Tag: Martynas Pocius

When the Nuggets game finishes, Nikola …

When the Nuggets game finishes, Nikola Jokic goes to the exercise facility and works additionally, whether he played 25 minutes in a 30-point blowout win or 52 minutes in a four-overtime thriller. The Serbian superstar does some work with resistance bands and dumbbells, wrapping it all up with some stretching. “He started this routine three years ago,” Martynas Pocius, Assistant Director of Pro Personnel at Denver Nuggets, told BasketNews. “After every game, he does his work with the athletic trainers. He hasn’t skipped his routine for the last three years.”

“People think that it’s just talent. …

“People think that it’s just talent. Yes, he’s a talent, but he puts in a lot of hard work. When your best player acts in this manner after each game, it’s contagious,” Pocius said. When he enters the exercise facility after each NBA game, Pocius now sees half the team working additionally. “It’s become part of our culture,” he tells. Jokic and other Nuggets stars have nine individual skills coaches. According to Pocius, each club has 5-8 such specialists, some even more.

Those nine coaches, who are often not …

Those nine coaches, who are often not even on the bench, are then responsible for player development. “It’s still very fresh in Europe. It’s a new position that’s hard to grasp not only in Lithuania but in entire Europe. It’s very important, though. In my opinion, we’ll get to the stage when each team has at least one such coach sooner or later,” Pocius explained.

Pocius went on to play for Real Madrid …

Pocius went on to play for Real Madrid and Galatasaray — a team in Istanbul — with two more stints with Zalgiris Kaunas sandwiched in between. Seven years into his playing carer, Pocius initially had no intention of stopping. However, his body had a different idea. “Since I played at Duke, I had had seven surgeries,” Pocius said. “It took a toll on my body and I was in this cycle of getting injured, having surgery, trying rehab, all to come back and then have it happen all over again … I was reaching a point where I wasn’t enjoying basketball as much as I used to. I was a gym rat and I loved the gym, and it wasn’t fun being there anymore.”

Connelly looked at Pocius and said, …

Connelly looked at Pocius and said, “Well, if you just want to retire and come join us, we’ll make that happen.” Pocius thought it was a joke. And at that time, retiring seemed far-fetched. But after he made the decision to stop playing Pocius reached out to Connelly to see if the offer was still on the table. “I flew out to Las Vegas for Summer League and I met with Tim and all the other guys and one thing led to another,” Pocius said. “I’m truly happy that I decided to retire when I did.”