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Pasvalys’ “Milk Stars” arena is currently silent. After learning that some of the team’s players were infected with the coronavirus, they had to abandon the joint training process for a while.
Such a forced breakout brought Pasvalys’s speeding train to a halt very prematurely. Pieno Žvaigždės recently demonstrated enviable sporting form: he won five of the six Betsafe-LKL matches and crossed the Kėdainiai Nevėžis-Optibet barrier in the second stage of the Citadele King Mindaugas Cup (KMT) without much difficulty.
In the tournament table, the Pasvalys team (6/5) is currently in fourth place and leading the race for the dream spot in quadruple, although there is still a long way to go before the finish line.
LKL.lt was interviewed Gediminas Petrauskas not hiding – to look at the teams’ lineup too early, and even if you feel that the sports form is improving, you need to prepare only for the next match.
“Our job is to work for a game,” Pasvalys’s coach said. – Especially this season, because you plan to play with one opponent, and the day before the game you find out that there will be another. There may not be a lot of planning ahead, but with a physical trainer and an assistant, we try to make sure the players stay in shape for as long as possible and improve in the second half of the season. Of course, I wonder how self-isolation will change everything. “
– On December 8 we found out about the coronavirus cases in your team, what will it be like the day you find out? How much do we have to contribute in the near future?
– We had no major symptoms. In Kėdainiai, one of their players fell ill, so we had to check. It’s really not pleasant, now the most important thing is that there are no major complications and that we can get back to work faster.
We need to isolate ourselves now, because there are positive cases, it is time to move on. The trainings will be carried out only online, through applications. Every day we monitor the players, we contact them about their health.
– What impression does this unusual season leave so far?
– It’s not fun that there are no viewers, but we are happy to be able to do our job. People watch games on the Internet, on television. It’s better than not playing at all. The moment the championship ended on March 13 was much more difficult than the need to play without spectators.
– How satisfied are you with the game shown by the team recently?
– Some teams started to play better early, they were already in good shape. We started doing sports later, so we get fit a little later. I don’t get too stressed out. When we started the season, during the first four games that we played against Žalgiris and Rytas, we also lost against Nevėžis-Opitbet, but we didn’t have any real losses even in the first round.
– People in the basketball world put a label on the best composition of “Milk Stars” for your team. How do you react yourself to those thoughts?
– These are empty speeches. It doesn’t matter what alignment or player height you have. By budget, this is definitely not our strongest team. We hit the players with good value for money, we kept what we wanted to keep. The crowning of all will be the result; if not, those languages will not be interesting or necessary for anyone.
– It’s probably great that Brankas Mirkovičius is a major headache for league teams in such a year. Isn’t it scary that your strength will run out when the season turns to the other side?
– We are not afraid of being afraid, we work and we know that age, but it is only a passport. His body condition, health and care are not for a 38 year old athlete. The fact is that there is a risk and we have assumed it and we will do everything possible so that its shape does not fluctuate much.
– The team managed to attract Edgar Želionis, and already managed to become the MVP of the week for Betsafe-LKL. How many players at this level demonstrate the dedication and work ethic that inspires the entire team?
– A good example is contagious. I don’t want to underestimate the players who left, Zigmar Raim or Edgar Lasenberg, they weren’t malicious people who didn’t work or cause trouble at all. I’m glad that both the outgoing and incoming players are true professionals. I don’t recall any problems due to reluctance or any other reason during training. Edgar is a positive and communicative person, both on the bench and in the square, which really helps us. We are happy to have him both in terms of gameplay and personality, because he mixed with the team so quickly and smoothly.
– You trusted Tomas Lekūnas, who recovered from the injury, who did not have many offers in the summer. How much did you have to weigh that risk?
– We had enough information, because our fitness coach worked with him in Šiauliai in the summer. We knew his physical condition, his health, there was no risk. We had already had it in Pasvalys, so it is easier for him to come to the same coach, he knows the pros and cons. It was a win-win situation and we are trying to choose our own; we want wins and Tom wants to get a better contract, that’s why we are working.
– In the Citadele KMT tournament in the quarterfinals you will fight against “Žalgiris”. What was your own reaction to the drawn spells?
– Frankly, I had no provision, the fact that probably everyone wants to avoid “Žalgiris”, but again – it is as it is. Looking with a calm head is a situation where you can’t really change anything. They are balls, drawing spells. When you enter the top four in Betsafe-LKL, you will get a relatively weaker opponent; it’s up to you. When you’re on the second team, it’s natural to get something from strong teams.
– How to look for something to hang out in such a fight and where can you find hooks in the Kaunas game? Maybe a game without spectators helps a bit in such cases?
– The “Žalgiris” play in the Euroleague, they may be surprised after returning from a difficult match or due to lack of motivation. We are not going to Žalgiris yet and we are not analyzing, we had to play with them at Betsafe-LKL on December 12, we would be ready for that match, and so far there is a lot of uncertainty about self-isolation. When the time comes, we will try to find a way, we will not raise a white flag or try to fight. It will not be so.
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