This Italian will be assisted by all three basketball specialists who were in the team’s coaching staff last season – Nedas Pacevičius, Marius Leonavičius and Mindaugas Brazys.
Despite the completion of the team, the club does not withdraw from the player market, it monitors it carefully and prepares for various situations that may occur before the start of the season or during it.
Speaking about the work done during the summer, Wolves Twinsbet basketball operations manager Algimantas Bružas first of all remembered the lessons of last season. According to him, one of the most important problems, due to which the club did not reach the set goals, were the mistakes made during the preparation of the season, when only a part of the team’s players participated in the training camp.
“We should look a little at the last season and the reasons why we couldn’t achieve a result. Perhaps I would especially emphasize the European season and the December-January section. It felt that the poor preparation for the season, when we didn’t really have half the team, cost us a lot, and it had a big impact on the health and preparation of the player during the season, getting in shape in time. December-January was difficult for us, we had a lot of injuries and then we lost a lot of games in the European Cup. This prevented us from getting to the next stage”, A. Bružas had no doubts.
Poor preparation determined not only the quality of the game in the European Cup, but also had an effect at the end of the season, when the team met the most important battles in the national championship with significantly thinned ranks. As a result, this painful experience was especially important this summer, when efforts were made to assemble the team so that the majority of it began to prepare for the season together.
“Equally, health was a problem in the LKL playoffs. The fact that we didn’t have a number of important players: two main centers, we didn’t have Jeffery Taylor, at least several players were partially injured or had some kind of health problem, – A. Bružas remembered the difficulties at the end of the last season. – This is probably one of the things that we paid some attention to. We wanted to assemble a team where at least the majority of the players would arrive at the pre-season camp on time. We won’t have, of course, Arnold Kulboka, who is rehabbing from injury, we won’t have Andrew Andrews at the very beginning, but everyone else should be there and he, at least hopefully, will convert to a better start to the season.”
In a detailed interview, one of the sports managers of Wolves Twinsbet talked about the work done on the formation of the team, the choice of the coach, his vision of the game, the formation of the team, the recovered Lithuanian players, attention to the perimeter line and the versatility of the tall players.
– How was this summer for the club compared to the first two seasons?
– First of all, the main difference is that we felt more in control of our situation this summer, especially regarding the Lithuanian issue. Another thing, we prepared well for this summer, we predicted some scenarios, we maneuvered quite well and, I would say, we finished everything quite quickly. Maybe those are the main differences.
– The first job of the summer was to find a coach. What led to the choice of Alessandro Magro?
– First of all, we were looking for a coach who would be ambitious, who would burn with the desire to achieve something in basketball. At the same time, we needed experience. We felt that experience was needed to achieve some results. Alessandro had three really solid seasons with Brescia in Italy. Also a lot
the important point is that he had experience working in Poland as a head coach. This, we hope, will facilitate the adaptation process in the LKL league.
Another moment was very important for us, that the coach should be able to communicate very well and find a common language with foreigners, because we inevitably have to have a lot of foreigners in our team. We cannot buy the best Lithuanians, but we are trying to find that balance. It is a fact that, in order to be successful, a coach must find a common language with everyone, both locals and foreigners.
Alessandro turned out to be a highly motivated, visionary coach. He’s also really contributed a lot to the squad this summer, working both individually with existing players and trying to bring in other players. In large part thanks to him, several newcomers ended up in the team. We are delighted to have him join us. He meets the criteria we used to select a coach.
– What is the vision of its composition? What style of basketball was the team assembled for?
– Coach Alessandro has identified three role players that he needs. There is a heavy focus on perimeter creators who can create basketball in a two-on-two, one-on-one game. He also needs good pitchers. The third thing they wanted was athleticism, all-around athleticism, not just players who could run fast, jump high, but also be physically strong in the box. Here are probably the essential guidelines.
Another thing is that we built the team accordingly and put an emphasis on the perimeter. We wanted to have the strongest players there, and mold the rest of the team around those players who would have some special tasks or some special roles, supporting roles. In other words, to ensure that the team does not have only players who want the ball and are attack-oriented, but that there is a good balance between leaders and role players.
– The team’s most prominent newcomers are defenders Anthony Cowan and Andrew Andrews. What will these players bring to the team? How much will the game revolve around them?
