BASKETBALL SERIE A: the guard comes on loan from the zalgiris
TREVISO
De ‘Longhi completes the roster with a Lithuanian. In fact, it will be Tomas Dimša who will close the quintet of coach Max Menetti for the 2021/22 season. For the Reggio technician it is almost a case of a return to the past, given the long personal experience with the Baltics in Reggio Emilia, from Donatas Slanina to the Kaukenas-Lavrinovic duo who accompanied (with the Latvian Silins) the then Grissin Bon up to the double championship final 2015-2016. The hope is that the new acquisition of TvB will also prove to be equally incisive in the seasonal economy of President Vazzoler’s club.
A native of Kaunas, 27 years old on January 2, the new biancoceleste guard has returned from a season lived almost entirely in Spain, in Gran Canaria, after a single appearance at home with the Žalgiris who had raised him as a boy and who had recalled him at the base just twelve months ago. With the yellow-blue jersey of the Herbalife Dimša stood out as a solid defender and reliable change of the winger from the bench, averaging 7 points in Liga ACB and 10.2 in Eurocup (with 40.4% from the arc), contributing to the positive year of the islanders who have reached the European semifinal and who have taken off the pass for the playoffs in the Iberian championship. In Dimša’s professional past there is a year in Germany, at the Skyliners Frankfurt (with a passage also in the satellite team in the second league), a fleeting experience in Varese in 2018 after two years at BC Prienai, a seasonal engagement at Juventus Utena and above all an excellent season at BC Lietkabelis, also in Lithuania, where he had shown himself with averages of 14.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Numbers that had convinced Žalgiris to call him back home after a long wanderings with a multi-year contract, even if after a few weeks the same Baltic club decided to turn him on loan due to overabundance in the guard sector. In the national field, Dimša has been part of all the Lithuanian teams since the Under16, joining the seniores since last year and also being called up for the unfortunate pre-Olympic in Lithuania which saw Luka Doncic’s Slovenia prevail in the final. Technically Dimša is a handyman guard of 196 cm in height and 87 kilos of ideal weight. Good archer, he counts on a good quickness of feet both in defense and in the attack on the iron. He can help the team by supporting the point guard in the task of carrying the ball, even if he is not a specialist, and offers a concrete contribution to rebounding. Very ductile element, it can also be used as a small tactical forward in light and fast quintets. At De ‘Longhi, Dimša’s role will not only be a defensive prop, but also as a tutelary deity of the young Bortolani and Casarin, guys who will be able to draw from his experience also in the Cups as well as from the leadership of confirmed Sokolowski to mature. –