well, because he played there when he was a basketball player of Vilnius “Ryto”, and when asked if it is not strange to return to the arena where it all started, wearing another team’s uniform, the basketball player did not get lost.
“Very fun arena, good to go back to it, very good memories in this arena. It’s really fun, said M. Blaževičius. – A very good and professional group of guys. The way the whole office works has left a very good impression on me both during the summer and now. The organization of Wolves Twinsbet is a group of professionals who aim high, where the wishes of the players are taken very seriously, preparation is taken seriously, there is a big individual work with each player. It’s great to see that and to be in such an organization.”
As mentioned, M. Blaževičius spent the last two years in the Spanish ACB Championship, which is considered to be perhaps the strongest domestic championship tournament in Europe.
In his first season in Spain, M. Blaževičius recorded 7.7 points (52.4% doubles, 64.1% penalty), 4.2 rebounds and 7.2 utility points in 17.5 minutes on the court.
In his second year in the sunny country, the center scored 7.5 points (66.2 percent from doubles, 66.8 percent from free throws), grabbed 3.9 rebounds and accumulated 8.8 efficiency points in 15 minutes on the court.
It is true that the Lithuanian himself had a rough match, where he scored 12 points one time, and was left with 0 in the next match.
Nevertheless, the new head coach of Wolves Twinsbet, Alessandro Magro, believes in the potential of the Vilnius native in the upcoming season.
“He is a very talented player. Obviously, he had a difficult journey around other clubs, but we decided to give him a chance. Marek is a black worker, he is young and has a lot of talent. Not only that, but he has experience at a higher level.
We are very happy to have him with us. I am also happy to have the opportunity to train him and give him a chance to improve. I am confident that he will be an important part of our puzzle.
I hope that he will play hard in the upcoming season, play for the team and contribute to the victories of the upcoming season,” said the Wolves Twinsbet helmsman.
What does M. Blaževičius expect from himself in his first season in the “Wolves” ranks?
“I hope for stability. I don’t want to have big ripples, I want my playing curve to be stable. I have gained experience not only in Lithuania, but also abroad, so I think it will help me. I think I’m ready,” said the 22-year-old center who returned to Lithuania to play.
M. Blaževičius and Rokas Jokubaitis are basketball players with a close relationship.
The two players have a good relationship with each other since their time at Zalgiris Kaunas, which continued when they played in Spain.
R. Jokubaitis, the offensive player of the Lithuanian men’s basketball team, decided to move from the “Barcelona” team to play for the Tel Aviv “Maccabi” club this offseason, and M. Blaževičius also welcomed this decision of his friend.
“I’m happy for Rock. It is great that he has signed a long-term contract abroad and will continue to have the opportunity to play in the EuroLeague, where he will play for a club with a great history. I think he’ll be fine. I wish him only the best,” the portal said lrytas.lt M. Blaževičius spoke.
Portal lrytas.lt – a conversation with M. Blaževičius, where the basketball player described his expectations in Vilnius, the talented duo in the ranks of “Wolves Twinsbet”, from which he himself will only get better, and added about the impressive Tel Aviv “Hapoel” constellation, with which he will have to fight twice.
– Marek, what is your current relationship with the coach?
– We are still building a relationship with the coach, he expects something from me, he knows in which situations I am better, where I need to improve. I get feedback during and after practice, so it’s fun. I think we are working in the right direction
– Wolves Twinsbet already had their first friendly match. Of course, not much can be decided, because this is only the first control meeting, but what did you see during that duel?
– It is difficult to say from the first match, because we were in Klaipėda after a week of hard work. The curve and quality of the game was not high, but it really showed that we have a good team, we all want to play, we want to help each other and we don’t mind sharing the ball. That is the most fun.
– Anthony Cowan and Andrew Andrews duo at Wolves Twinsbet. How does it look to you from the side? Will their game contribute to your own potential better game?
– I think that I will also benefit from their duet. They are experienced players, they have a big and good arsenal in attack, so they will tighten up the defense and I might just have to unwrap the candy they give me. It’s great to have developers like this.
Of course, we should not forget Vaidas Kariniauskas, who distributes the ball perfectly at the Lithuanian level. I’m looking forward to the season and I think it will be interesting to see how things play out.
– In your group at the European Cup – Hapoel Tel Aviv, which is full of stars: Patrick Beverley, Jonathan Motley, Bruno Caboclo, Marcus Foster and others. Wolves will probably have an extraordinary challenge against such a team.
– I would not like to single out one match that I am looking forward to in the European Cup or in Lithuania, I think that all matches will be more or less the same. I miss 2-3 games a week and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.
I wonder what that team will look like. Sometimes last names look more serious on paper than they actually play. I don’t want to say anything whether the team will look good or bad, but time will tell.
We ourselves still need to play and we don’t need to look at the names of our opponents, because nowadays basketball is going in a different direction. We can clearly see that good names do not always lead to victories.
– September 25 – the first match of the European Cup. It looks like the international season will start extra early. Will there be enough time for the team to bond before the start of the European season?
– I think that maybe on September 25, it will seem that we are well played and ready, but after a few months we might see that we have taken an even bigger step forward. It’s hard to say, but players always get a better feel for each other as the season draws to a close.
– What kind of self would you like to see at the end of the season?
– A player who helps the team win, makes a difference defensively and helps the team defensively. I want to be that player who is talked about because he helped the team win.
2024-08-31 01:52:35