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Photo: MKL / L. Bartkus
Photo MKL / L. Bartkus
Jokūbas Fominas was a little-known 17-year-old, but last week he briefly became a shining star of Lithuanian basketball.
Basketball fans were interested in the young basketball player’s impressive record in the Regional Basketball League. Team defense Ignalina Vilkakalnis scored 57 points in the final 16 match with Gargždai’s second team and set a championship record.
In 40 minutes, Fomin scored 7 doubles of 16, 11 triples of 15 and 10 free throws of 14, added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, provoked 16 fouls and scored 61 utility points.
According to the efficiency result, the youngster landed in second place in league history, landing only Ignas Juškevičius, who scored 70 utility points.
“It just came to our knowledge then. I liked the Gargždai hall ties, I pulled, I pulled and pretty much everything fell,” Fominas told the BasketNews.lt website.
The basketball player recorded not only the records of points won and utility points scored during the season, but also of triples (11) and provoked fouls (16).
Vilnius did not know how many points he had during the match. At the end of the match, when it was clear that his team would lose, he was not sure if he had already reached his previous record of 43 points. To ensure he improved his record, he shot another three points with 30 seconds left.
Fominas met his points in the dressing room of his coach Domantas Pupinis, and the score of 43 points improved significantly.
“I built good barriers and then I threw the 3s. This is how I accumulated points. It was not like he fired all the free throws, heavy shots also fell, ”said the Vilnius resident.
Fomin, who recently celebrated his 17th birthday in RKL Division B, is having a hard time arresting him. He plays an average of 38 minutes and earns 25.2 points (38.7 percent of trit.), Bounces after 4.5 balls, makes 4.3 assists and accumulates 21.2 points of utility.
Although he had recently hit double the 43-point mark earlier, Fomin still received the most attention when news of the 57-point performance broke.
“I received more attention than ever. Parents shared it on Facebook, it was written by many relatives, near and far, as well as teammates, classmates, everyone was happy and greeted, ”said Fomin.
Perhaps the basketball agents noticed such a spectacle?
“An agent also wrote,” said Fomin. – I just haven’t written anything yet, I’m in no rush. Asked if I have an agent or if I have a matching record. I still don’t have an agent, I’ve never had contact with any agent before. “
Photo MKL / L. Bartkus
This season, Fominas shouldn’t have been on Ignalina’s team either. He planned to play for MKL Capital KM in the first team, he also had to compete in the Capital Basketball League. However, the plans were changed by the COVID-19 virus.
After the completion of these championships, Fominas practiced sports individually with the coach, who had connections with the Ignalina team. This is how the young man found himself on the Vilkakalnis team.
“The goal was to get to RKL, gain experience playing against men, improve movements, analyze what comes out, what needs to be improved. Also, I’m not a tall player, so you have to learn to somehow compensate for your height. I was hoping to get a spot, I didn’t think I would play in 40 minutes. I thought the most important thing was to get a gaming experience because there is no such experience with just training.
The coach trusts me, let’s play freely. I play relaxed, I try to create pitches for myself, and if I fail, I create situations for my teammates, ”said Fomin.
Perhaps Fomin would have been better known to basketball fans before, but last summer the European Youth Championship did not take place due to COVID-19. The sixteen-year-old Lithuanians had met in a camp, where two teams were formed, and Fominas had a place in one of them. He played with the national team in the Baltic tournament, but did not get a more prominent role in the team led by Laimonas Eglinskas.
Fominas MKL played in the second team of the Capital KM in the championship until the age of fifteen, but in 2018 he was invited to the first team by coach Algirdas Milonas. Basketball players of this generation have already won the MKL championship twice before.
In 2019, Capital KM’s dominance was extended to MKL: Fominas scored 14 points in the final and the team he represented beat the basketball players from the Žalgiris basketball school.
The 2019-2020 MKL season was stopped and EMSI Gorillas of the Capital KM represented by Fomino had won all 17 matches. The MKL season will be extended this week.
The MKL basketball player accumulated 10.6 points and 5.1 assists last season, and this season he registered 12 points and 4 assists in two games.
“My strengths are the mid-range shots, but I can also make triples,” Fomin introduced into his game. – I play a lot Pikenrolo situations, I see that the site is not bad at all. When it comes to the downsides, it’s hard to defend against physically stronger opponents, especially if we swap defenders. We usually have to stay with me. Sometimes it becomes more difficult in team defense, but somehow you have to defend everything. I try to compensate for the height with speed, trying to get to the penalty area as soon as possible, to throw the ball to my teammates.
In the Ignalina team, I am more focused on shooting, but when I play in MKL and the national team, my tasks are to prepare and pass the game. As a result, my stats for RKL and MKL are quite different. “
Photo MKL / L. Bartkus
The ideals of the young man in basketball are players with similar qualities.
“I look more at the lower basketball players, Facundo Campazzo, Lukas Lekavičius. Especially in Campazzo, I really enjoy seeing his place. On the defensive side, I still like Andrew Albicy, he is short, but he probably plays at such a high level. for their defense ”, said the organizer of the attack.
Fomin is in no rush to dream of a game at the highest level and hopes to join lower capacity basketball divisions in the near future.
“The goal is to continue playing basketball, as the next MKL season will be the last. I would like to join the “Rytas” or “Žalgiris” system, or the “Rivilė” team from Vilnius, who now play in the RKL, but their goals are to win the league and go to the NKL this year. It will be seen if I will master something. Now the dream is to get hooked somewhere at a lower level and play, ”said Fomin.
The seventeen-year-old already shone one day in Lithuanian basketball. Maybe this is just the beginning?
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