Motiejūnas, who has chosen a new coach who does not belong to the Euroleague clan: there is a risk, but fresh blood is an advantage for us



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There, the Austrians shone last season, as the Salt Lake City stars under his leadership were among the leaders of the NBA G League, and he himself became the best coach in the entire league of the year.

It is true that a specialist from Vienna does not yet have work experience in top-tier European clubs: he has had to be an assistant or train only a few Austrian and German clubs.

Probably the strongest record of his European career to date is the assistant position of the German national team at the 2015 European Championship, where the Germans remained in 18th place.

Incidentally, then-M. Schiller boss Chris Fleming is now assisting the head coach of the NBA club Chicago Bulls, whose vice president of basketball operations is Lithuanian Artūras Karnišovas, Jim Boylen.

New helmsman Žalgiris is known as a coach with a clear system and the ability to engage players in him, whose team excelled in the NBA G championship with unusually smart basketball for this league.

After the interviews with the candidates for the coaching position, the management of “Žalgiris” was very impressed by M. Schiller, who bribed with his vast baggage of knowledge, versatility, discipline and ability to demand the maximum result from his players.

“Martin is still a young enough but already experienced coach who met our requirements.” His vision is in line with the club’s values. Speaking to the coach, we saw how ambitious he is: our work approaches were completely in line. We believe that together with this coach we can continue to improve as an organization, “says Paulius Motiejūnas, Director of Žalgiris.

On Tuesday at noon, a special press conference of P. Motiejūnas was held at the Žalgiris Arena, where he explained the reasons for the election in more detail.

“We are delighted to have found a coach. We see that he is ambitious and modern. He is suitable for our team and the composition we have. So we are starting a new stage with a new coach,” said the head of Žalgiris.

He acknowledged that the search for Shar’s successor was not quick and easy.

“Openly, we have never had so many candidates. Only in the press, how many options were there, wrote both the agents and the coaches. We started the search from Lithuanians, but at the same time we realized that we are not hiring a nationality, but above all a coach who would work and achieve results with the team. When we failed with the Lithuanians and went to that international network, there were at least 30-40 of those last names, but we seriously spoke with four of them, and we chose one, “revealed a little behind scene of negotiations.

Žalgiris has agreed on a guaranteed two-year contract with the coach, who is increasingly appreciated throughout the Atlantic and has already been monitored by NBA clubs. M. Schiller should appear in Kaunas in the first or second week of August.

– How close was Žalgiris to reaching an agreement with Kazys Maksvytis?

– It is difficult to measure. We had already agreed with Kazis, only that the club did not start and everything. There was a good conversation and a successful discussion with the coach himself, he liked everything on our part, such a situation that he still has a valid contract and obligations.

– When will the new coach start picking up his staff?

– We will start talking about this today and we will put everything into it. Definitely in the near future, maybe in a week, we will be able to refine this. We have compiled our suggestions, which we can recommend to Lithuanians, but let you choose for yourself. I don’t think one hundred percent of their headquarters is Lithuanian, but most of them should be Lithuanian. The same with composition: we believe that when a new coach joins, the position of a new player will also be his.

– You said you were looking for a hungry and motivated coach. Has Mr. Schiller been your main objective from the beginning?

I can not say that. We choose many last names and put together all the pros and cons. Age was a problem. We use modern technologies, we wanted the coach to become familiar with them. Most didn’t want it to come with their entire system and we should change accordingly. We grew up with Shar and we want the people who worked on him and the entire organization to move forward. As a result, the main objective was the ambition and hunger of the coach.

– Schiller is not from the Euroleague coaching clan. Can’t you see the risk in that?

– There is a risk that you do not belong to the Euroleague coaching clan, but we consider that it is an advantage that is not known and eradicated In Europe. We understand that you will need support and we are ready to give it to you. And from him, from the beginning, we feel a great desire to come and take advantage of this opportunity. That hunger really felt from him.

We talked to him about those big differences in what’s happening in European basketball and the NBA. We agree that there is no bad style and that we will seek the most suitable winning combination. We believe that this is fresh blood that can grow with us and we will grow with it.

– Is the contract with him for two years or according to the “1 + 1” formula?

– You are guaranteed two years. The coach could really stay in the United States and qualify for the NBA assistant coaches, but he decided to travel with us. We need to show you our trust and we will show it because we believe in this process and understand that soon there will be no results here. We really did not imagine it and everything will return to normal immediately. It will take patience and a lot of work. We are ready for that.

We remind you that after failing to come to an agreement with Darius Maskoliūnas and Kazys Maksvytis, who did not want to run the Perm Parma club, Žalgiris started looking for a coach abroad.

This was necessary after the beginning of July. Jasikevičius helped sign a three-year contract with the Barcelona Club, which expires on June 30, 2023.

In the 2013-2014 season, Sharas ended his professional career at Žalgiris, then began working at the headquarters of the city’s club coaches.

After Gintaras Krapikas was fired in early 2016, Šaras, who was in the middle of the stage, led the Kaunas team for a season and a half.

During that time, the people of Žalgiris were invincible in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), won three King Mindaugas Cup trophies, in 2018 ranked third in the Euroleague, and next season reached the quarterfinals.

Although Shara took over the G. Krapikas combo board, when the 2016 season was already halfway there, Žalgiris’ team won 2 games out of 12 and finished last in the TOP-16 stage. Jasikevičius’s students won up to 64 games out of 128 in the Euroleague.

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