Kurtinaitis, who appreciated the change of “Žalgiris”: it will benefit us if he plays fast

“Žalgiris” broke Piraeus’ Olympia 68:67 in the first round of the Euroleague, and Chimki did not do so well against basketball players against another Greek team – they lost 76:78 against Panathinaikos of Athens after a persistent fight.

R. Kurtinaitis hopes to be able to rehabilitate in the round of 16, which will allow him the favorable “Žalgiris” style of play for the Russian team, which is being presented in Kaunas by new coach Martin Schiller.

“I follow the Lithuanian Basketball League and I know how Žalgiris is playing now. The new coach Martin Schiller has experience in the United States, and that is felt in his philosophy. If the defense close to Šarūnas Jasikevičius was emphasized and solutions were polished in the attack, now Žalgiris plays quickly and freely.

The Kaunas team tries to finish the attacks quickly, there are almost no long positional attacks in their game. This is dangerous, and the match in Piraeus showed that the team is not breaking down and falling behind. “Žalgiris” is probably the biggest puzzle in the Euroleague this season, because nobody knows what to expect from him.

The most important thing for us is to look at ourselves, we have to solve our problems. If Žalgiris wants to play fast, so be it. We benefit if they play fast. We love this style, ”said R. Kurtinaitis, whose team is not really without its own problems.

Chimki will enter the battle with Žalgiris without even six major basketball players: Alexei Švedas and Stefan Jovičius are traumatized, Errick McCollum is in self-isolation and Jordan Mickey, Yevgeny Voronov and Janis Timma are infected with the coronavirus.

“Our situation does not change, the plans are the same. Basketball players sitting on the bench will play more often, who will have a great opportunity to prove themselves. We will play at home, so we will only fight for victory, ”said the Chimki helmsman.