Schiller – on plans for Blaževičius and Jokubaitis’s decision not to participate in the exchange of newcomers / News

Kaunas “Žalgiris” earned the eighth victory in the Lithuanian basketball league, and head coach Martin Schiller was very happy with his students’ defense after the game.

“We are happy with the victory and how we achieved it. The last 5 minutes of the first half were not satisfactory on defense, but with the exception of this section, we were focused and committed to defense. That’s what led to the victory, “Schiller said after the game.

– You made Neptune make 19 mistakes and attack badly from afar. What caused this?
– The errors came from attacks on defense, we are happy with that. Hitting or missing pitches often depends on how those pitches are covered, which we did well. We are satisfied with these figures.

– How do you rate Blaževičius’ current performance and how do you see his future?
– Next we want to educate him, give him a play and look for minutes on the pitch. Marek is a talented boy, we love him both as a professional and as a person. Your next stop is the national team camp in Vilnius. We are happy that he can run to the field there, which is very important for a young player.

The coronavirus situation did not help him as three LKL matches were canceled. I really would have played with them. This created a gap in the month during which he did not play. This is a problem for the young basketball player. He handles the situation very well and his time is still out.

– You worked in the G League. How would you compare the level of talent of Blaževičius and Jokubaitis with these preferences and where is the ceiling for these players?
– See you next summer. I think they both made the right decisions when withdrawing their applications on the rookie exchange. It’s important for US teams to watch the international basketball players play, which makes sense.

For the past three years, I have been in charge of Jazz training with young talents just before the rookie exchange and I know the whole process. The Americans know all the NCAA players well, but the situation is different with the Europeans.

I will repeat that I think you have made the right decision to withdraw your applications and not participate in the exchange, and we will see how things go next summer.