Schiller, who emphasized the leadership of Grigonis, in this team, much begins with Marius

The people of M. Grigonis, who played a career match in the Euroleague, were tired of the 83:74 victory on Thursday night. Only in the last quarter did the Žalgiris helmsman, who took the initiative, believed that the most important factor in this match was the change in the Kaunas Club defense.

“Obviously it was a match between two different teams. Especially in defense. Opponents scored 50 points in the first half and 24 points in the second half. Before the break, they bounced 8 balls in attack, and after the break, only 4. Of course, the defense improved and became a factor that changed the game.

“I think in the first part of the game we lacked concentration on self defense. We couldn’t keep the opponents in front of us and catch the balls under our backboard. After the break, these things had to be fixed,” Schiller said.

M. Grigonis scored 25 points (6/8 dvit., 2/6 trip., 7/7 penalties) in 29 minutes in this game, bounced 2 balls and gave 3 assists. However, Schiller stressed that the most important thing was the athlete’s level of defense, which scored 27 utility points, which only increased after the break.

“It is very important that in the second half of the match Marius raised his level in defense. In this team, many things come from Marius. Obviously, he is a very important player in this team.

If Marius raises the level of defense, others follow his example ”, said the specialist.

Speaking of the main concerns of Žalgiris in Vilerban, the strategist highlighted Moustapha Fall, who scored 7 points (2/4 doubles) in 25 minutes, bounced 8 and served 2 balls, gave 4 assists, caused up to 11 fouls and scored 27 points useful. .

Although the 218cm tall giant forced the three tall people from Žalgiris to come together for 4 personal fouls, M. Schiller had no complaints against Joffrey Lauvergne, Martin Geben and Augustin Rubit.

“We didn’t deal with Fall in the first half of the game. We had a lot of trouble fighting him for the balls. Guerschon Yabusel also caused a number of problems.

The plan for playing Fall was to defend yourself by being behind him, not against him. We wanted to push him a little further from the basket. The game against him was a team effort. We have three big guys: Joffrey, Augustine, and Marty. They all did their job. “

The coach also explained why Rokas Jokubaitis was not registered for the match.

“It just came to our attention then. We didn’t want to risk his health, so we left him in a hotel,” Schiller revealed.

Žalgiris is expected to play the next Euroleague game on November 6, when Real Madrid will have to take home.