By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
Lietuvos Rytas didn’t manage to repeat what they have done in 2009-2010 season, when they got their fifth Lithuanian championship. Zalgiris Kaunas kept the crown for the second straight year – and they are ready to bring back to town great Lithuanians, like Darius Lavrinovic or Sarunas Jasikevicius, cause… they can do that, with the budget they have – and the Vilnius’ team will play next year again at Eurocup, where this year reached the Finals.
We asked from Romanas Buršteinas of krepsinis.net to help us understand if this year is considered successful or not for Lietuvos Rytas, due to fact they lost two titles (Baltic League’s and LKL’s from their most prominent competitor) and at their second year at VTB United League they finished 3rd in the regular season, but they didn’t reach the Final Four. Yes, you are right they played at five tournaments, together with the LKF Cup and the Eurocup, so at some point they lost the number of games they played. And it was only natural to feel exhaustion at the end.
Before we go on, it’s fair to let you know who is the president of Lietuvos Rytas (like it’s only fair to know who wrote the lyrics and who produce music to your favourite song). Mr. Gedvydas Vainauskas is the main stakeholder of this team (from 2009 he has 25.5% of the shares) and he is also the owner of daily newspaper “Lietuvos Rytas”, one TV station and of the website lrytas.lt. He is a media magnate, while he began his career as a journalist, after he got his degree. He started as a journalist at “Tiesos” newspaper (the meaning of this word is Truth) and from 1990 he is giving all his effort to “Lietuvos Rytas” –team and newspaper!
As you know, in Lithuania there is no other sport like basketball and Mr. Vainauskas does whatever he can to have a competitive team, to the point everybody can be happy and safe. That’s why their budget it’s around four million euros. This year wasn’t a failure –to be exact he said the season was good-, but overall the team just had too many games and the players were really exhausted, at the end of the season. The owner is really happy with Lietuvos Rytas’ coach Aleksandar Džikić and he acknowledges that a the end, it was really difficult for guys like Seibutis, Rice and Valanciunas to step up, cause they already had give everything –physically and mentally wise. As for Seibutis and his development, he is a top scorer, he is a really good guy, but sometimes he lacks leadership although he is really a fighter and this is what he needs to work, to present… the full package next year.
The team already released Tyrese Rice, Aleksander Rasic and for sure Jonas Valanciunas is gonna go to Toronto Raptors. Tyrece Rice is a player they wanted to keep, but they know it would be hard with the budget they have. And yes, Valanciunas is going to try his luck at the NBA. It’s not a secret he is very talented and hardworking guy, with a really good mindset, but he still needs to improve a lot. He has the fundamentals, but he needs time, experiences and work on his body.
It’s a fact that Lietuvos Rytas doesn’t have the next Valanciunas in line, since players like him don’t come out every year. So, the next day for this team is to figure out how they will have a strong roster with the strict budget they have –and it’s not going to change.