Aaron sits down with Vytautas Zygas, the 6'6" guard from Kaunas, Lithuania, for Old Dominion Men's Basketball. Vy talks about why he chose ODU, his shared philosophy with Coach Mike Jones, his game, his teammates and a lot more.

What's good, fans?

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It's Steph Walker here, and y'all

watching the Monarchist Basketball Show.

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Mike Langston: The following

presentation is brought to you by

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The Pride of ODU, the official NIL

collective of All Dominion Athletics.

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Be a Monarchist.

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Join The Pride.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right, Monarch

Nation, welcome back to the show.

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B, welcome to the podcast.

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Vytautas Zygas: Pleasure to be here.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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On behalf of Old Dominion fans,

welcome to ODU and Norfolk.

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Vytautas Zygas: Thank you.

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Aaron Zielinski: How's

Norfolk treating you so far?

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Vytautas Zygas: So far so good.

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I mean, I've been exploring the

city , so it's quite nice to be here.

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I mean, whole environment

is perfect for me.

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I'm enjoying every minute here.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right, so before

coming to Old Dominion, you started

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for the Lithuanian U16, 17, 18, and 20.

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Teams the past four summers,

how have those experiences

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prepared you for success at ODU?

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Vytautas Zygas: So, I played

in the European Championships.

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I played in the World Cup.

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So, I saw a lot of different things.

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I saw how teams play.

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So, I gained a lot of experience from it.

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And to this team, I bring

some different playoff style.

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I play slower, but I play

more smart basketball.

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So when you combine physical and

athletic team, and you combine

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that more play that based on IQ, I

think we have a great combination.

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Aaron Zielinski: Awesome.

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We'll talk a little bit more about that

in a couple of minutes, but you had a

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lot of opportunities to go other places.

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Why ODU?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, they

showed most interest towards me.

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I mean, I talked to Coach

Ryan most of the times.

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I mean, I talked with Coach Mike and

I saw their vision and I liked it.

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I mean, Coach Jones have the

same philosophy that I played

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for other coaches, so I like

that, and that's why I chose ODU.

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Aaron Zielinski: So, the philosophy

that you talk about, that shared

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philosophy between Coach Jones

and some of your previous coaches.

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Give us an example, like what's,

what's a philosophy that Coach

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Jones has that's important to you?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, the first thing

that we need to do is the defense.

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Defense is the number one.

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So when I played in Lithuania,

four different coaches, our

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key to victories was defense.

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So Coach Mike tells us that defense, that

defense is going to win some games for us.

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So, I mean, all defenses, uh,

defense styles, um, offensive,

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it's kind of similar that I

was playing in Lithuania, so.

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Aaron Zielinski: Alright, so,

this team has a lot of new faces.

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Including you, you're one of them.

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So apart from hoops, what

should ODU fans know about you?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, I

bring a different culture here.

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I'll try to teach my guys some

Lithuanian type, type of things.

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I'm going to introduce them to

Lithuanian food because I love to cook.

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I love to cook.

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So, yeah,

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Aaron Zielinski: all right.

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So I don't want to jump too far ahead,

but you mentioned Lithuanian food.

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Is there a place that you found

here locally that has decent

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Lithuanian food or not yet?

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Vytautas Zygas: Uh, not yet because

when I search Lithuanian food

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right here, they show nothing.

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I mean, there's some in

Chicago, in Philadelphia.

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I mean, obviously I haven't been

there, but I'm going to make sure

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to find one somewhere near close.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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Well, when we talk next

and you, you found it.

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We got to let Monarch Nation know.

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All right.

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So obviously you mentioned you've been

here for a couple of months now, uh,

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European basketball, you know, often

focuses more on team play, fundamentals,

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ball movement, and those sorts of things.

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Um, whereas the United States,

the emphasis that a lot of

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time is on athletic ability.

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So talk to us about that a

little bit and your perspective,

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one, your perspective on.

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Uh, basketball in America before coming

here and now that you're here, talk to

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talk Monarch Nation about those, those

differences and maybe some similarities.

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Vytautas Zygas: Well, at first, when

my family told us, told me that there's

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opportunity to come to the USA for

the first time, I was scared because

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they play a lot of one on one offense.

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They play, not a team basketball that

I was afraid of, afraid of, but as

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more I search, as more I watch NCAA.

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So I saw that teams are playing more,

uh, team basketball, not a one-on-one.

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So as time moved on I decided

maybe it's time to go to USA

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and try this type of basketball.

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So when I came here, I saw that

Coach Mike done amazing job

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that there's no I in the team.

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We're playing as a team.

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You're not playing as an individual.

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So that's why.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right, so

Mike and I have been fortunate

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enough to be able to see you

play , and it's really fun to watch.

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You seemingly make the right

play consistently, whether it's

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shooting the ball, making the extra

pass, or getting a tough rebound.

