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The Lithuanian champions have lost five matches in a row at their home ground. All in all, this Euroleague season, only the first match was won by Martin Schiller’s house: the confrontation with Istanbul’s Anadolu Efes, which took place in mid-October.
This week, “Žalgiris” will have two opportunities to defend the walls of the house – on Tuesday, Vitorija “Baskonia” will visit Kaunas, and on Thursday – at the “Fenerbahce” in Istanbul.
The first will bring Lithuanians Rokas Giedraitis and Tadas Sedekerskis, the second – former Žalgiris resident Edgars Ulanovas.
According to Schiller, the victory over Panathinaikos 81:69 in Athens last Friday did not change much.
“We fought as in the previous game, we were just as focused. It was only a matter of time before we ended the series of losses, so the psychological state of the team did not change. Although, of course, the victories adorn the face of everyone with smiles, and that’s very good, ”said the Austrian.
It distinguishes the closest rival by the size of the team: the “Baskonia” has the highest average height (202.2 cm) in the entire Euroleague. For comparison, the average of Žalgiris is 199.3 cm.
“A well-defended team arrives with height. They often make their opponents make mistakes, they console their game. Therefore, it is very important to take care of the ball. And to control the fight “under the board” on his own side of the field – Baskonia fights even better than “Panathinaikos” because of the rebounding in attack, “said Schiller.
The guests had already arrived in Darganot on Monday and appeared quite frozen at the airport.
🥶🥶🥶
📍 Kaunas 🇱🇹 pic.twitter.com/wW9rzWe8n6
– Saski Baskonia (@Baskonia) December 14, 2020
But representatives of the Spanish team are concerned about the game shown by future rivals last week.
“We take this match very seriously. The last match in Athens says a lot about the form of” Žalgiris “. They won in an arena where it is usually very difficult for the guests to do so. Overall, winning a trip in the Euroleague is a chore. particularly difficult. We must be very focused, play without problems. We will try to play fast, share the ball, it should help, “said Italian striker Achille Polonara.
In preparation for Tuesday’s duel, the people of Žalgiris do not allow themselves to forget that it will take two days to escape to the field again.
“It is very important to adjust the workloads in training and the rotation of players in games. How to do it correctly is not easy to answer in the absence of Patricio Garino and Steve Vasturia. But there is, as it is, in such a situation it is even more important to distribute the forces correctly in the exercise, “said M. Schiller.
When it became clear that S. Vasturios, who had been injured on the road, would have to wait several months, last week Žalgiris invited two basketball players from the reserve team who were competing in similar positions in the National Basketball League (NKL): Paulius Murauskas and Rubštavičius Blankets.
Schiller explained that there was a desire to engage youth in the past, but that the COVID-19 fireplace was hampered in the back row.
“We are constantly thinking about the youth team and now they need it even more because of Steve’s loss. Unfortunately, we were unable to give the youth a chance in pre-season training, then the game followed the game, there was a coronavirus outbreak in the reserve ranks, so we limited contacts.
It would not surprise me at all if at some point in the season that integration was not limited to training. I – not against. On the contrary, I would love to add to our game the talents for which this club is widely known. But for the moment, it is more important to give opportunities to Marekas Blaževičius and Karolis Lukošiūnas in the Lithuanian Basketball League, ”said the 38-year-old specialist.
We remind you that the match between “Žalgiris” and “Baskonia” will start on Tuesday at 20.00.
Kaunas residents rank 11th in the Euroleague (6/7), the Basques are one notch higher (6/6).
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