Last year Mindaugas Kuzminskas moved from New York to Milano in the middle of the season and after a long period of being basically not active. So he had a difficult time in regaining his timing, his rhythm back. He had flashes like the last-second winning dunk at home against Cremona but not enough consistency. He found his grove back for the playoffs when his numbers started to point toward the sky. Not just in volume (he went from scoring 6.7 points per game in the regular season to 11.0 in the playoffs) but in efficiency too. During the championship run, Kuzminskas converted 52.1 percent of his two-point attempts and an amazing 46.3 percent of his three-pointers. He also grabbed 5.0 rebounds per game during the post-season. He saved the best for the last when it counted the most and was clearly the real Kuzminskas.<\/p>\n
THE FIRST MILANO SEASON \u2013<\/strong> \u201cIt was the first time in my life, my first experience of changing the team in the middle of the season. If I look at my history, my career, all the time I have stayed on a team for three years usually, in Zalgiris, in Malaga. Consistency helps because when you come back to kind of your second home you feel more comfortable and more comfortable every year. This year when I came back felt way more comfortable, I know what the coaches want from me and I want from them. It\u2019s just the connection that it is way better than it was last year because now we know each other pretty well. Not only me but also the team last year at the beginning didn\u2019t play so well but then at the end we played more as a team, better and better and that\u2019s why we won the Italian championship which is not that easy\u201d.<\/p>\n HIS SUMMERTIME TRAINING \u2013<\/strong> \u201cIn general this summer was different because we didn\u2019t have the National Team. After we had a really long season, after we finished we had a week or so and we already went to the National Team to play in the window. Then I started the holiday but the problem, I wouldn\u2019t say problem, is that when I\u2019m not doing anything, even during the summer, I start feeling guilty. So after the first few days I started to do yoga, track and fields, swimming, and then step by step I was involved in the stadium, weight-lifting and then in basketball. The coach from Milan came to check on us, check how our shape. I\u2019m happy because I had a physical condition coach who\u2019s with the Lithuanian National Team and I had my brother who is also a personal coach to help, too. I think even if you are a professional, and you know your body well, you need extra help, extra push from the side\u201d.<\/p>\n HIS NATIONAL TEAM EXPECTATIONS \u2013<\/strong> \u201cFirst of all we hope to make the World Cup. In general, being Lithuania a basketball country, all the mood in the country depends on how we are playing. If we are playing good everybody is good, if we are playing bad everybody is not so good. The expectations are the highest especially because in the Olympics and the European Championships we didn\u2019t do so well, so right now we want to recover and show that we are at the top again\u201d.<\/p>\n EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON \u2013<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s hard to separate how you are doing personally with that you are doing as a team. If the team is doing well you are going to be happy, and if the team is doing bad you\u2019re not going to be so happy, it doesn\u2019t matter how your individual performance is. So I just going to hope we are going to be better than last year especially in the EuroLeague and the Italian Cup\u201d.<\/p>\n NEMANJA NEDOVIC \u2013<\/strong> \u201cI was really happy when they announce his signing because like I said it\u2019s really important to know each other better and better. Me and Nedo we played together in Malaga and in the middle of the court you can feel it. I know what he can do and he knows what I can do. Our strength is that the new players can pull the team forward and Nedo is one of them\u201d.<\/p>\n ARTURAS GUDAITIS \u2013<\/strong> \u201cI remember an interview when he was still in Lithuania and I was asked which Lithuanians could make it to the NBA and I immediately mentioned Arturas. I think if he\u2019s in the right place at the right moment he can be a great player and I think Milano is perfect for him. He feels important, everybody respects him. I\u2019m happy for him because he\u2019s good not just as a player but as a person and this is even more important\u201d.<\/p>\n HIS FRIEND CARMELO ANTHONY \u2013<\/strong> \u201cI wish he can win the championship because he deserves it. I think in the National Team he showed he can be a great great player not only as a leader but also as a role player, just helping the team from the side. I think Houston can be the right place for him\u201d.<\/p>\n You can watch the video of this interview here.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n