– Both Cowan and Andrews have already managed to show that they are capable of leading the European Cup team. That’s one thing. Another thing, these are individually strong players. Both one and the other can take the initiative and creatively solve problems themselves or create for others. Especially Cowan, from whom we expect more work. We see Andrews more as a finisher. We will see how they both fit together, but we see them as important players on whom our results will depend a lot. We hope they will fit well, drive in and help us a lot.
– We managed to bring back Matas Jogėlas, Mareks Blaževičius and Arnoldas Kulbokas to Lithuania, and Daniel Baslykas added to the Lithuanian team. What roles are expected for them?
– First of all, I would really like to be happy that three Lithuanians, who have been of great interest to us for a long time, have returned to Lithuania and will play in our team. These are Mareks Blaževičius, Matas Jogėla and Arnoldas Kulboka. I think these are players who have something to prove, who have a lot of ambition, who are just reaching their peak. We are very happy to have them on our team, we see potential in them, we see growth in them. The fact that they will have important roles and hopefully they will find their place and help achieve results.
Daniel Baslykas is a player we look at more as the person who will not let others relax every day in training and matches. We also see potential in him, we see a very combative player in him, which is what impressed us in Šiauliai. We have no doubt that he will also find his place and fit perfectly into our team.
– Jeffery Taylor, Kristupas Žemaitis and Regimantas Miniotas will play in the third season. Second – Vaidas Kariniauskas, Tre’Shawn Thurman and Garrison Brooks. Will these players be the backbone of the team that drives it forward?
– A fact. I think that it would be naïve to achieve some results by scattering the entire team, continuity is needed. We really wanted to keep at least half of the team and these players will be very important in gluing the dressing room, gluing the team, bringing in new players. They know very well what and how everything happens in our team, all the way inside. Last season they all showed that they really care about the result, they really gave their heart, they worked hard and improved, so we are glad that they stayed in our ranks. We hope they help newcomers fit in. At the same time, we’re hoping that by keeping a larger amount of players, a certain core, we’ll have a slightly smoother start to the season.
– Basketball experts call the front line – the midfielders – the weakest link in the team. How much basis is there for such an opinion?
– I think that the winning teams are not those in which all five positions are covered by scorers, some famous names or something like that. Winning teams, as we see in both the Euroleague and the Olympics, are those that have a good balance between leaders and role players. In the same way, we also looked, first of all, at the roles. As I said, we prioritized more perimeter players in the offense who will have more responsibilities. Next to them, we wanted more players who could do other things that are very necessary on the pitch, including defense.
As for the forward line, we wanted different players in the fifth position. We have Marek Blaževičius, Garrison Brooks, Regimantas Miniotas will also play in that position. They will all have different things to offer. It was very important for us to have a player who could offer versatility in defense, solidity, good fight for the ball, good finishing after teammates’ passes. That’s exactly what Garrison is, as he proved last season. He has definitely made a lot of progress and we can see that he can definitely go even higher. So the way I would answer that question is that, again, our priority was more on the perimeter, and we wanted more versatility in the front line.
– Are you satisfied with the assembled composition? Will the upcoming season be calmly awaited, seeing how the other teams of the Lithuanian Basketball League are equipped?
– Looking at paper today, we are satisfied. Again, it’s early to judge, the season will tell how that stacks up. It’s always easy to talk in the summer about who will take which places, but we know very well how things work out during the season and how many unplanned situations there are like injuries, some inconsistencies from players. Satisfied for today, and we’ll see how everything goes there.
As for the LKL, it really makes me happy that the league is becoming more competitive and there are more equal teams that can create a greater opposition to the leaders of the league. From this, everyone is better off, greater competition promotes really good things, promotes improvement. I am very happy that LKL is getting stronger.
– The European Cup season will start earlier than last season. Looking at the formations of the other teams in the tournament, is this Wolves Twinsbet line-up capable of fighting for a place in the play-offs above all else?
– On paper it looks like this. Time will tell if our plans, our thoughts will translate into those victories and entry to the next stage. Again, there’s a lot you can’t plan for, especially health issues and injuries. Let’s remember last season, which really cost us dearly. We hope for the best, we hope that we stay healthy and get that result.
2024-08-13 19:21:38