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Tanoka Beardas, who is well known to Kaunas “Žalgiris” and Lithuanian basketball fans, spends his days in the home state of Utah after his career as a basketball player.
Tanoka Beard
| Position: | C, PF |
| Years: | 49 |
| Height: | 206 cm |
| Weight: | 114 kilograms |
| Place of birth: | Ogdenas, JAV |
Here he works as a coach for the school’s basketball team and, among other children, teaches his son the secrets of the orange ball game.
It transmits to young people the experiences they have acquired during their careers in Europe. He spent more time in Kaunas, where he arrived in early 2003 and played until 2007. end.
BasketNews.lt colleague Vytautas Mikaitis met Tanoka in the United States, where the former Žalgiris captain shared stories from the past and showed great memories.
“13 years. It’s too long, they ran too fast, remembering the last time they were in Lithuania, said Beard. – Everyday life goes by, children grow up, suddenly you see that you are old, your hair no longer grows. What a life. “
Beard came to Kaunas after a colorful career in Europe, where he competed for Real Madrid and Joventut Badalona at Lokomotiv Rostov. It was from the last Russian city, Beard, in 2002-2003. arrived in Kaunas mid-season.
“At that time, my career was at a stage where I wanted to feel good both on and off the field. I had great teammates. The coaches, although sometimes we frowned at them, but it was because of our fights. It was such a positive experience that I just didn’t want to leave.
As soon as I arrived in Kaunas, my goal was to help rebuild the champion team. I didn’t get that, so I wanted to continue until I did, “Beard added.
He remembers perfectly that Edas Cota, Kornelis David and Mindaugas Timinskas helped to get used to when they arrived in Kaunas.
Already in Beard’s first year in Kaunas, “Žalgiris” regained the LKL championship title, and the next season he was closer to the Euroleague title. Then the team led by him and Arvydas Sabonis did not reach the final four only through a series of unfortunate coincidences, and Beard remembers this match perfectly so far.
“We were very close. Very close – said the former resident of Žalgiris. – It was a painful night, I will never forget it. Saba played for himself at the usual level, the EuroLeague MVP. And he basically threw us on his shoulders. We were missing. very little, we were very close. I just had no luck. It’s like a nightmare. Sometimes I wake up and … “
When asked or accused of something for such a resentful reason, Beard first put his finger on it.
“Me. As a fighter, I always feel like I could have done something else. That’s what happened … You can look at the record, but I’ll never forget when I defended Shara’s pitch, it jumped me, and normally it would be nothing, and the judges they called the foul, I remember how Gustas got hold of the ball, the opponents fouled him.
I probably didn’t have to fight for the ball, but I was ready to fight for the ball if he ever missed. One mistake happened after another and it was as if the snowball effect came together in a bad experience. We were very close and only the small details did not allow us to win, ”said Tanoka.
He left Žalgiris in 2007. In the autumn, when after a conflict with manager Rimantas Grig, he was suspended and stopped playing.
Beard was last in Lithuania in 2009, when he visited Kaunas with the Tartu Rock team. After that season, he ended his professional career and stopped visiting Europe again. Now he says that one day he wants to bring his children to Kaunas and show him the city with which he associates his best years of career.
“I don’t like to travel. I traveled so much when I was young that I didn’t want to travel anymore. It’s just because I’m old and stubborn. I have kids too, I don’t need them,” Beard said.
Still, he hopes to one day take the children to the city where he spent the best years of his career.
“I keep coming back, I just don’t. I don’t want to spend 12 hours on a plane. But I want to go back soon. I want to see the sand, I want to see how the city has changed. I’m sure Kaunas is a completely different city now. I want to visit some other places in Europe. The plan is to go back to Europe, but I’m not tempted to spend 12 or 15 hours on the plane, “said Beard.
The 45 min. The interview with Beard is available to BasketNews.lt users. You can become them by clicking here.
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