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Team Panevėžys “Lietkabelis” will host the third round of the European Cup at home on Wednesday Mindaugas Kuzminska and Mantas Kalnietis, the Lokomotiv-Kuban team from Krasnodar.
In Group C, the Russian club started with an assured victory 89:72 against the Telenet Giants in Antwerp, but fell 79:85 last week in the fight against Virtus Bologna. Lokomotiv-Kuban had to play a match against Tallinn’s Kalev / Cramo in the United League over the weekend, but the Estonian team registered a case of coronavirus, so they did not reach the duel, for which they suffered a defeat 0:20 technique.
M. Kuzminskas, who shared his thoughts with the kklietkabelis.lt website before the next match, spoke of a much longer than usual trip to Lithuania and recalled his last match against Lietkabelis, which took place more than eight years ago.
– How do you rate the start of your team this season?
– It is still too early to evaluate. We see that both in the United League and in the European Cup, that level of play is still not high and there are many playful defects. When it comes to watching Euroleague matches, there is still a long way to go for quality basketball. Our real game should come out later because we had issues with the self-isolation rules, the coronavirus that visited the team, the newcomers who joined later. It was also a great shame for me to be isolated for two weeks after my summer job only when I arrived and later when I was ill. However, I am glad that the club has looked at everything in a very professional way and we hope that now our season will be calmer. It can be said that our preparation cycle is right now, so after licking the wounds we get a little faster.
– How much more unusual is the situation when competitors do not come to the match due to coronavirus and the team’s trip to Panevėžys is via Kaliningrad?
– It’s still very unusual. We had to play the first game of the season with Kalev, but it was postponed because at that time our team had problems with the virus, and now the Estonians themselves could not come for the same reason. We came to training to watch the video, prepare for the game, but in the dressing room they said there would be no game. It was kind of a shock as the training plan had to be fundamentally changed. We see that these difficult cases and trips will need to be reconciled this year. It is appreciated that the season progresses in general.
Our own trip to Panevėžys took longer than usual: we left Krasnodar on Monday and will return only on Friday. In total, five days for a match. We flew from Krasnodar to Moscow, then to Kaliningrad. From there we took a bus to the border, then we got off, crossed the bridge and another bus was already in Lithuania, which took us to Panevėžys. The trip is one of the most memorable.
– What impression does Lietkabelis leave so far?
– Unpredictable, because in one match you can beat “Žalgiris” in the away match, but you can land at home in “CBet”, with all due respect to the people of Prieniai. A dangerous rival who fought two halves with AS Monaco and Virtus as equals. Nenado Chanako’s students always play well. Not for nothing has he been at Lietkabelis for so many seasons and not for nothing has this club been one of the best in Lithuania in recent years. In this case, as his strength more and I would like to highlight not just any player, but the coach.
– What are your memories of the last game with Lietkabelis?
– It was a match when I played in “Žalgiris”. It was after this match that Ibrahim Jaaber decided to leave the team because there were beer commercials stripping the dancers. I remembered those games not because of basketball, but because of an unusual event.
– Lithuanians usually organize good performances against their country’s teams. Why?
– It is better not to speak – so be it (smiles). At the beginning of the season, every victory is important because you cannot know what the season will be like. Although there are always more emotions going back to competing against the Lithuanian team than usual, it is definitely the most important thing to win the outward journey now. And it won’t be easy.
– How do you think the local audience will find you with M. Kalnieitis?
– It would be normal for Lithuanians to support Lithuanians. On the other hand, we come to play against your beloved team. Here is a professional sport where the team plays against the team and feelings should be put to the country. Predicting the reaction would be the same as predicting the election results (laughs). If you agree, thank you, and if not, I will understand, because you support your club. As a basketball player, I really want to see a full rostrum, even in the guest arena, but during this period, people’s health remains paramount.
– How do you rate the group that belonged to the Lietkabelis and Lokomotiv-Kuban teams?
– Our group is the strongest of all. Virtus, Lokomotiv are some of the favorites for traveling far. AS Monaco is a strong, athletic team that plays well at home, which was felt by Rytas last year and Lietkabelis this year. Before MoraBanc I had to play before and it is a really dangerous team, because Spanish teams always stand out with unconventional basketball, they have a balanced line-up. Lietkabelis also has its advantages: Lithuanians always know how to play basketball and they also have a coach from the Balkans. The weakest opponent seems to be the Belgian team, but you also have to fight against them.
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