Strelnieks is excited about the first class conditions in Kaunas: ‘I wish myself a healthy season’ / News - Basketnews.com

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After an injury-riddled experience with the CSKA Moscow, the newcomer of Zalgiris Kaunas, Janis Strelnieks, is excited about the prospects of the Lithuanian champions.

A small injury suffered with Latvia’s national team is preventing Strelnieks from being a full-strength participating in Zalgiris training sessions, but the conditions and care in Kaunas make the shooting guard happy.

“Everything is very professional in here,” Strelnieks told BasketNews. “I’m delighted that I came to Zalgiris, and I have here everything I need. In comparison with other teams I’ve played for, Zalgiris pay more attention to these kinds of situations.”

“At the moment, the injury isn’t serious but knowing the history of it, we are taking a more cautious approach to avoid a possible recurrence. We had a medical check on Tuesday, and everything is healed. Now I need to put in extra work so I could join the team next week,” Latvian added.

Strelnieks had very similar problems during the past two years in Moscow. Last season he took part in 26 out of 39 CSKA’s EuroLeague games and averaged 4.4 points on 41.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

However, in VTB United League, the Latvian sharpshooter played only 9 games. The last one was on February 13th. The recurring pain pushed Strelnieks out of rotation because of the VTB United League limit for foreign players.

“Sometimes small injuries take you from action for 3-4 weeks. If they are recurring, it becomes more difficult to find the rhythm again”, Strelnieks explained. “Coach doesn’t wait for you anymore because, in a team like CSKA, there are a lot of other good players who are ready to play. If you’re injured, it’s your problem. We must make sure it won’t happen here. I wish myself a healthy season.”

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“If I could explain why those injuries happen, I would do everything to prevent them. This is exactly the reason why we are working with coaches and physios - to find a solution to why it is happening,” he added.

When he received Zalgiris' offer, Strelnieks saw many positives, including the opportunity to revive his career. Also, Lithuania being a neighboring country to his native Latvia weighted into consideration. Strelnieks, whose hometown is Talsi, and his wife are expecting a newborn.

“Zalgiris is a lot closer to home,” Strelnieks said with a smile on his face. “It’s a great club with a big history. I spoke with other Latvians, and we wish a team like that were in our country, too. For example, in Riga. I’m sure that now even more Latvians will come to Kaunas to watch Zalgiris games.

Latvians know Zalgiris, but, obviously, we are not talking about it all the time because the team is in another country. However, if you asked anyone, people would tell you that they know about it,” Strelnieks continued.

Asked about the goals for the upcoming season, Strelnieks hoped that it would be a special one.

“I wish we could achieve something special. Recently, Zalgiris were showing very good basketball with Sarunas Jasikevicius as a head coach. So, why not try and achieve something more than just playing in the EuroLeague?” wondered Strelnieks.

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