Vladimir Romanov, the owner of Zalgiris, gave an in-depth interview to the sports channel’s Sport1 programme “Krepsinio pasaulyje” (“Inside the world of basketball”) and answered the questions about recent the changes in the team. That includes the firing of Aco Petrovic, the case of Mirza Begic and more. TalkBasket.net presents you some of the most interesting Vladimir Romanov’s answers.
Why do the coaches are changed so often in Zalgiris?
You should ask coaches why they change players so often.
You mean changing players during games?
Not only during games. [The coach] doesn’t like you – you go away. Why can’t I do the same thing [to coaches]? That’s the whole purpose of the sports. When you achieve all you can achieve then it’s time to move on. But you can only notice that moment when you monitor the situation closely. If you look from the fan’s point of view, you can look for 50 years and still notice nothing.
Don’t you feel sorry that Aco Petrovic is gone just before Euroleague Top 16? Maybe it would be easier to lead Zalgiris further [with Petrovic] to the quarter-finals and Final Four?
If I did this [fire Petrovic] earlier it would be one thing. If I did that later then it would have been too late. The coach leads the team to the hole.
But every team has a bad period at some point of the season…
It has never happened in my team. Never. Only a coach can lead the team to that. He either uses the physical and psychological reserve or he chooses the wrong player rotation. The youth sat on the bench while old players can’t handle playing so much. Maybe Salenga used something not accidentally. You see, everybody say “narcotics” [doping]. But if the training sessions lasts for four hours then the player looses 40 times more calcium, vitamins etc. The player needs to recover. It was coach’s mistake. Salenga and Collins played 37 minutes a game during friendly games. Why was it needed? I was asking [Petrovic] “Why are you doing this? You are stealing the resources of the team. Why? Do you want to show me that you can win friendly games? What will happen tomorrow?”. A hole [if those players don’t play that much], he [Petrovic] says. There is no hole.
Maybe you see a potential coach in Salenga? Just like Marcus Brown.
A time comes for every single player when he must think about becoming a coach. Brown said “What will change if I become player/coach?”. There will be a change in your mind. You will see things differently. While Salenga is scared that his career is coming to an end. Brown is not scared. He’s interested and thinks in a different way. That’s a motivation of a person. The end of playing career is not an end of the world. Player/coach also thinks differently in the locker room, communicates differently with the players. We have four Americans on the roster. They can’t live n their own world. When there are factions – Lithuanians and foreigners then the fraction starts. That’s the motivation of the whole team. The players must get used to the idea that if it isn’t Brown who is player/coach then it’s Salenga. It must be a tradition – an experienced player is helping head coach.
Now the coach will be Greek…
I am always looking for better coach just as I look for better players. I prefer to keep [Rimantas] Grigas by myself as a sports director with his intellect and his knowledge. I need a tool so that I can demand the coach to things or not let him do things as I let Aco [Petrovic] do when there was no sports director. And then there will be no hole.
Maybe it’s time to talk about the best Lithuanian coaches so that they would take Zalgiris in their own hands? It is a different desire and love to work when the team is coached by Lithuanian than by a foreign coach who comes and goes. How about Kestutis Kemzura, Jonas Kazlauskas? Maybe others?
Add Grigas to that list. I have to choose one out of those three. It’s my advantage. I chose Grigas because I see potential in him. Yes, he doesn’t have a dog’s personality and will not bite your throat.
Aren’t Rytas and Zalgiris racing too much trying to sign more foreigners than the other?
In order for someone like [Mindaugas] Kuzminskas to grow as a player [Marcus] Brown and [DeJuan] Collins are needed [on the team]. If you have Brown and Collins on the bench there’s no need to worry but if you have Kuzminskas on the bench then it’s getting scary. Young players will always copy the old ones.
But if I play 2 minutes and I’m sent to the bench after the first missed shot, I could become an ‘impotent’ basketball player.
That’s the art of the coach. But when a coach comes with another purpose – to show himself at any cost – he losses the future because the players aren’t developing. That’s why I need a tool, sports director, who would make sure that the coach is doing the right thing. I can’t be present during training every single day.
What do you think about those situations when 12 players play in the game and during the dying minutes new players come to play? That’s how Zalgiris lost several games in the last minutes. So what is the gain if we use 12 players during the game but still end up losing?
It is unavoidable. As I said Collins and Salenga played 37 minutes in friendly games. Sooner or later the time will come when the old players will be unable, neither will the young ones.
[…]
If a coach can’t explain what’s wrong with the team, you can’t ask him to do that. Grigas always has answers. That’s what I like.
The best answer is victories.
Victories are need to players and coaches. I don’t need them at all. I need to see the team making progress. If the win is only for today but the future is unsure it’s not what I want to see. The coach who only aims for wins is destroying the team. The coach says that certain player will never play in his team. For instance, a coach said that Begic will never play in his team.
[…]
I feel pity for the kid [Begic]. He was seduced. If someone seduces a kid then that person is a paedophile. 20-year-old sportsman is still a kid.
I sacrificed one year due to Begic. Will Real Madrid sacrifice one year because of him. That’s a big question.
