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Photo: BNS
BNS photo
In recent weeks, the coronavirus has hit two clubs in the Lithuanian Basketball League hard: Kėdainiai “Nevėžis-Optibet” and Pasvalys “Pienovaigždės”.
Eight cases of COVID-19 infection were detected in both teams, but the situation of the clubs is different: the Kėdainiai club will have to duel Klaipėda “Neptūnas” on Sunday, at that time “Pieno Žvaigždės” will not play this weekend of week.
The BasketNews.lt website spoke with the director of Nevėžis-Optibet, Vytenis Gulbinas, and the head coach of Pieno Žvaigždės, Gediminas Petrauskas, who spoke about the challenges and problems in maintaining sport form and trying to prepare the players for the next matches.
Nevėžis-Optibet reported the first infection on December 7, but repeated tests showed additional cases. During this period, LKL postponed two Kėdainiai matches – with the Kaunas “Žalgiris” and Vilnius “Rytas” teams.
“The coronavirus affected us very strongly, because we only had one case at the beginning, but we felt that things were not as they should be,” Gulbin told BasketNews.lt. “We decided not to exercise for a few days and repeat the tests, which showed 7 additional cases.”
Club director Kėdainiai is also not sure where so many players and staff members could have been infected, because the Nevėžis-Optibet team has strict rules.
Basketball players know what to do in their spare time and what not to do, and for the most part they live in a home-arena-home mode.
“Today, 8 people have recovered or got sick, but some are traumatized. In fact, between 4 and 5 players play sports, so the situation is not enviable,” said the director of Nevėžis.
Before the next match with Neptune, Gulbin stated that he understood the LKL rules, but made no secret that the number of Nevėžis-Optibet players was extremely limited. He confirmed that four more basketball players are still sick with COVID-19.
“We will have a very important game on Sunday. I think Neptune is one of our main competitors this year and we cannot physically prepare or think about the vision of the new coach and his presentation. We may have 6 people in the game and the requirement of LKL reaches 8 players, so we have that required number on paper and therefore cannot claim rescheduling the meeting.
Then we will have those 8 players, but, for example, Panagiočius Kalaitzaki has a broken nose, we have other more serious injuries. In fact, we have 5 defenders and 1 forward. So the preparation is completely incomplete and it’s a great shame, “said Gulbin.
According to the website BasketNews.lt, forwards Vaidas Čepukaitis and Julius Kazakauskas will have a duel with the port city team. There are also doubts about Ignas Lukošius’s ability to appear in the square.
BNS photo
Nevėžis-Optibet has still tried to postpone the weekend’s match, but has not received a positive response from LKL.
“We try to negotiate because we see a big problem with the health of the players in this place. We have examples in the United States, a season ago we saw the situation at the Crvena Zvezda club in Belgrade (in August, a forward Michael Ojo, who had contracted a coronavirus, stopped taking anapilin – aut. Past. I don’t even want to think about such tragic cases , but taking care of the health of the players we ask to postpone the game. I understand the situation, the rules are rules, “said Gulbin.
“Still, we will not be able to risk the health of the players, if one or two basketball players return from self-isolation on the 19th or 20th, they will not play, because we will have to do cardiac tests, evaluate the condition,” continued the director of Nevėžis- Optibet. – No matter how much players play sports at home and try to keep fit, the effects of the disease are felt for a long time.
We’re in a bad situation where we can’t do anything but go to games and play with what we have, but we’re certainly not going to put the health of basketball players at risk. “
Gulbin also revealed that the Nevėžis-Optibet team tried to search for reinforcements and the RKL team from the city, but the search was unsuccessful.
“The situation is complicated by the fact that we do not have a youth team. We also look at the Kėdainiai team that plays in RKL, but there are practically no basketball players under the age of 21 who can be double licensed,” he said. Gulbins.
Gulbin also added that the current situation makes work very difficult for new coach David Gale.
“The coach can’t do anything and help, because the majority of the elementary team is not with him,” Gulbin continued. – He works with the 4-5 basketball players mentioned above and is eager for the rest of the team to join. The worst thing is that according to this type of game, the fans of our team begin to appreciate the work of the new coach. Such a team does not reflect our capabilities at all, because most will simply not exist. “
However, the director of Nevėžis-Optibet said that the club trusts the new coach and is not going to jump to conclusions.
“We will definitely not evaluate him within the club in the near future and we will wait until most of the players return to the roster and the team can train with the full team.” We really understand that the technician’s task is difficult and the current situation is not as expected ”, said the interlocutor.
And at what rate do basketball players live who cannot play sports with a team?
“The remaining basketball players play sports remotely, but this time we also have symptomatic cases, so some players are physically unable to play sports,” Gulbin said. “So the situation is really complicated.”
The “milk stars” live in similar states of mind. It is true that, unlike Nevėžys-Optibet, in the Pasvalys team, the COVID-19 infection was infected by 8 basketball players and the rest of the staff were not affected.
As of December 8, the people of Pasvalys, who are in isolation, will not play next weekend and will have spent a total of three LKL matches: with Klaipėda “Neptūnas”, Kaunas “Žalgiris” and Alytus “Dzūkija “.
“We all sit at home, we don’t have the opportunity to play sports, so we do everything remotely with the fitness trainer Mantas Valčiukaitis,” Petrauskas told the BasketNews.lt website. – Every day we monitor the players, the team doctor is in constant contact with them and we monitor their health. Thank God we still have no serious complications. “
Photo L.Šilkaitis / BasketNews.lt
The technician also confirmed that after the ten days required from the start of the self-isolation, the team will take the COVID-19 tests again and the players who have delivered negative results will be able to return to the training process.
Still, the current situation is forcing the team to maneuver to provide the necessary assistance to players in self-isolation.
“It just came to our attention then. Whoever needed it, medications were delivered. During training the heart rate is measured, which we try not to raise. We have taken all the necessary measures, and once we return from self-isolation, we will have to do cardiograms and a thorough medical checkup. It’s definitely not a laugh here, “said Petrauskas.
The strategist on Pasvalys’ team did not hide that working remotely has its downsides, from a lack of inventory to the possibility of causing problems for people who have nothing to do with the team.
“Everything is going well with the work in training, it’s fun that the players work hard. They are professional athletes for whom sport is embodied in blood and when they can not only play sports but also go out of the house for a cross country run, it is brutally difficult.
We try to give the maximum load, but we have to understand that we cannot remotely create a level playing field for normal workouts because there are factors that simply interfere. Most of the players live in apartments and have neighbors, so if we start jumping or running from there, we’ll call the police. This only eliminates mobility or movements.
Another thing, no matter how much we want or are able to give a good load, we cannot give it because a good training at home requires equipment. Eight players have had COVID-19 and if we give in without consulting and monitoring their heart rate, we run the risk. This is not very intensive work, but we do not allow our body to relax completely with physical activity ”, concluded Petrauskas.
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