[ad_1]
Having experienced failures on the international front, already this weekend two of the most capable Lithuanian teams will try to rehabilitate themselves in the championship of the Lithuanian Basketball League (Betsafe-LKL); already on Saturday, Panevėžys Lietkabelis will host Vilnius Rytas at home.
According to the initial schedule, other competitors were scheduled for both teams: residents of Panevėžys had to meet Prienai CBet, and basketball players from Kėdainiai Nevėžio-Optibet were waiting for the capital club.
However, the cases of coronavirus made the two teams have to isolate themselves, so the two winners from last season will meet already on Saturday.
“It is better to prepare when you know that you are playing with that opponent a week ago, analyze him and his game, and now, in fact, it is a bit more difficult to prepare, but you need to understand the situation. We live in a pandemic and we just have to adapt to it, as we adapt in life as well as on the basketball court, “said a newcomer from Vilnius about the situation. Gytis Radzevičius.
Meanwhile, his namesake from Panevėžys “Lietkabelis” Gytis Masiulis He said that the opponent himself is not that important; Most importantly, the team has the opportunity to step on the parquet.
“There is no big difference, it was more difficult to go that month without a match, because we don’t play anywhere. I’m glad we can still play and at least have another team in the meantime, because we have a lot of games planned,” said G. Masiulis .
Due to the coronavirus outbreak in the team, the Panevėžys club was in an ungrateful situation: even some LKL matches had to be postponed, as well as a couple of battles in the European Cup competitions. The Nenad Chanak students returned to the local championships last week, they had not played LKL for 42 days.
G. Masiulis was one of the basketball players who overcame the virus.
“It was a bit more difficult for a couple of days, but then I had to exercise at home, connect to a computer and watch the coach on the screen. It was a novelty and a bit strange, but it is a thing of the past and we hope that at the end of the season there will be no more diseases of this type ”, – the Lietkabelis basketball player recounted the experience.
Interestingly, the winger, who returned to the lineup after the break, played two very solid games: he scored 22 points and 29 utility points in Neptuno’s basket, helping the team win 90:80, and midweek he scored 13 points in the European Cup, 9 rebounds. balls and 17 utility points. However, Lietkabelis 77:86 was not equal to Telenet Giants of Antwerp.
The player himself says that such indicators are not accidental: he already feels completely healthy and has returned to his optimal form.
“I didn’t really exercise for a month, I had a lot of time to play sports individually, without coaches, so I think I am fully recovered and now I am glad that I have managed to be in good shape.
Of course, a defeat like this crosses a bit, it was a very important duel for us, we complicated our situation a bit in the European Cup, but we still have opportunities and we will try to fight until the end and go further ”, said G. about the situation on the international front. Masiulis.
The Vilnius club also did not escape the coronavirus: Maurice Ndour was infected with it when he went to the camp of the national team, as well as Ryan Boatright, who only came to Vilnius. Arnas Butkevičius and Rokas Gustys also suffered long-term injuries on the team, and Andrew Goudelock also left the lineup last weekend.
The capital’s basketball players, who were in an unenviable position, capitulated against Kaunas “Žalgiris” last week at 45:92, and a couple of days after a persistent fight in the FIBA Champions League 81:85 they had to admit the Riga VEF advantage.
“Each game brings something, we saw our mistakes, what we do wrong. Of course, such defeats are not pleasant, but we can learn useful things from them, ”G. Radzevičius, the capital club’s forward, told LKL.lt last week.
In that encounter with the Riga team, the basketball player scored 12 points, bounced 7 balls and was the most useful player on the team with 21 utility points.
“Those games were such that some players knew we would play more. Every game is important for confidence, for a better state of mind. This type of game is always necessary and, often, it can bring confidence and get out of the way, ”the basketball player said.
However, the situation in Vilnius seems to stabilize a bit: M. Ndouras has already returned to Lithuania with the team, the club also announced that newcomer R. Boatright has recovered from the virus.
According to G.Radzevičius, every returning basketball player is extremely important to the team.
“The fact is very important because the training process is very important so that we have at least ten people to be able to play five against five. Each returning player is important, the more they are high-level players, it benefits both the coaches and the team as a whole. Now it is just a matter of regret that everyone can get back to good sporting form, “said G. Radzevičius.
However, there was a time when there was no talk of training five to five: the coronavirus, injuries and the national team made the team at the same time so that only three basketball players on the team could fully train.
“The situation was not good, but the process did not stop, we could not sit at home, we played sports in three. We were physically prepared, we stayed in shape so that we didn’t get out of the rhythm of the game, and we improved our shooting, dribbling and playing one-on-one, so it was not a job during the season, but something reminiscent of summer, when it was works more individually. G. Radzevičius.
The third match of the week awaits the Vilnius people on Saturday and, as the interlocutor said, it will definitely not be easy.
“It is a very well equipped team, it has very good defenders, good tall people. They love physical basketball, the form may not be the best because it had some quarantine. But a really dangerous team, it has good players and a good coach” , G. Radzevičius praised the people of Panevėžys.
For his part, G. Masiulis assured that it would be important to stop the snipers of the capital team.
“They are trying to play fast basketball, a very dynamic team, shooting a lot of triples and we will have to reduce those triples, not to allow them to create good situations, because they really are a good team,” he said.
It is interesting that Lietkabelis promises to present an innovation at this meeting: virtual fans, whose images will be displayed on special screens installed in the stands.
When asked about it, Masiulis smiled and said that he couldn’t even imagine what it would actually look like.
“I don’t even know, I haven’t had to play with virtual fans, it will be really interesting to look at my fans and I will wonder how it will look,” he told LKL.lt.
It is interesting that the LKL title sponsor considers Panevysžys’ team to be the favorite in this match and gives them a nearly 58 percent chance of victory.
A match will also be played on Sunday: Utena “Juventus” will host Klaipeda “Neptune” at their stadium.
The match will be broadcast on the BTV channel and LKL.lt starting at 5 pm, and bettors give the hosts the advantage and give them a 79 percent chance of winning.
Help us create good content: become a Krepsinis.net sponsor >>
[ad_2]
