Audrius Prakuraitis

The season is gone. It was not bad. We had some tough moments. We were much more tired this year as we had to carry a heavy load of expectations. It was more difficult to keep the team in the right way, to help them to perform, to press them when it was necessary. Season was with so many ups and downs, few injuries and team chemistry and organization problems. At the beginning of the season we were playing bad, without chemistry and with many doubts in our heads. I know I made some mistakes. I take full responsibility for that, I’m not perfect I make mistakes, I learn from a move on.

This season the first entry was about new players who we added to the roster. We took the players from the bottom teams of Romanian league. But this was because of our budget, for us was impossible to sign better players. Only three players from last year’s roster were brought back. And Cooley came back in November. I’m happy that Peciukas and Masiulis came to our team and led the team in difficult games. The level of expectations outside and inside the club was big. It’s many little things, but very important things, on which depends team performance. One of that  is a psychological chemistry in the team that defines how players relate to each other, for us was difficult to stay together and have good relationships. In previous(my first season here)season we were in very good relationships and team spirit was strong.

What’s important, we reached the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal series against Cluj was extremely difficult. They have solid and deep roster, good coaching staff and was coming off a successful regular season. All that makes them a very tough team to beat.

We lost, but we have 3 very good games and 2 wins. I’m happy about that games but not about the result of playoff. The good thing is that we came up with a win against Cluj after two defeats. In my opinion the difference in that quarterfinal series was not technical or tactical preparation, but mental toughness. Also is difficult psychologically and physically to play two games in two days.

The main reason that we lost three games was our defense. We allowed too many easy baskets. We could have won one of those games even scoring 70 points, if we could have been more consistent defensively.

We’ve  been trying different options defensively, we’ve made many mistakes in man-to-man and zone defenses and allowed the Cluj team to get many offensive rebounds. Poor rebounding was a crucial factor in all lost games. And in all season games too.

Another reason was that we were undisciplined. The players on the court were unsure about our priorities in offense in these specific moments, what we were prepared for playoff games. We were doing things that were not standing in the logical succession of priorities for few very important moments on those games.

And the one more – Zoran Krstanovic, who stepped up and showed incredible leadership not only in terms of points or rebounds, but in terms of leading the team by example for the all season. He played like his reputation.

We lost against very good team with strong organization, they have a very experienced, solid and deep roster, the team who has continuity in few years, what is very important, the best results showing teams who working together more than one season, not only in Romania.

The coaching job in playoffs is really hard, because I need to deal with people with their abilities, emotions and creativity and to work under big pressure.

I would like to thank my assistants Barni and George, conditioning coach Cristi  and wish them to be more and more important as their role in the team. Being my assistant is not difficult, but at the same time it might be difficult sometimes. I never disturb anybody past usual working hours. After the game I’m so tired, usually we were going out to drink coffee or tea together, to speak and to clarify some ideas, then we were going to sleep.

We made a small step up in our team organization this season, but we need to improve a lot to be stronger team. I believe that the team performance depends not only on that what players and coaches we have, but also on many small things in team organization.

I would like to thank our fans. Those who traveled with the team. Those who came to our home games. Those who followed up on the internet. It’s very nice to play home games when gym is crowded, and people who is coming to the games is gives us big support with passion.

At the end of this post I would like to thank everyone in club council without whose support we cannot have this team.

