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Quote:Zalgiris is finishing paying their debts to former players and are starting to look ahead of the next season. Paulius Motiejunas, Zalgiris GM, previously declared that the budget of the team should be between 5 and 6 million euros. The board is now considering whether to keep Ginataras Krapikas as a coach or not.
Paulius Moetiejunas said that Zalgiris is choosing from several coaches. Among them there are some foreigners but it will be club's priority to sign a Lithuanian coach. Motiejunas also confirmed that Zalgiris is negotiating with Krapikas and several other coaches.
During last decade Zalgiris had only one foreign coach - Latvian Ainars Bagatskis. However, the experiment to sign former player as a head coach wasn't successful and Bagatskis resigned before the season was over.
Zalgiris kept Krapikas as a head coach - [url="http://www.talkbasket.net/news/zalgiris-keeps-krapikas-as-a-head-coach.html"]http://www.talkbasket.net/news/zalgiris-ke...head-coach.html[/url]
I thought Romanov would change the way that coaches are picked at Zalgiris. But it didn't happen. Romanov has little basketball knowledge so he leaves those decision to other people. The contract with Krapikas is signed only for one year so there might be plans to get another coach. To me Krapikas is not a leader and not a promising coach either. And since the squad is going to be young the players should be coached by the person who has serious experience and is respected. That way they can build on the future.
I guess this will never change. Unless people who were part of the old Zalgiris board are all kicked out this will not change for sure. Zalgiris fans should put pressure on the board for making such decisions for so many years. But unfortunately there are people who think that Grigas is a decent coach for example.
Roster update:
![[Image: zalgiris.png]](http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3729/zalgiris.png)
[color="#2E8B57"]
In[/color]
Aleksandar Capin
Mario Delas
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Out[/color]
Zygimantas Janavicius (on loan)
http://www.talkbasket.net/news/butautas-...-2911.html
That's rather surprising knowing that the coach leaves Zalgiris only when results are horrible and it lasts for several months. It appears that Romanov is not so patient as the "old crew" used to be. My old prediction about Maskoliunas becoming the head coach is turning to be true after all. And I can make another prediction that I had in mind after Krapikas resigned. I am sure that Krapikas will replace Brazys. There must be a man with a moustache in Zalgiris! Seriously though, this club operates by giving jobs to friends and "loyal" people. Krapikas fits this criteria perfectly. Plus, we have to remember that Krapikas has just recently started his career as a head coach. And he made his debut at a club which plays in Euroleague. So in spite of poor results and resignation he should be using his experience to get a new job and continue his career as a head coach, wouldn't he. However, he didn't do that and instead was present in probably all the home games of Zalgiris. Maybe he was waiting for something? A job in his former club maybe? Because I think we all agree that an "ambitious young coach" would look for opportunities to gain more experience and grow as a coach in other words he would look for a coaching job at a club. Maybe no club wants him? Or rather no serious club wants him (and when I say "serious" I don't mean Euroleague club)?
Another thing I'd like to note here is the way that Butautas and Brazys were fired. According to kaunodiena.lt, Vladimir Romanov asked them to resign and then he accepted their resignation. For most of people it might look like no big deal. Well, it isn't a big deal but I think it just shows that Romanov knows how to do business. He probably gained nothing out this but rather saved something. I haven't seen the contract of neither Butautas, nor Brazys but normally if a player or coach decides to leave the team, he either has to pay his club a certain amount of money or at least he gets no compensation. So it turns out that both Butautas and Brazys resigned themselves and were not literally fired in other words their contracts weren't terminated by the club. But as I said this is just my speculation which, in my opinion, is quite realistic.
To see Butautas being fired wasn't so surprising but I was slightly surprised Brazys being fired too. Does that mean a new course in the club's policy of hiring staff? Will Zalgiris finally become professional in this area and sign the best staff they can instead of hiring "the right" people? It is very likely that Romanov is just accepting what he is told by Motiejunas or other people in Zalgiris who know more about basketball than him. So it becomes possible to manipulate the owner and convince him that this or that person would be the best for a certain position. If so, then Romanov could eventually lose trust in people who make suggestions and fire them too. I told this many times and I will repeat it again - the board of Zalgiris must be fired and professionals appointed instead. Though I can't see this happening.
