Kuzminskas: “AEK has good players but not yet a good team – Correct choice of Brazdeikis”

One of the most important transfers of the season for the AEK it was his Mindaugas Kuzminskas.

The veteran forward joined the Union looking to add a wealth of experience and quality to the forward positions in a surprise top-shelf move.

The Lithuanian international spoke about the new season to BasketNews, commenting on the reasons that led him to choose AEK, as well as his previous move from Greece, when he wore his jersey Olympiakou.

In detail what he said to BasketNews:

For the reasons he chose AEK: “I’m almost 34 and the priorities in my decisions are different than before. Now, it’s more about feeling good, living in a nice place, surrounded by great people in the team. I think this is the place. The way you feel off the field is very important for the results you get on the field.”

On whether he could expect proposals after the World Cup: “If I had done that, let’s be honest, I probably would have gotten better offers. But I have a family and my son is very young. I didn’t want to keep them waiting. I thought about all the pros and cons and decided. I also spoke with Matsioulis, he is very straightforward and told me all the good and the bad.”

About his departure from Olympiakos: “David Blatt brought me to Olympiakos, but he left the team after the first official game. Then Kestutis Kemzura took over and I wasn’t too happy with my role in the team at the time. I got an offer from another team, I talked to the coach and he said ok. Perhaps he saw that other players could offer more to the team. We were both honest with each other. In my place we had Papanikolaou, Brandon Paul, Printezis and Vezenkov who didn’t play much at the time. That’s a lot of talent packed together. If the timing had been different, who knows what would have happened? Maybe the story would have been different. But I’m still happy to have spent even a little bit of this legendary club.”

On the quality of this year’s AEK: “We have good individual players, but not yet a good team. Everyone is young. Last year, we faced the same thing in Karsijaka. The start of the season was not good, and we were out of the BCL playoffs. But we got good players and took second place in the end, beating Fenerbahce. It would be a miracle to play well at the start of the season, but the future can be good for us. As I have learned from my experience on the national team, sometimes great chemistry and team basketball are more important than talent. Let’s hope we can transfer it to AEK as soon as possible.”

On the transfer of Brazdeikis to Olympiakos: “I spoke to him last Sunday. I think it’s the right move for him, all my sympathy for Zalgiris aside. Olympiacos is on the right track. They had great results and kept the core of their roster. I think they will continue to do well. Ignas has a long-term deal in a beautiful place to live, with a huge history and a great coach. He won’t be far from me, so it’s always nice to see a Lithuanian friend.

However, it was a surprise that Zalgiris let him go. But in recent years, they’ve also done an amazing job with their roster. Last season they reached the EuroLeague playoffs when no one expected them. So, I think they know what they are doing. If they let Ignas go, it’s probably because someone is already on their radar. They have the buyout and his salary, which means they can get a very good player at the shooting guard position. At the same time, Ignas must know that playing in Greece is not easy. The fans love basketball, they recognize you everywhere you go and every day you have to be the best version of yourself in every game.”