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Photo: BNS
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In the middle of the calendar summer, the Utena Juventus club reached the team’s goal. The team had to sign contracts with a couple of legionaries and begin preparations for the new season. The team manager, Eimantas Skersis, spoke about the summer work “utenosjuventus.lt” already done and still awaiting.
Colons are thrown this season
– Summer is halfway, the team is in full swing, how do you evaluate the work done so far?
– We work according to plan. It was important to find out the situation with the sponsors first, and then, when we already had the numbers, we started meeting. It’s funny that there were a lot of people left on the team from last season, some familiar faces are back. Everything else is happening the way we hoped we would have planned. We managed to reach an agreement with Mindaugas Kupšas, Martynas Gecevičius joined us, which is a great achievement for our team. We are moving on the line we wanted to move.
– When do you plan to complete the assembly work?
– We have nowhere to hurry. They let us sign a contract with the main player and the main forward. I have little doubt that both positions will be filled by legionaries. We have candidates, people we would give priority to, but their prices are too high for us so far. We want them to be high caliber players, and they still dream of big salaries in mid-July. We will wait and see what the situation will be in the first weeks of August.
– Was Gytis Radzevičius’s decision to leave the team unexpected? And how much did that adjust the team lineup?
– There really wasn’t much surprise. The speeches have been going on for a long time, a Gytis agent has repeatedly said that there will likely be a solution. Only a small technical error has brought some confusion. However, we stand out with the beautiful, we wish the success of the player. There was definitely no conflict, the situation was resolved very well. And in terms of alignment, we had to wait until July 15 and only then could we start talking to other people in that position. I had to wait for the officiality. As, as I said, legionnaires prices are too high for us so far, Gytis’s decision did not bring any major adjustments to our plans.
– Many languages also master arno beručka. What is the situation with him?
– The situation is quite complicated. The lineup shows that he would once again take on the role of the eleventh player, which would be a severe blow to that player. Arnas needs to play, and when he has Ignas Vaitkas, Gecevičius, Marius Runkauskas and another future legionary, we simply don’t have minutes of that game. Especially when we are not playing in European tournaments. We then allow the player to search for another team. It would be very painful to say goodbye, but it would be even more painful to ruin a young player’s career by keeping him on a bench. Arn has already grown to a certain level and hopefully the agent will find him somewhere where he can get his game minutes.
– You talked about European tournaments. Does it hurt that FIBA hasn’t given a place in the Champions League tournament?
– Antanas Sireika always likes to repeat the saying about the stick and the two ends. That saying also applies this time. Yes, there is definitely a bit of frustration because we didn’t get a seat at least in the qualifying tournament. We think we could really play there, plus, in my opinion, Lithuania, as a shareholder in the Champions League, really deserved more than a commercially arriving team and a selection tournament. But there is, as it is. Since we had no space, it saved us money. We may spend the funds we have set aside for expenses in the Champions League for other purposes. Suppose you are buying legionaries or the equipment needed for a fitness trainer or medical staff. We will try to advance to a higher level not by playing in European tournaments, but in other ways.
– Has the team already set goals for next season?
– We haven’t talked about that yet. There is always a club board meeting before camp begins, where board members set goals for the team. So the final lineup is already known, and we can also see if we can at least try to guess the ability of the other teams. In this case, the goals are realistic. The fact is that next season we will try to put everyone back in their throats, to fight for the victories in each game, but we will know the specific objectives in mid-August.
– Do you have plans for a previous camp?
– Last season we organized the camp in Utena for the first time. We went nowhere for both economy and convenience. In Utena we have an arena, a stadium, a large gym, pine forests, parks. There is everything you need to prepare for the season. We are satisfied with this plan, so I believe we will continue to fulfill it this year. We plan to start the camp on August 17, so we will have to prepare for the first official match in just over a month.
– Probably how much the summer job was bothered by Sigismund Skučas trauma?
– Of course. He never wants a player to come to the preparation field injured. This immediately stops the entire process. However, we took a risk, we decided to send the main players to the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament, so now we just have to accept the situation. It is a shame that this has happened, but we have no doubts as we go along. He is a hard worker, a professional, so he will definitely prepare for the season not worse than others, but working according to a special and personalized program.
– The third round of the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament is currently underway. How do you rate the performance of the team in this tournament?
– When you win, you can only evaluate well. We won the first two stages, we also reached the first eight in the third, so the results are excellent. Of course, in addition to the Walk, the team may be a little under centimeters, but there are other players who really do a great job. Our attitude does not change. As before the tournament, we want to fight for the victories and be as high as possible. And how it will be, we will see it in the final stage.
– What is the impression of the tournament itself?
– Not bad. It’s a shame that due to the family situation, I couldn’t make it to any of the stages, but I watched all the matches on TV. Lots of tough fights, lots of physical fights, lots of intrigue. Everything the spectators need in the tournament is there. Both players need to adapt and umpires. Normal because it is anything but new. In my opinion, the only thing I don’t like a bit is too short attack time. I think if it weren’t for a 12-second attack but, say, 15 seconds, basketball would be better. There wouldn’t be so many hasty and illogical attacks, especially when you can’t attack on the first try. But here is just my observation here.
– In the middle of the week, you started exchanging season tickets for the 2020-21 season. You became the first to start on the field. Why did you decide to start trading so early?
– Once again, we have received confirmation that from September 1, the number of spectators of sporting and cultural events will be unlimited, so we decided to start. In addition, many people in the city asked what the situation would be, if it would be possible to watch the game. We saw a lot of interest, so we wanted to show people that we were expecting a good script and a match with the fans. I think our decision was really worth it as we sold 37 percent of all subscriptions last season on the first day. It’s fun for fans to believe that the team is preparing for the season. We will try not to disappoint you with our game.
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