Surprised by the Euroleague decision, Rytas considers organizing his own tournament

The Euroleague announced on Friday that 24 youth teams will participate in this season’s Adidas Next Generation tournament. On this occasion, Lithuania’s honor in this prestigious tournament will be defended only by “Žalgiris”, whose youth will participate in the selection tournament in the German city of Munich in January.

“Ryto”, whose youth team was a former member of the tournament, fighting in it since the 2007-2008 season, is no longer on the list of participants. Vilnius’ team turn in 2012 and 2018 also won the title of winner, and this year they won a ticket to the final tournament, which did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the Delfi website, Rytas director Justas Jankauskas stated that the Euroleague decision was unexpected for the club.

“It is very difficult to say why we are not on the published list of participants. We apply to participate. The youth team has a history in this tournament and our pyramid has a clear direction and we have already proven our value. So it is really strange that we do not have young people in the Euroleague “.

Rytas, who has been cooperating with the Euroleague for many years and has played in the European Cup in recent years, has decided to change direction this year and has resigned from the most prestigious tournament on the Old Continent: now the Vilnius team is competing in the FIBA ​​Champions League.

However, when explaining the decision not to admit the Rytas youth to the Adidas Next Generation tournament, the Euroleague leaders did not mention Vilnius’s connections to FIBA. Furthermore, J. Jankauskas was assured that the Vilnius team is on the expanded list of participants and can still receive an invitation.

“The official reasons are that there are many teams, a decrease in the number of rounds and it is simply said that we did not have enough space. It is true that the Euroleague also says that we have the opportunity to participate if one of the current participants gives up. “

J. Jankauskas himself does not believe that this can really happen. The Rytas director suspects that the Euroleague is in principle in a position not to cooperate with the club that has chosen the FIBA ​​Champions League.

“It just came to our notice then. Our transition to the FIBA ​​Champions League is a very real political reason why we are not needed for the tournaments organized by the Euroleague,” said J. Jankauskas, who replaced Rolandas Jarutis at a high position a month ago.

The youth of the Euroleague has also been won twice by the youth of “Žalgiris”, but the people of Kaunas have triumphed for a long time, in 2003 and 2007. Last year’s tournaments were more successful for Vilnius residents: in 2012 they were led to the top by Edvinas Šeškus, and in 2018 by Marekas Blaževičius, Deividas Sirvydis and Domantas Vilys.

“It just came to our knowledge then. It also gave a lot to the players themselves. We see that the 2018 youth players are already playing at the highest level. These types of tournaments give a lot, because they add experience to the players, and the club sees how. level we are in relation to teams from other countries ”, said J. Jankauskas.

The director acknowledged that the loss of such a tournament was a significant loss for Rytas, but added that alternatives were already being sought.

“The loss is there, but we have already started to think about how to compensate for that loss with one or two high-level international tournaments. The Euroleague tournament is important, but there is a different type of tournament. It simply will not have the same prestige as the name of the Euroleague.

We look for opportunities and consider different options. We are also looking for tournaments that we can join when we go to another country, and we are also considering the possibility of taking over the organization of the tournament ourselves, ”said J. Jankauskas.

The director of “Rytas” regrets that the capital club is missing the opportunity to demonstrate its exchange advantage over main rival “Žalgiris” at international level, but is pleased that the clashes are increasingly colorful in the National League of Basketball (NKL).

“You are not going to do anything, there will be quite a few clashes on the local front. We also see the so-called opposition in the NKL championship, where fans of the teams are already choosing to support the youth and create new colors for such competitions creating an impressive spectacle.

And the most important thing for us is that our young people compete at a high level. That the players would play against strong opponents and surpass not only the young basketball players of “Žalgiris”, but also all the other teams, “said J. Jankauskas.

This season, the youngsters from Žalgiris, who took fifth place in the NKL, are slightly better in the NKL championship, taking four victories in five rounds and beating 86:81 in a match between themselves. The Vilnius Perlas-Energija team won two victories in five rounds and is eighth in the standings.