Zalgiris Kaunas newcomer Alen Smailagic arrived in Lithuania and gave his first interview as a new Zalgiris player.
The Serbian forward revealed he had already met his teammates and that he’s happy to work for head coach Andrea Trinchieri.
“I feel great,” Smailagic told Zalgiris TV. “I met the other guys, I met the coach. I’m really excited, especially because he speaks my language. So, we can talk a little bit better, and [I could] understand everything what he's saying.”
When asked about his main motivation to join Zalgiris, Smailagic named at least two solid reasons.
“Because I heard Kaunas is a basketball city. Everyone loves basketball here. Everyone supports basketball. The club is great for developing players to get [them] better. I think we want to compete and be at the top spot,” Smailagic explained.
The 24-year-old also revealed a funny conversation with Trinchieri before making the final decision to join Zalgiris.
“To be honest, a few days before my wedding, I talked to Trinchieri. The first words he said were, ‘Happy wife, happy life!’. My wife then said, ‘Sign [with Zalgiris] no matter what!’. It was funny,” Smailagic admitted.
“Of course, we were talking, he said what he expects from me, what he doesn’t [want from me]. Everything he said sounded great to me. That’s the thing that made me sign [with Zalgiris],” Smiley added.
Smailagic also revealed he spoke to former Zalgiris guard Vasilije Micic.
“He said that’s a great town for developing basketball skills, and just focus on basketball to get better every day,” Smailagic concluded.