Andrea Trinchieri and Zalgiris Kaunas continue their preraration for the 2024/25 season and held an open practice on Tuesday, where the Italian head coach and the players answered questions from the media.
Andrea Trinchieri wants to see his team have a successful season after struggling last year, and explained how the Lithuanians built their roster this offseason.
“Let’s compare the EuroLeague market free agency to the sea: there are big sharks, big fish, and small fish. I know that I cannot be a white shark, but I don’t want to be eaten like a small fish. So, I have to go for something a little bit different. I want to be a very quick fish, so maybe the big shark won’t eat me so easily. I need to be very creative and think out of the box,” Andrea Trinchieri said, via Basketnews.com.
Zalgiris brought back Ignas Brazdeikis, after spending one season with Olympiacos. They also signed Bryant Dunston, Tyrone Wallace, Sylvain Francisco, Matthew Mitchell, and Alen Smailagic.
Andrea Trinchieri opened up about the club’s goals after a season where they missed the EuroLeague playoffs and didn’t win the Lithuanian Basket League.
“I don’t have the crystal ball, and I know that I was very hungry to start the season. The summer gave me a chip on my shoulder. The season didn’t end as we wanted, so it means one thing: we have to go harder and better. We want to do better in LKL; that means there is only one thing that we have to do. We want to compete in order to be in the first ten teams of the EuroLeague,” Trinchieri said during Zalgiris Kaunas’ open practice.
The Lithuanians will kick off their EuroLeague campaign with a home game against Barcelona on Thursday, October 3.