The Žalgiris players devoted the first part of the training session, which lasted about an hour, to physical exercises, and immediately after that, they took the ball in their hands and worked for more than an hour to start building the foundations of the upcoming season’s game.
After training, physical training coach Justinas Grainys and Žalgiris players Edgaras Ulanovas and Brady Maneks shared their impressions of the first training session with “Žalgiris TV”.
“As always – in the first training everyone tries hard, performs exercises, maybe only later they can see some nuances. We haven’t highlighted the big effort yet. This is like the first introductory training, maybe not introductory, because everyone has already worked, but as you saw, our preparation is a little different – we immediately integrate basketball. Everything is going smoothly, progressively. So today we didn’t need that maximum effort to see who is better, who is faster, who is stronger. But the introductory part went well”, said J.Grainys.
One of the representatives of the “Žalgiris” coaching staff emphasized that the coaching staff spends a lot of time discussing how to further organize the training process.
“We have to forget that physical training and basketball should be separated. The load must be combined during basketball training. Physical fitness – as an additional part. We cannot do two different things. Through basketball, we try to get into physical shape. We discuss a lot, we talk with the coaches, how everything should look like, what the intervals are. We solve all this together,” explained the specialist.
Team captain E. Ulanovas is already starting his 10th season with “Žalgiris”. The Kaunian did not emphasize the long duration of the first training session and singled out the desire to work seen in the eyes of his teammates.
“I’ve already had many of those beginnings, so somehow I don’t emphasize everything too much. It’s just that the coach gave a lot of information today that will be useful in the upcoming weeks of preparation. Since we exercise once a day, those two hours and a bit are not much – just one workout. Anyway, everything is fine, you can see that the players’ eyes are burning in the first training sessions. Maybe you even need to stop sometimes, be more patient, listen to the details, to the coach’s comments. Little by little, we will improve what is needed, we will work on what the coaches want”, assured E. Ulanovas.
In the first training session, not only all the players of the main team (except Tomás Dimšas, who is recovering from surgery), but also a group of youth team players: Dovydas Buika, Mantas Juzēnas, Nedas Raupelis and Aleksas Bieliauskas.
“Now we also have young people who help us. There seemed to be a lot of people in training, we have a big coaching staff. It seems we can barely fit on the basketball court. But it’s okay. The most important thing is that everyone is rested and longed for, they feel positive energy and great desire. That’s the most important thing. Competition is welcome and there will be plenty throughout the season. I think it will raise everyone’s personal level and desire to improve and strengthen the team”, said E. Ulanovas.
American Brady Manek, who is in his second season with Zalgiris, was satisfied with the team’s work in the first training session.
“The training was long. There was a lot of learning. Trying to understand where everyone needs to be on the field. Trying to figure things out. I don’t even doubt that we will be able to fight it properly in the coming days. Anyway, the first day was very good. There was a lot of energy. It’s a lot of fun, – explained B. Manek. – I feel good. We were taught many things. Lots of talking. Lots of quick game stuff. It was good. I think we all had a good day.”
Žalgiris will play their first friendly matches in Kaunas on September 4 and 8. Zalgiris Insider will broadcast the match live. September 9-15 the teams are waiting for the pre-season camp in Turkey, where three more friendly matches will be played.
2024-08-22 12:23:35