Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas made a spectacular return to club basketball in Lithuania. In \u017dalgiris Kaunas\u2019 first preseason game against Riga Zelli, the big man needed just 19 minutes to record 20 points, 9 rebounds and a 28 efficiency rating.<\/p>\n
After the game, speaking in the \u017dalgiris Insider studio, the player shared his thoughts after stepping back onto the court in a \u017dalgiris jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to be back, put the green jersey on again and play basketball. The game was a test, a chance to see where we are. We\u2019re still working on things and trying to put everything together. We\u2019ve only been together for a week, and it was a very intense one. There\u2019s still a lot to improve, but that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019re here. We got together early so we would have enough time to put everything in place. I think we\u2019re heading in the right direction,\u201d the big man said.<\/p>\n
\u017dalgiris defeated the team coached by Rokas Kondratavi\u010dius by 12 points, winning 97-85. According to Valan\u010di\u016bnas, the Kaunas side faced a strong opponent in their first preseason test.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a very good team. They were very physical, especially on defense. It was a really good test for us. We managed to stay calm and not lose our heads, even when they put us under pressure. It was a very interesting game. Every test is useful because it shows us what we still need to work on. Training is one thing, but the pace of an actual game is completely different. I think every game is good for us, and this one was even better,\u201d the \u017dalgiris player explained.<\/p>\n
Before the game, \u017dalgiris Kaunas president Paulius Jank\u016bnas had correctly predicted in the \u017dalgiris Insider studio that J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas would be the first \u017dalgiris player to throw down a dunk during the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to deliver. He told me not to let him down, so I gave it a try,\u201d Valan\u010di\u016bnas said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u017dalgiris Kaunas will play their second preseason game on September 2 against Utena Juventus. The game will be broadcast live by \u017dalgiris Insider from 17:45.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Lithuanian center spoke after his \u017dalgiris Kaunas debut, finishing with 20 points and 9 rebounds in 19 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":512479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199,271],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[15727],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-512477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-lithuania","typology-press-release-en"],"yoast_head":"\n