We are extremely happy after beating Medias and comming to Cristmas more happy and satisfied in that job what we are making. I‘m very proud of my players. The team was played as aggressively as it was possible. They were very aggressive in taking shots, in trying to create situations, defensively, instead of waiting and trying to play more secure. We knew that if we had lost, we could have risked qualifying for the playoffs. At the same time, the rivals that was the strongest team in a league they had deeper rosters, especially in some key positions, but we was better that night. Wins like that give us confidence, but at the same time obligate to work more for the next wins. Generally speaking, there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
From the 5th of January , we’ll be facing a very challenging and important two-week period. Time what we need to spend on improving a lot of things, players should continue to learn how to make their teammates better, the good thing is, we understand each other better and seem to have the idea of what we should do offensively. But I‘m still worring more about defense, last season we had one of the best defenses in a league, this season I‘m not satisfied in defense at all, maybe except the last game and for the next part of the season we should be much more concentrated on defense.
I believe the team will be in a good shape when we will start second part of the season. Right now we’re still in the process of becoming a competing team, in my opinion only teams that can compete have a chance to win. The next part of the season is going to be a difficult challenge, because many teams will sign new good players, be more tough games because all teams wants to be in playoff.
I would like to thank all the fans who come out and support what we do. Without the fans, our performance would not be what it is today. So a special thanks to all the fans.
Merry Cristmas and Happy New Year!
Crăciun fericit şi un An Nou fericit!
Kellemes Karácsonyt és Boldog Uj évet!

Two games more, two defeats more. It’s very difficult period for me like a coach, for the players too.
Ploiesti. We knew that we had to face the team that is very strong and very well balanced. We analyzed and showed to our players the strengths of this team and its very only few weaknesses. When we play a team like Ploiesti and we obtained the home court advantage, we have to play. Before the game I asked guys to be more self-confident, to trust each other and to help each other. Generally game wasn’t bad, we fought, but too many lost balls and free throws …
Thanks for our fans who supported us even after a bad start. We felt this support, and the team managed to stay calm.
Pitesti. Strong team, but vincible. In that game we were very nervous and shot poorly, made a bad decisions on offense and defense, we wasn’t aggressive on offense, but I need to say that Pitesti was played good. Big lost was Marius because of injury, we lost player who was a leader in previous games, we lost pg backup, backup for weakness position. In another hand, Romanian players had good chance to show themselves. I get mad, when I see that they don’t perform at that level. At the same time, I don’t thought it’s a good idea to keep them on the bench. I was tried to find players who is ready to play hard, players who can play with heart, with personality and immediately put the game into the direction what we wanted it to go. But…
The result of the game was very disappointing. Obviously, I was frustrated. It’s always like this when you lose.
The crucial point is that every team has to learn how to win. Sooner or later. It might be now, it might be later, but we have to learn it. The sooner, the better. With a new team, when we head into a important game, we can see who is who, who will support you, or who will shy away.
I said for guys that we must win together, we must feel like a unit going against the opponent. Every game, every practice, every day, together. It’s that simple.
So, we have to move on. We can’t to stay and keep looking backwards.

I was looking forward to returning to Tirgu Mures to continue the work that was started by an ambitious club in last season. I appreciate all of the support I have received from fans of team, team president and sponsors.

We have not big budget this season compared with other teams, we created good new team, but we have difficult preparation period, small number of preparation games, bad luck with the choosing players…
The opening was really hard as we lost three games in a row. I‘m really sorry about that.

From the first practices everything is coming out very difficult. It’s hard for the players, they are thinking a lot about what they are requested to do rather than just setting their instincts and playing off them. Guys are getting to know each other slowly, they understand my ideas slowly and I slowly understand their way of seeing basketball. As a result, in first games we were mechanical and didn’t have a good flow. Sometimes we made very good strides, sometimes committed unexpected mistakes.
But that’s the way it is. We didn’t have enough preparation games in the weeks before the championship start.

As a coaching staff, we working hard to prepare a team for games. I hope that the players will play fast and strong, find easy ways to the basket, fastbreaks, etc, which will make the game spectacular for everybody. I define a good team attitude by how well the players accept their roles and their responsibilities to the team.

The difference is that here expectations are even higher.

We need to live with the short time we have, put in effort and make the most of it. I ask players to understand that maybe we don’t play nice basketball now, but at the same we have to try to be consistent, win as many games as possible and get the feeling that we’re starting to play well together.
We need to improve our defense, rebounding , transition and fast-break points. Concentrating on them will help us win games and not depend on our ability to play nice basketball. When we get to know each other much better, games will become smoother.

I always want my team to be as strong as possible, and to win as many games as possible.
We’ll see. I hope for the best. It’s yet another challenge, another way to play and coach basketball.
I‘m really hope that our fans will support us even after a bad start.