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Photo: D.Lukšta
Photo D.Lukšta
Already this Sunday the expected third derby of this season between Vilnius “Rytas” and Kaunas “Žalgiris” will take place in the Betsafe-LKL championship. The Kaunas team will surely win the first two games, but the capital club faces this derby in a completely different way: with new coach Giedrius Žibėnas and continuing their 12-match winning streak. Sunday match between “Rytas” and “Žalgiris” at 5pm. it will be broadcast live on BTV TV.
Team leaders
6.7
REB
4.1
DREB
2.6
OREB
5.1
REB
2.8
DREB
2.3
OREB
On October 25 last year, the people of Žalgiris won the first battle of the Lithuanian basketball greats in Vilnius 84:72.
Demetrius Jackson, who scored 18 points, later revived Rytas’ hopes of taking the champions more seriously, but the latter’s sudden departure was just one of many changes to the capital team.
The second duel between “Žalgiris” and “Rytas” in Kaunas does not recall the real derby: the capital club held out due to COVID-19 injuries and illnesses, and Martin Schiller’s army 92:45, which is a record 47 points of advantage. Donald Kairis passed, there were no shortage of students.
When the season moved into the second half, “Žalgiris” kept absolutely all the players and the same core of the team, and “Rytas” welcomes the third derby as needed: the capital team has a new coach and a roster of newcomer basketball players, as well as a series of twelve consecutive victories, counts and the “hottest” league team title.
Gintaras Krapikas, who currently works in the Chinese Basketball League, but has defended the honor of the Kaunas team for five years as a player and ten as a coach, remembers in the best way the atmosphere of the derivatives “Rytas” and “Žalgiris” .
The 59-year-old specialist is open: his connection with the “Žalgiris” team is eternal, and even in distant China, the coach tries not to miss a single match with his former team.
“To date, I haven’t missed a single Žalgiris game in the Euroleague. I watch them at night, it’s the second, it’s the third, it’s the fourth hour of the night. It’s the same with Betsafe-LKL: yes We don’t have a late game here in China, so I’m really looking at it. I’m very interested in this, I see how the teams look at different stages of the season. I try not to deviate from Lithuanian basketball, “said Krapikas, speaking with LKL. .lt.
The coach recalled the derby and its atmosphere celebrated in Lithuania five and ten years ago, reviewed the current forms of both teams, revealed his close and direct relationship with the Kaunas team and its captain Paulius Jankūnas, as well as pointing the obvious. . Rytas leader. Andrew Goudelock and shared his prediction for the next match.
– Coaches, first of all, how would you describe your current relationship with Žalgiris?
– The connection has been and always will be. I don’t have such a strong connection to current players anymore, we only communicated with some older basketball players and I didn’t meet others anymore. But the relationship with the leaders, especially with Paul Motiejūnas, has remained close and friendly. As I was, I remained a person who supports, observes and is interested in “Žalgiris”. Never change.
To date, I have not missed a single Žalgiris game in the Euroleague. I look at them at night, it is the second, it is the third, it is the fourth hour of the night. The same goes for LKL – if we don’t have a late match here in China, I really watch the match as much as possible. I’m very interested in this, I see how the teams look at the different stages of the season. I try not to get away from Lithuanian basketball.
– Captain Paulius Jankūnas is probably the one he knows best. In your opinion, what is this basketball player and man like?
– I’ve seen most of Paul’s career. He came to us from the backup team just when I was working as an assistant to Antanas Sireika. At the time, it was already obvious that for Paul, the NKL frames were too narrow. He came to men’s basketball very young and early, but everyone was clear that he would be the man who would settle into the team and give her a lot. Paul grew up as a player, I also grew up as a coach. I’ve seen it in basketball since I was a kid, and now it’s even difficult for me to write as many nice words as I wanted. Let’s just say yes, all the most beautiful Lithuanian words travel to Paul, he really pays off both as a player and as a person.
– Coaches, what kind of derby do you remember most clearly here in Lithuania?
