The Panevėžys players, who are playing a four-match home series, beat Mažeikiai “M Basket-Delamode” (82:81) and Jonava “Cbet” clubs (90:80) in the last two matches at the Kalnapilis Arena and returned to the fourth place in the Betsafe-LKL tournament table.
In the meantime, “Rytas”, occupying the second position, won the principal duel with “Wolves” (99:83), and the leader of the table “Žalgiris” easily handled “Šiauliai” (92:69).
Gabrielius Maldūnas told the website kklietkabelis.lt about the team’s affairs, the home stretch and the upcoming meetings with the greats.
– You spent the February window in the Lithuanian national team camp. How fun was it to get invited again?
– Invitation to the national team is always very fun. I’ve been invited several times in a row, it’s very nice that the coaches appreciate it that way. I won’t lie, maybe this invitation was not very expected, because there were already Euroleague players, but coach Maksvytis called and I really had no doubts about participating. A change of environment is also always beneficial, so that everything is not monotonous. Everything is very good in the national team, the team was good, fun, only the end of the window and the loss to Estonia was bitter.
– The team returned after the national team break with practically a full composition. Do you think that window was useful?
– We hope that this break will be beneficial. Now we have almost a full lineup, as coach Čanak said, now we have to get used to a bigger rotation, because the roles are different, everything is changing. It is not easy for any team in such situations, but we believe that our game will get better and better, that we will all do what the team needs and the game will improve. We can see that the end of March is already better than the beginning of March, it is the most important thing for the curve of the game to grow and for us to reach our peak in the playoffs.
– Diante Baldwin, who joined the team in February, has already managed to play eight games. How important is his arrival?
– This addition, I think, really strengthened us. Diante is a very active, strong, fast, agile player, he greatly improved our defense and intensity. He himself integrates into the team very willingly, he is a great person, simple, calm, he really benefits us.
– You are currently on a streak of four consecutive home games in thirteen days, is such an intense schedule unusual?
– Such a rhythm is not very unusual, we played twice a week throughout the season, even during the regular season of the European Cup. Now it’s just simpler that less time needs to be spent on travel. It’s interesting that we have a lot of games left to play at home, but I think it’s good for us and we’ll be able to win more with our fans.
– The home match against Vilnius “Ryta” is already on Thursday. This is not the first meeting this season, what is the most important thing when thinking about this match?
– We have a very important match ahead of us, but we look at it, like everyone else, that we need to win. We don’t make a big deal out of the fact that we won against them in the KMT or that we lost early in the regular season. We need to draw conclusions about what allowed us to win, what we can still improve. We hope to get a win because now every game is very important to improve our position in the standings before the playoffs. Of course, the most important thing now, perhaps, is not even victory, but improving your game.
– Later, on April 1, a home match against “Žalgiris” awaits. What are the main highlights ahead of this match?
– “Rytas” or “Žalgiris” – before every match you go with the same attitude. Two grands in a row are waiting, but you will have to go and play. Against “Žalgiris” in the KMT final, perhaps, I simply lacked energy, both emotionally and physically, because the semi-final against “Rytu” was really very difficult. Seeing that A. Trinchieri has brought such unpredictability to Zalgiris, it is more difficult to analyze them, because they prepare differently for each match, use different combinations. I hope that a good fight awaits in Panevėžys and we will show what we are capable of.
“7bet-Lietkabelis” will play the next home match on March 28. with Vilnius “Rytas”, and on April 1 Kaunas “Žalgiris” will come to Panevėžys.
Tickets for 7bet-Lietkabel’s home matches are distributed by TicketMarket.lt
