Some had already stuck a ‘Chuck Eidson’ tag on the player’s back, others were also very optimistic about the forward’s arrival – the general consensus was that the club had acquired a top-class player. However, a poor summer with the Australian national team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship Turkey left a lot of unanswered questions.
Brad Newley might prove to be one of the biggest steals in the European free agent market this year, but it’s now up to him to prove himself and earn a spot in the hearts of basketball-crazy Lithuanians. Brad Nelwey spoke to LithuaniaBasketball.com about the Australian national team, his new club Lietuvos Rytas and the upcoming debut in Euroleague.
The Australian performance in the World Championship wasn’t that good, probably not as good as you expected beforehand. What did the team lack?
We played hard despite struggling offensively sometimes. That’s what happens when you bring in a pretty new team. I think we’re going to be much better next year and we just have to move on from that and improve next year in camp. Right now I’m just focused on doing well for Rytas.
The absence of Andrew Bogut was surely a big blow, wasn’t it?
Of course, he was in the All-NBA third team so to say we didn’t miss a guy like him is impossible. Definitely, we missed his presence inside, he’s a tough rebounder, him around the basket could have freed up a few things too. We still had good back-ups in Matty [Nielsen] and Aleks Maric. This is one thing that’s happened, it’s over now and we’ve moved forward.
Talking about the future of the national team, what do you need to improve before the Olympics?
First of all we have to beat New Zealand. If we don’t beat them – it makes it very tough, we have to go to the qualifications. So right now, from the national team’s point of view, we have to figure out how we’re going to beat New Zealand. That’s the big thing. They’re a very good team as well. New Zealand also made the Top 16 and has two very good scorers. So we need to do all we can to be ready for them in about twelve months time.
Talking about moving forward, what are your personal goals for this season in a new team?
I just want to do as well as I can for this club. You look around here and there’s a lot of history. I want to come in and do what I can to help this team win and go as far as we can in the Euroleague.
There are a lot of big names in our group, but Lietuvos Rytas has a lot of ambition and doing well in these games would be a great thing for Vilnius. We need to continue to work well as a group in all of the leagues and hopefully when the Euroleague starts, we’ll be ready to play and fight with these big clubs around Europe.
The club hasn’t got any big stars in the roster. What do you think about your new teammates?
I think it’s a very good group of guys who want to work hard and do well with what they have. Not having big stars is a good thing for us because everybody will work together. When Martynas [Gecevicius] comes into the lineup I think he’s going to help us out a lot. He’s a great player. We’ll continue to play hard and do everything we can and hopefully when the season begins Rytas will be ready to defend the Lithuanian title.
Did you have enough time to create your opinion on about coach Drazen Anzulovic?
He’s very good. The coach has been away the last couple days, but my first impression has been that he lets the players play. The practices are good as well. He’s tough, but that’s how it needs to be. I’m impressed with how he is and I like playing for him so far.
Have you discussed your role in the team with him?
Not just yet, I’ve only been in town for one week and he’s been very busy with some Euroleague meetings and some other things. I’m sure as the season approaches we’ll have some individual discussions about my role in the team and what I need to do to help this great club.
You’ve noticeably improved your defensive abilities and strengthened up recently, do you think that this could be step towards NBA?
That’s something that’s on my radar, but I don’t really want to discuss it now. As I’ve said before, if I think about those things my game here will be nothing. I need to focus on the direct task, which is playing for Rytas. The defensive stuff and strength things were important for me to play in this level and that’s what’s helped me out and got me to this club. I just need to continue to work.
Did you talk with the club’s GM Jonas Vainauskas about the team’s season goals?
Yeah, Jonas [Vainauskas] is very ambitious and it’s great to have an owner like that. He wants the team to do well and I think that’s important. If you play for a team where they just want to finish third or fourth and make Eurocup – it’s nothing. He wants ambition and I think that’s a great thing for the players. We want to come in and do well for him. We’ve talked a bit about that kind of stuff and I’m looking forward to doing well.
Have you talked with Matthew Nielsen, who has played here for three years, about the club? Did he influence your decision a little bit?
Many times I talked with Matty [Nielsen] about coming here and also Aron [Baynes] a little bit because he was here last year. Matty said to come here and work as hard as I can – it’s a great place and a great opportunity to play basketball and as I’ve seen in the past week, people are crazy about basketball here.
We discussed it, I rang him before I signed and talked about it a little bit. He was pretty supportive and you just have to look at what he has done in the last ten years in basketball and he has made pretty good decisions along the way so. I’m very happy with my decision.
