This week, the young players of Zalgiris Kaunas started their official preparation for the 2024-2025 season.
Players from both the second and third teams sweated together in their first team training sessions. Like the first team, the young Zalgiris players have been combining their physical training with basketball elements since the first days of their preparation for the season.
After the training session, the coaches of Zalgiris youth programme and the captain of Zalgiris-2 team playing in the National Basketball League (NKL), Mantas Laurencikas, shared with Zalgiris TV their impressions of the first steps they have taken.
"Preparation for the season is similar to every year. We start a little bit easier and all together - second and third team players. After that we will split up and friendly matches will start. A lot of important things, but in our case the most important thing is to sort out who is in what state. Someone has been playing sports, someone has come back from rest. We have to get a bit more individual, a bit more individual and even out the workload, so that we are equally prepared for the season," said Domantas Tautkus, the coach of the Zalgiris youth physical training system.
"Physical preparation is the most important thing, because everyone has been playing sports differently during the summer. Recently, some players have been resting, like me or my friends from the national team. Others have been playing sports, so the most important thing now is physical preparation," said M.Laurencikas, who was elected captain of Zalgiris-2 before this season. - I don't set any expectations for myself or the team. We will just do our best, work hard and see what comes out of it."
Rokas Kondratavicius, who was the head coach of Zalgiris-3 last season, will be at the helm of Zalgiris-2 in the upcoming season. The specialist, who has been working in the Kaunas club system for several years, was happy with the preparations for the season and talked about his expectations for the upcoming season's battles with the system's youngsters.
"To have ambitious, talented youngsters who want to achieve something. This is one of our fundamentals in the selection process. Yes, we have rejuvenated a lot this year, but I don't think that makes us weaker. We have players with new ambitions, but also with a lot of good qualities, both in terms of basketball and personal qualities. I think we are definitely not weaker, maybe more ambitious in some aspects. Work work work. With that good work, with the desire of the players, everything will be fine. I think our selection is very good. This year we are happy with every new player that has joined our system," the specialist said.
After becoming the head coach of the doubles team, Kondratavicius assured that he does not do anything he does not know and thanked the former head coach of the second team Vytautas Pliauga, who has been working on the coaching staff of the men's team since this summer.
"There is nothing I haven't done. I have been in this system for three years. I know everything well, I know everything well. Coach Vytautas Pliauga has done a very good job. Realistically, for me now, it is very important to maintain that. Maybe to add something from myself. But it's a very good work. Basically, it is not difficult for me to come here and take over Vytautas' work. There are a lot of very good things done. Maybe I will add my own spices. I will try to keep all the professionalism and the process that we had here," explained Kondratavicius.
At the end of the interview, the head coach of Zalgiris-2 shared his goal for the upcoming season.
"To improve and to get the best out of each player. I think that with good work and improvement of the players, the results will come by themselves," said Kondratavicius.