And finally, what a career Butautas is having! I can only imagine how hard it should be for him to start it all over again after all these failures. That should surely hit his confidence. Maybe those "big clubs" that wanted him (according to Butautas himself) will try to sign him now? <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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Lrytas.lt reports that Zalgiris GM Paulius Motiejunas has also been fired. That's the best news out of all three. Romanov clearly got mad after being fooled by these people. Now the question is how will the new GM will be picked? Will Romanov look at his friends or will he try to bring someone who can do the job professionally? I just hope it's someone who wasn't a part of Zalgiris staff as Motiejunas was before becoming GM.
And since Motiejunas is out, I take back my prediction about Krapikas as I don't think there is another person who would bring him back. With Motiejunas in the team I would have expected Maskoliunas to remain head coach for at least the remainder of the season but now it seems that there's also a chance for someone new.
The whole situation is pathetic and hilarious at the same time.
According to a Lithuanian basketball blog krepsiniovirtuve.blogas.lt, the new coach is likely to be Serb from BeoBasket agency. I don't know if this information or rather a guess is correct but it could be interesting to at least speculate on this topic. So these are Serbian and ex-Yugo coaches that are listed on at BeoBasket's website as their clients:
Srdjan Jekovic - Red Star (assistant coach)
Ivan Jeremic - CSKA Moscow (assistant coach)
Bozidar Maljkovic - Free agent
Zvezdan Mitrovic - Free agent? (couldn't find any info)
Ognjen Mrvaljevic - Free agent
Miroslav Nikolic - Free agent? (couldn't find any info)
Sasa Obradovic - Turow Zgorzelec (head coach)
Luka Pavicevic - Alba Berlin (head coach)
Miodrag Rajkovic - Free agent? (couldn't find any info)
Srecko Sekulovic - Free agent? (couldn't find any info)
Aleksandar Trifunovic - Red Star (head coach)
Mihailo Uvalin - BC Politehnika (head coach)
Vlada Vukoicic - Free agent
I wouldn't mind to see Grigas in Žalgiris. On other hand, I believe Žalgiris should stick with Maskoliūnas this season. Grigas would be a reasonable choice for the next season.
New arena of Kaunas (14.5 thousand seats) will be called by Žalgiris name. Good choice.
Yeah, it was probably the best choice for a non-commercial name. The only question to me is whether the team will match the quality of the arena next season <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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will the arena be ready for next season?
At first the plan was to open in it September. George Vassilokopoulos even said he would like to arrange a game between Lithuania NT and European Stars in the new arena after the World Championship. Then the opening date was pushed to late October/November. Now we here that it should be open before until the new year. So, yes it will be ready during the next season but the exact date is not yet known.
[quote name='Vilius' date='18 March 2010 - 07:17 PM' timestamp='1268936270' post='20350']
At first the plan was to open in it September. George Vassilokopoulos even said he would like to arrange a game between Lithuania NT and European Stars in the new arena after the World Championship. Then the opening date was pushed to late October/November. Now we here that it should be open before until the new year. So, yes it will be ready during the next season but the exact date is not yet known.
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obviously it procedes the greek way <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/crazy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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So who is the coach now? Still Maskoliunas??
Yes he is. And it seems he will remain as the head coach this season. It's not like he's doing anything worse than Krapikas and Butautas. Maybe, he'll surprise in BBL and LKL finals and will be the head coach next season.
Thanks straight forward.
I want to ask a question too. About Martynas Pocius. I read his bad story (about fingers) and I must say he is a real professional. I appreciate his determination.
Is he still Lithuania's new Macijauskas?
Pocius was never considered next Macijauskas. Not in recent years, unless I'm missing something. Pocius was a pleasant surprise and had some great games this season. One thing that he lacks is consistency. One night he can be top scorer and the next time leave the court with empty hands. His shot is certainly not as a good as Macijauskas. But he also makes penetrations similar to Macas. If he becomes more consistent he could have a nice career. But still I don't see him being any better than an average EL player.
Really <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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Thanks Vilius. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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It's just my personal opinion. I'm not a scout and could be completely wrong. I said that because usually exceptionally talented player show their skills at an earlier age. Though Pocius didn't really have that chance until now. Of course I want him to do well but will that happen? I doubt that.
Pocius seemed very promissing player while playing with youth NT teams. I think athleticism was (and still is actually) his main weapon and not shooting, but after his injuries he's not that athletic (these missed years didn't help himself to progress). Differently than Vilius I do expect Poicius will improve a lot in few upcoming years and that he will be more than just average Euroleague player. But it's really safe to say he has nothing to do with Macijauskas and I don't think he will be as good as him.
Dainius Šalenga extended contract with Žalgiris. The new contract is 1+1.