– There have been all kinds of times. In some places, it was an unhealthy atmosphere. I mean, it really seemed too cruel. I like derbyes that allow you to discover it on the field: athletes discover relationships in a fight. But in the past, we didn’t really avoid dirty games, artificial hate speech. Then there was a strong intervention from the media, which we simply did not read in the newspapers … The Derby had a bad unsportsmanlike spice. Lithuanians, of course, are not exceptional; this is the case in many parts of Europe. But everything is healthy until it becomes artificial and too rough.
– And what matches of the Lithuanian basketball classic do you watch now, in recent years?
– Derbers used to be much more tenacious in the past. Yes, the budgets were different then, but you, as a spectator and even as a coach, could never predict who would win this time. Even if there were stronger compositions on paper, it was never clear if this could be field tested. It was a great event. Now I miss that. Žalgiris is far away, there is nothing close in Lithuania. I hope this is just a temporary trend, but this scenario does not repeat itself for the first season.
– And how do you rate the speeches from fans and experts that the current “Rytas” is no longer such a serious competitor for the Kaunas team?
– If you are a true athlete at heart, these types of languages should get you started. You have to show what you really deserve. You must respond to all criticism at least once and not allow yourself to be considered a stranger. But it is a question of character. At the beginning of the season, they were really torn. Until the change of coach they were liquid, I did not see much desire to win, I only saw a group of boys who came to play and hoped for the best. There is simply no place for such an attitude in a powerful team, I hope it is no longer in the current “Morning”. Otherwise, we can call the club in the capital a mid-level team.
– You have accumulated several experiences. How strongly are you motivated to know that you are like a stranger to the party?
– If the team is weaker “on paper” and there is no good chemistry between the players and the club leaders, the coaches, there is nothing to look in one direction. At the start of the season, it was obvious that the team was devilishly divided by disagreements in power, the coach’s likes and dislikes; after all, players feel and see all of this. It is normal for this to be very distracting. A mid-level team will never achieve a better game without internal chemistry. And if the indoor environment is good, then the average team can shoot.
– You also know well Andrew Goudelock, who once scored more than 30 points in the “Žalgiris” basket under your leadership in the Euroleague …
– And not just for us (laughs – aut.). He remains a true Euroleague player to this day. But you have to take into account health, and here you have many problems. It depends a lot on your physical condition; after all, he is an extremely fast and sudden player. Defending him sometimes becomes simply impossible, but there can be no health problems. He is an inhumanly high-level player and unequivocally the leader of “Morning”, there are not even speeches here.
– You have seen various states of “Žalgiris”: stability, crisis, increase. What is “Žalgiris” now?
– After Šarūnas left in the summer and a new coach arrived, the general mood of fans and spectators was pessimistic. Of course, changing such a personality level and such a coach is inhumanly difficult. For any new person, this is an inhumanly difficult task. Everyone wants to compare themselves to Šarūnas, but there is nothing to compare here, it is exceptional. I didn’t like the initial mood when the new coach arrived, but the current “Žalgiris” still looks great. If the team still has a chance to participate in the Euroleague playoffs, this is a great result. Sure, there were boxes this season, but everything is very natural.
– The first two duels of this season were of “Žalgiris”. What do you think the third one will look like?
– This time the derby will be very interesting, and there are even several reasons: when he changes coach, “Rytas” shows a good game, such a long winning streak speaks for itself. It will also be a match in Vilnius, it is also important that the people of Vilnius compete only in the Betsafe-LKL championship, and Žalgiris’s thoughts should revolve around the decisive leg of the Euroleague.
It will be most interesting to know how Rytas can take advantage of this situation. Basketball fans, in this situation at least, would like a persistent fight and the feeling that the derby can get back on track and donate the fight for the last minute.
– And what do you need for a real intrigue?
– Here we only talk about how the last match of “Žalgiris” in Istanbul will unfold. The force with which the main players will unload, the mood that the team of the trip together will bring is important. The people of Žalgiris will only have to prepare for the derby in one day, miracles in tactics are not worth talking about, the most important thing here is physical recovery.
– However, who will win the battle in Vilnius?
– I would predict a difficult fight for “Žalgiris” at first, because “Rytas” will be cooler and will play at home. This should be a persistent start to the match, but then, I think, “Žalgiris” has already shown enough times how he can play the second half of the match. The derby will be won by “Žalgiris”.
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