Žibėnas, who emphasized trust: “This series belonged to us” / News

Vilnius “Rytas” got through the LKL semi-final stage as quickly as possible, and after the third win against Panevėžys “Lietkabelis”, coach Giedrius Žibėnas was happy with the achieved goal of the season and thanked his assistants.

“The main thing in our team is mutual trust,” Rytas helmsman Žibėnas said at the press conference. – It transports us and helps us a lot. I think the players also feel the confidence of the coaches and we coaches feel the confidence of the players. That connection is also in the office. It is important.

I can dedicate this victory to my coaching staff. I am a happy coach with such staff members, starting with Giorgu Dedas, who is a walking basketball encyclopedia. Being traumatic and being in good physical shape in such a part of the season is a great credit to Tad Jackūnas, we are grateful to him. I couldn’t relax for a couple more weeks because that peak will be necessary for a few more matches. Gustas Maskoliūnas also understands basketball a lot and every day step by step he becomes a professional. It really makes a great contribution to individual workouts. This is how we share our work. If anyone has heard my press conferences before, I have always said that the goal of our season is to stay healthy at a crucial time. This goal is achieved. And then the good things come.

I respect Lietkabel, today they fought as equals, but we were definitely worthy of victory. We wish them a good fight for third place and the bronze medals. But this series belonged to us. “

In the final of the Rytas series, he will play Kaunas “Žalgiris” for up to three wins. The fight will start on Wednesday.

Man of the match
	EFF 2. 3
Martin Echod
Points	19
Precision	6-9
Bounces	7
Effective transfers	two

– Coach, did you expect to knock down such mountains when you became the team’s coach in January?
– Really so. I immediately felt the confidence of the players, it was very encouraging. The players are my guide and will continue to be until I am here.

– In the semifinals, “Rytas” hit 3-pointers impressively, as if you had flooded your opponents’ apartment. How do you interpret that?
– We have two great high-level people and a frequent opponent comes to the rescue, takes a risk. We take those risks. Please seek help, but we have a lot of snipers. Not snipers, but snipers. The pitchers just throw and the snipers hit.

Today we saw that at the beginning of the third quarter they were defending more aggressively on the perimeter, we did not even have freer looks, so we had to look for other ways. Today we have made many psychological mistakes, but we have stayed together until the end and that is the most important thing.

– When Ryan Boatright left and nobody changed him, there was a lot of talk that the “East” would lack players. But doesn’t your team miss that?
– Let’s get back to the same thing: it’s trust. Both Augis and Dovis deserved confidence in their hard black work and patience. We just didn’t want to upset the players. They deserve what they have. Here’s your team, your colors. Therefore, we decided to keep them in this position. As the results show, we did not ask.

– Even before the series, the club leaders extended their contract with you for the next season. What does this mean for you?
– This issue – more after the season, we haven’t finished it yet. Sure, it means a lot, but I’ve never gotten higher than teams. Now it’s all about the team while you’re there, so be it. I will never occupy a higher shelf. There must be respect for the players and management and trust in others that drive us forward.

– “Morning” enters the final with its best versions. Can this allow you to expect an interesting ending with “Žalgiris”?
– I’ll start with the same, our goal is to be healthy in the final. We already have it. We have to stay in shape because the game will be played on Wednesday. Another objective is to enjoy the rest of the game, the finals. We are the ones who don’t talk on screens or in the media about what other teams might be doing. We talk in the square and we want to continue like this.