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In the first round of the Euroleague, Žalgiris defeated Chimki on the road 84:70, but then it was not a match between two equal teams.
In early October, R. Kurtinaitis’ soldier was excavated from COVID-19 and injuries, and the Russian club played “Žalgiris” with only seven basketball players.
On this occasion, “Žalgiris” already faces a much more threatening opponent with Alexei Švedas, who was not in the lead in the first match.
“We didn’t have much time to prepare because we played the cup match. We put the greatest emphasis on the leaders of the rivals: Sweden and Booker, especially in their relationship. They play very well in two-on-two situations, it will be a challenge for us, said M. Schiller about the future opponent. – Besides, Chimki is a very good attack team. They play at a high pace, throwing a lot of 3s. Many of your players can take hits from a distance, so it will be important to defend yourself well against the fast attacks of the opponents and prevent them from attacking from the three-point zone. “
Getty images / Euroleague.net photo / Rimas Kurtinaitis and Chimki, Moscow region
It is true that although he will arrive in Kaunas with a more complete lineup, Chimki still has his problems. Even three players – Sergejus Monia, Janis Timma and Jonas Jerebko – may not play against Žalgiris, although M. Schiller does not pay much attention to him.
“We believe they will be in Kaunas and we are preparing for that,” emphasized the Austrians.
In total, during the first round of the Euroleague, during which they achieved only two victories, the Pamaskvis team used up to 17 players, but M. Schiller did not emphasize this, seeing clear reasons for this.
“It’s been a long time since our first game. I can’t appreciate their process because we played very early in the season. It’s no secret that the biggest change came when Swede came back. This would change any team, as a player of this level and quality just changes teams. As for the abundance of players, the main reason for this was the start of the season, when it was difficult for them to get into rhythm due to the whole COVID-19 situation and injuries. “It hit them hard. and as a result, they had to use a lot of players, “said Schiller.
The biggest change came when Swede returned.
When asked to evaluate the first half of the season, after which “Žalgiris” ranks sixth in the Euroleague, a specialist from Austria presented two evaluation perspectives.
“It would be very pragmatic. Looking at the classification, we have 10 wins and 7 losses and that’s a very good result. But there is more than the classification. In terms of details, we were stable enough in attack and clearly improved in defense. Our goal is keep improving in defense and maintain a good attack, “emphasized M. Schiller.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Martin Schiller
For him, this is the first season in the Euroleague and Kaunas. Has the coach settled in a new place in those four months?
“They have bothered me many times in my life and I have found myself in new situations many times. Either in terms of country or continent. I have experience adapting to a new situation, but despite the experience, the adaptation period still remains. A few days ago I spoke with assistant Arne Woltmann. After each game, we have coffee and drive around the city on different roads. I have already reached the point where I completely got used to Kaunas. Is human. When I went to the United States, I had to get used to the big cities, the wide streets, but half a year later it became normal for me. I only got to this point in Kaunas, when I began to understand everything that was happening here.
When it comes to basketball, I also had to adapt. If I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here anymore. But I can’t say that I have fully adapted because probably no one could say that. This is the beauty of our work: we face new challenges every day, so full adaptation is not possible, even for coaches like Shar, “said Schiller.
I also needed to adapt. If I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here anymore.
And was there such a point where the “Žalgiris” strategist thought he might lose his job in Kaunas?
“It just came to our knowledge then. It never escaped me,” emphasized the specialist.
The match between Žalgiris and Chimki will start on Friday at 8:00 p.m.
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