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If you had to pick your

favorite move, what would it be?

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Vytautas Zygas: Tough question.

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I mean, maybe look a step back.

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I mean, I'm not doing as much as I want.

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I mean, you have to.

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See what's the opportunity

when you have to do it.

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But yeah, favorite move

would be look a step back.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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What's been the biggest adjustment for

you having come from Lithuania to Norfolk?

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One, basketball.

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And then two, just personal.

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Vytautas Zygas: Basketball,

I would say intensity.

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Here we, right here we play faster

than I was used to be to play.

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I mean, I play slower basketball.

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So that's an adjustment

that I had to make.

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And in general, maybe the

language, because in Lithuanian,

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we talk only in Lithuanian.

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I mean, yeah, we, we, uh,

studying English also, but we

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not talk as much as we can, so.

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Aaron Zielinski: Well, I think you're

doing a great job there, so whatever

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you've been doing, keep it up.

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All right.

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Is there something that you've

learned about one of your teammates?

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And the time you've been here that

Old Dominion fans wouldn't know.

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean,

Rob is into fashion.

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I mean, the way he

dresses, I like it a lot.

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So I think, yeah, Rob's fashion.

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Cal, Cal likes to fish.

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These two are

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Aaron Zielinski: Good deal.

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All right, let's ask a

couple fun questions here.

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We always like to do it.

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Is there something that you like

to eat or a favorite pregame meal?

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You had before a big game.

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, when I was in

Lithuania, I ate whatever my mom prepared.

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So it's either was pasta,

rice, or some chicken.

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It doesn't care.

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Aaron Zielinski: Well, the good news is I

think there's probably plenty of all three

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of those here, so it'd be good to go.

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Not mom cooking though, . Yeah.

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Alright.

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Music wise.

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So we ask the guys about

music all the time.

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Um, have you always been a fan of U.

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S.

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music, or is there Lithuanian

music that we have no clue about

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that we should be tuning into?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, I've been

listening to all the kinds of music,

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Eminem and Tupac, uh, Gunna, a lot

of different rappers, but pregame,

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I would say some Lithuanian bangers.

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I mean, old bangers, like 90s, early

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Aaron Zielinski: Okay.

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Any particular one that if someone

could pull up and say Spotify?

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Vytautas Zygas: Um, I mean, you're

not gonna understand any word, but

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if you search Hiperbolė, it's a

classic, classic band, so I like to.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right, we'll do that.

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All right, in your free time, when

you're not, when you're not hooping.

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You're studying, what do you like to do?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean, I try to relax.

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Just trying to scout a city.

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I mean, I also love the game.

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I like to play 2K mostly.

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I mean, guys are playing NCA college

football, but it's a new thing for me

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and I haven't, I haven't touched yet.

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Aaron Zielinski: 2K wise.

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Who's the best on the team?

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Vytautas Zygas: I'm gonna see me.

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Okay.

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'cause I've been playing

2K for a long time, almost.

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I haven't played against anybody

because I haven't got a console

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to play, but now I got it.

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So I'm sure I'm going to beat those guys.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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Is there a NBA player that

if you had to describe your

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game, you would be most like?

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Vytautas Zygas: In IQ wise, I

would say Luka or Nikola Jokic.

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On athletic or game based,

I would say Mikhail Bridges.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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Two questions.

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What's your top personal and team goal

for this season and what's it going

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to take for you guys to achieve it?

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Vytautas Zygas: I mean for a team

obviously we want to win a conference.

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I know that it hasn't been a while

that we won So I'm pretty sure that

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we're gonna win this year I mean it

takes a lot of work a lot of dedication

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Trusting each other and in personal.

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I just trying to get better as a

leader Maybe not points or something

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that shows, shows in the statistics,

but more, more like a vocal leader.

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So, try to prepare guys

mentally for battles.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right,

before we close this out, what's

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obviously basketball is on

your mind and you probably have

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aspirations to play professionally.

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But after basketball is done.

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Have you thought about that?

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And if so, what do you want to

do when the ball stops bouncing?

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Vytautas Zygas: Uh, first, I

wanted to be a physiotherapist.

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Also, maybe basketball agent.

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And as move time on, I'm not quite sure.

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But coach is an idea,

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I don't know.

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It's kind of similar.

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Maybe just why not?

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Why not to try it?

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Coach's career.

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Aaron Zielinski: All right.

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Vy, , what's your message

to Monarch Nation?

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Um,

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Vytautas Zygas: I hope you guys,

you guys support us all season long.

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I promise that we're

gonna fight every game.

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We're gonna bring energy to every game.

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And I hope that you're gonna

support us and show that USA fans

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are better than European fans.

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It's a difficult task, but I'm

sure you're gonna ace that.

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Aaron Zielinski: Thanks

for joining the show.

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Go Monarchs!

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Go

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Vytautas Zygas: Monarchs!