M. Schiller, who attends another basketball seminar, debuted in the Euroleague Euroleague

Italian journalists were surprised when, after winning a press conference in Milan following the victory over Grunwald, Ettore Messina waited in the corridor of his colleague’s Mediolanum Forum.

The Olimpia strategist heard a brief report of Martin Schiller’s defeat to the media and, after waiting for the 38-year-old oyster, went to the country to talk about basketball.

The Žalgiris strategist has worked with two of Ettore Messina’s colleagues in the past, thus helping to establish contact with a specialist from Italy called “Professor”.

It was quite an expressive conversation between the two coaches. E. Messina kept saying something, mostly about the two-on-two defense, other variations of the defense, and M. Schiller nodded and marked everything.

In several interviews, he repeatedly cited the title E. Messina, so the opportunity to communicate face-to-face had to inspire the Euroleague rookie.

“It just came to our knowledge then. But we’re not just talking about basketball,” Schiller told a news conference on the eve of the game with Zenit in St. Petersburg.

Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Ettore Messina

Pablo Laso, Ioannis Sfairopoulas, Dimitris Itoudis, Ettore Messina, and on Thursday another European basketball genius Xavi Pascualis. M. Schiller, who got acquainted with the Euroleague, took part in the coaches clinic last month.

Famous opponents wrote him not only good basketball lessons, but also defeats. “Žalgiris” will have to climb by himself so that X. Pascual’s visit to Kaunas does not become another basketball seminar for the Baltic green team.

“Xavi basketball has a very well organized defense and a very selective attack, knowing exactly where to attack. They have several options on where to attack, but they select vulnerabilities very well. When you watch their matches, you won’t see the same when they choose new attack targets. It is the opponent’s job to predict what to expect, “said Schiller, a Zenit strategist.

What is the headquarters of the “Žalgiris” coaches trying to predict?

“I’m not going to say that anymore, I don’t want to give the rivals an advantage,” said the strategist.

„Scanpix“ nuotr./Xavi Pascualis

But Schiller has already chosen all of Zenit’s biggest threats well.

According to the Žalgiris specialist, Zenit, who have won all four Euroleague away games, are building their defense. Vine. The 70.14-point Russian club is second in the Euroleague in terms of defense.

Kevin Pangos’ two-on-two lead with KC Rivers, Billy Baron or Austin Hollins leads Zenit’s attack.

Under the basket, Will Thomas, an important figure in the penalty area, and Alex Poythress try to attack the bottom of the basket. And where M. Schiller Artūras Gudaitis is not mentioned.

“It’s a well-designed team, but its strength is defense,” Schiller said. – We will have to pay attention to their pitchers. They are a great threat. They can’t get away from their players because everyone can hit from afar. “

Žalgiris’s defense must be prepared for a possible assault by Zenit. The defensive barriers prepared by M. Schiller have not yet withstood the waves of attack from the last four rivals.

Since matchday 7 of the Euroleague, the people of Žalgiris spend an average of 49.5 points, the most in the entire tournament. After two halves, Žalgiris had to chase the last four opponents in the middle. 10.7 points difference.

“We can’t break it,” Schiller said of the nasty trend. – Our main theme now are some first-half situations where we have to get out of the hole with our energy and give ourselves a better chance to beat these very good teams.

I think psychology is more important here when things start to go downhill. You have to stop the 0-6 streak, and what you really don’t want is a streak like 0-14. Basketball is a game of passages, but the most important thing is not to let our opponents take us too deep ”.

Schiller is gradually learning the trends of Euroleague basketball. After their first 10 matches in this tournament, Žalgiris with nine wins and 5 losses is in ninth.

“I like the big picture. We have the best club start in the Euroleague in 7 years. That is already a good thing. The 5-5 is also a positive look to the future. M. Schiller shared his impressions on the Euroleague. – The biggest challenge are the opponents you have to face at this level. I could philosophize about it all night. On the other hand, I like these challenges and the high quality of basketball ”.