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It would not be disrespectful to say that “Žalgiris” was not expected to share first place in the Euroleague after the first month of the season, writes Frank Lawlor, a critic of the tournament’s official website.
After the beloved head coach and three of the five most productive players, two of whom were also the best fighters for the balls, left, Žalgiris was not very lucky on the October schedule.
The Grunwald folks started the season with three trips to Piraeus, the Moscow region and Belgrade, and then played with last season’s leader Anadolu Efes in Istanbul. After that, Valencia reached Kaunas, and finally Žalgiris met Vilerbano ASVEL on the trip.
eurolyga-vilerbano-asvel-kauno-zalgiris
After this more than 15 thousand. Žalgiris and his new boss, Martin Schiller, are 5-1 and share first place with their former coach Šarūnas Jasikevičius’ Barcelona.
Žalgiris did it by attacking the basket better than any other team in the Euroleague. If you evaluate all the points the teams could have scored from the shots thrown and the ones they scored, Žalgiris leads the Euroleague with 53 percent. indicator.
The very interesting thing is that “Žalgiris” is third in terms of performance (80.2 points), although in terms of shots and possible points he occupies the last place in the entire Euroleague (151.7 points).
The reasons for such efficiency are clear to anyone who has seen the “Žalgiris” match so far. A sharp but sure movement of the ball forces the defense to move and ends with a highly effective shot. “Žalgiris” is second (41.4%) in terms of three-point precision, and sixth (56.3%) in terms of two-point precision.
Don’t even think about offending them.
And don’t think about offending them: “Žalgiris” has reached 91.1 percent so far. penalty kicks. Such an indicator would break the all-time record if only Žalgiris could continue to attack with such precision far from the penalty line.
Six Different Players – October MVP Marius Grigonis, Lukas Lekavičius, Paulius Jankūnas, Thomas Walkup, Augustine Rubitas and Rokas Jokubaitis scored all 54 penalties during the first six games of the season.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Marius Grigonis
Another unexpected reflection of this season is Real, which is only 14th with a score of 2-4. And that’s only after the then Bayern Munich leader was defeated last week.
The Madriders scored 100 points in that game, nearly 30 points more than their average in the four games they lost (70.5).
The real problems begin on their own side of the field, where the Kings lose 83.2 points, the third worst result in October. Real opponents get averages during the match. 22.2 two points (second worst result) and reached 39.8 percent. three points (third worst score).
The number of opponent colonies should decrease as Real recovers the recovered players and allows Walter Tavares to dominate the penalty area; His current 1-block average should be close to the usual 1.9-block average from last season.
“Scanpix” nuotr./Walteris Tavaresas
Although it may be that Real’s rivals have found ways to force Tavares to trade and defend himself from smaller basketball players, who take him out of the penalty area and force him to defend in the triple.
Of course, many hope that Real will take the time to find the right address. The loss of very important players on the team, Anthony Randolpho, Fabiene Causeuro and Jeffrey Tayloro, made the team look upset.
Yet six straight playoff appearances, six of which ended in the last four and two in the title, and many of the same champion players from the past cast doubt on whether that team would really continue to cling to the bottom of the table.
The only question is how quickly the Real will be able to change the situation 180 degrees. The victory against Žalgiris would make it easier for the team to breathe and give more time and opportunities in the playoffs. If the guests won in Kaunas, they would not only get closer to each other, but would also allow other teams to follow Žalgiris.
Photo from Euroleague.net/Rudy Fernandez
But has the current already turned the other way? Real beat Žalgiris 11 times in a row and in 18 of the 19 games between 2008 and 2018, but since then Žalgiris has beaten their rivals two out of three times.
Furthermore, the Euroleague has already become less predictable of late. When last season was stopped prematurely, as many as eight teams pushed in the middle of the table with 12 to 14 wins. We must not forget 2018-2019. at the end of the season, when there were up to 99 different scenario options in the fight for a place in the top eight with two rounds to play.
It is quite possible that the unpredictability of the Euroleague only manifested itself earlier this season.
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