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Kaunas “Žalgiris” extended their winning streak in the Euroleague on Tuesday. Kaunas residents on the move 74:71 defeated the ALBA basketball players in Berlin and finished the first round of the regular season with 10 wins and 7 losses.
The Krepsinis.net portal reviewed the individual performance of Kaunas residents and rated it with ratings.
# 0 Thomas Walkup (23 min, 1 point, 4 reps, 4 reps, 2 reps, 2 credits, 4 helpful votes). Rating – 4.
The American played another game somewhat whiter. In the first half of the match, “Žalgiris” attack seemed a bit exhausted, and the lack of creativity contributed a lot to this. Th.Walkup often broke the ball and everything ended in improvisations in the last seconds of the attack. The defender missed all the “offside” shots and even when the opponents switched on defense, they couldn’t take advantage of their advantages. Still, his performance is somewhat corrected with some good episodes, when there were passes to the high statues of the team and, despite some mistakes, a decent job in defense.
# 4 Lukas Lekavičius (17 min., 4 sts, 1 rep., 2 res., 2 reps, 3 p., 3 p.). Rating – 4.
The player had a hard time regaining energy when he got off the bench at the end of the first half. His first pitches flew by and attempts to sharpen the game ended in errors. Still, L. Lekavičius caught on a couple of pitches later, and at the end of the fourth quarter he did a great job on defense. He once successfully crossed the opponent’s front and got hold of the ball, and once withstood the opponent’s proposed contact well. The ALBA players’ attempts to attack “Žalgiris” through L.Lekavičius were unsuccessful and this allowed them to maintain the victorious advantage. It is obvious that the defender of “Žalgiris” feels better in a freer style match, and such contact matches do not suit him.
Hayesas
# 10 Nigel Hayes (33 min, 18 pts, 6 rebounds, 2 innings, 1 pp., 2 quarter notes, 24 helpful votes). Rating – 10.
The forward played the most productive and useful game of this season. In the first half of the game, N.Hayes was the only Žalgiris player who could hit from the 3-point zone, and throughout the game he made 3 of 5 long-distance shots by “Žalgiris”. Although this player was silent during the first half, he fired during the second quarter and allowed Žalgiris to reach his opponents. At important moments in the second half of the game, the American also bravely took the initiative, racking up points from a closer distance, playing head to head in the basket. On defense with his own goals, N. Hayes also handled with confidence and even blocked opponents’ shots twice. It was his transformation into the “Žalgiris” player “third number” that allowed him to finish the year strong.
# 13 Paulius Jankūnas (17 min., 6 points, 7 reps, 1 p., 1 bl., 2 bl., 13 p.). Rating – 8.
Another solid performance from P. Jankūnas and his great recognition. The Žalgiris striker again offered strong contact with the opponents’ front-line players and managed well with his basket. Excellent positions allow the captain to reign in the penalty area: he has bounced 5.4 balls in the last 5 games. In attack, the veteran managed to hit from the three-point zone for the second time this season and only once in the second half of the game did he not take advantage of the good opportunity to score more points from below the basket. P.Jankūnas is obviously playing the best basketball in the last 2 seasons.
# 21 Artūras Milaknis (21 min., 3 points, 2 res., 1 block, 1 useful ball). Rating – 4.
Milaknis seemed to be gone in this game, but that didn’t stop him from scoring one of the game’s biggest 3-pointers. The veteran, who had not won a point until then, was able to shoot from a distance during a quick attack and increased Kaunas’ lead to 5 points when the last minute of the quarter began to equalize. It was the pitches, when “Žalgiris” caught his opponents who had not yet managed to line up on defense, that was lacking in Berlin that night. ALBA defended well in the transition, and in the positional attack “Žalgiris” was not so dangerous. A. Milaknis also struggled on defense, especially when he defended against opponents’ “third number” players.
# 23 Martin Geben (4 min., 3 points, 1 blank, 2 useful balls).
The midfielder played a fairly short stretch and was active in attack, scoring points from above and hitting 1 free kick of 2. Although Geben did not get off the bench later, it is important that the leaders had a chance to rest at least in the first part.
Blonde
# 24 Augustine Rubit (11 min., 5 pts, 4 rebounds, 1 rebound, 2 rebounds, 3 assists). Rating – 6.
On this occasion, A. Rubitas himself limited his minutes in the square quite strongly. The accumulated fouls did not allow him to fully unfold, but he also had successful sections in this match. The tall man finished off two attacks in a row in the third half with precise shots and thus allowed Žalgiris to separate a bit from the rivals. In defense, the American had problems, and it was this that forced him to choose personal fouls quite quickly.
# 31 Rokas Jokubaitis (20 min., 6 points, 2 res. Per minute, 1 per minute, 3 p., 7 points). Rating – 6.
The player struggled to enter the game and started the match with an error and two imprecise shots. Later, R. Jokubaitis adapted to the contact offered by the rivals and perfectly sharpened the situations on several occasions, and finished the attacks himself or successfully helped the teammates. Still, in the fourth quarter, after another mistake, R. Jokubaitis sat on the bench for quite some time and got up from it alone in the final seconds of the match.
Grigonis
# 40 Marius Grigonis (28 min., 12 points, 3 reps, 5 res., 4 p., 14 points). Rating – 8.
Although the leader of “Žalgiris” lost all 3 triples and made a mistake 4 times before his former team, his performance was still quite solid. In the last 3 minutes, M. Grigonis scored 8 points and thus again determined the end of the match. At first, the Lithuanian made two shots “offside”, and then his hand did not tremble when taking the penalties. Until that moment, M. Grigonis shared the ball well and discovered his teammates well in situations of gratitude. ALBA was perfectly prepared to stop this basketball player, but still could not do it until the end.
# 77 Jofrey Lauvergne (25 min, 16 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 reps, 19 points). Rating – 9.
The Frenchman played the most useful match in Berlin with the “Žalgirio” team. It is obvious that the Kaunas club knew perfectly well from the start of the match how to use J. Lauvergne closer to the basket. The opponents don’t really have a good defense against the front-line players, so the main midfielder was fed balls very often. The center made great use of their facilities in the attack, so this tactic only paid off. Still, both he and the other tall men on the team had trouble fending off Luke Sikma. Only the injury of this rival in the second part of the match made life easier for “Žalgiris”.
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