[ad_1]
Artūras Jomantas It is already counting the twentieth season in the Betsafe-LKL championship. If at the beginning of our career we thought of a 35-year-old basketball player as a defender, then the evolving basketball player made A. Jomantas what is needed today: a tall, mobile man.
“Now I’m not doing anything with speed, but my head guides me, my physical strength. Basketball is not a sport where jumping high and running fast is not enough; you need to know where you are running. Sometimes it is better to arrive to the right point more slowly, “current Alytus veteran” Dzūkija “taught his experience.
The athlete began his career at the now-non-existent Mažeikiai Nafta Club when he was 16 years old. At the time, the young and inexperienced defender was paving the way to the career heights that awaited him. Until 9 of the 20 seasons in the Lithuanian championships, A. Jomantas defended the honor of the “Rytas” of Vilnius.
A.Jomantas and the company, which still had the name “Lietuvos rytas”, paved the way to the Euroleague, won the European Cup and twice defeated Kaunas “Žalgiris” in the “Betsafe-LKL” final.
True, ten years ago, height was a completely different player. During his long career, A. Jomantas has always been characterized by fighting, good physical preparation, but basketball trends at that time and the height of 200 cm limited the player to the position of defender or a slight advantage on the field. .
Over the years, basketball has gotten much faster, making slow, tall midfielders less dominant. A. Jomantas himself has to experience this with his own coat, who was a defender ten years ago, now in Alytus “Dzūkija” he often takes over the midfielder position.
“Now I play even more in the ‘center’ than on the edge … (laughs) Basketball progresses, like life. I never wondered what it would be like if there had been such a trend before. He also had to play against Arvydas Sabonis when he finished. his career at Žalgiris. Then there were really impressive dimensions. Now, of course, everything has changed, the players are much shorter, “the player described the discreet blow.
The basketball player who has spent his entire professional career in Lithuania knows the country’s basketball cuisine well. An athlete valued in Dzūkija for his fighting and energy still occupies the position of captain.
The younger teammates look at the former player of the Lithuanian national team with respect.
“We agree perfectly with all the members of the team. It is certainly not that I teach young people much, but I have my word. It is fantastic that we have formed a team that listens and does not prove their truths. It is true that it was very strange when a young player he turned to me “You, Arthur” (laughs). I said that maybe we can do without this excessive respect, we are in the same dressing room, we represent the same club “, A. Jomantas recalled the moments of laughter.
It is true that statistics show that A. Jomantas’ best year is far from over. Although Alytus Dzūkija has played only 8 games so far, the veteran’s indicators are impressive: 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 19 utility points per game.
Statistically, the 35-year-old from Mažeikiai plays the best of the season of his career. He demonstrated something similar only in the legendary 2008-2009 “Lietuvos ryte” season, when he accumulated 16.8 utility points.
“I played in both the summer league and the three-on-three tournament, so I managed to stay in good shape over the summer. Sure, we’ve only played 8 games so it’s hard to deal with anything. And the teams themselves have players, they don’t have them. I pay the least attention to those numbers. I’d be happy to exchange those 19 utility points for some wins (laughs), “revealed the secret of my success.
The forward, who hinted at the success of the team, was not really sad. Alytus Dzūkija’s success, ruled out by experts before the season, would be much higher than the ninth place in the Betsafe-LKL ranking.
“Dzūkija” was just two digits behind Kaunas “Žalgiris” (62:95) and Vilnius “Rytas” (80:90), and they won their two victories in 8 matches against “Šiauliai” (102: 71) and “Nevėžis-Optibet” (80:74).
“I really heard that there were experts who wrote to us. I am very interested now in your opinion on whether we are really as weak as we were ‘attracted’ before the season, “says A. Jomantas. -” We have to look each other directly in the eye, we are not rich enough to choose players first. We take what’s left or seek undisclosed talent. The season is fun. Many teams are losing, but we are not as bad as they said.
The situation is also strongly altered by the coronavirus situation.
“It is really difficult, because you are preparing for an opponent, and when the day of the match arrives, you will discover that there will be none. This has happened to us more than once. There is no rhythm of the game, it is worth mentioning that the matches and training they are completely different things. Nothing, we will survive, all the teams are facing it now. “
Alytus “Dzūkija” men will return to the square on Saturday. At Dzūkai’s house we challenge the Prienai CBet team.
Help us create good content: become a sponsor of Krepsinis.net >>
[ad_2]
