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Kaunas “Žalgiris” achieved the sixth consecutive victory in the Euroleague, at the same time he successfully opened the second round – “Khimki” from the Moscow region was knocked down at home.
The Rimas Kurtinaitis students in Kaunas resisted two times, but in the third “Žalgiris” dominated, scoring up to 39 points and winning the victory.
With six victories, the people of Žalgiris repeatedly repeated an unprecedented result of 2018, when the team coached by Šarūnas Jasikevičius jumped to the playoffs with such a streak.
The Žalgiris strategist after the game Martin Schiller he rejoiced at the victory and especially praised Joffrey Lauvergne.
“For us, it was a game between two different teams on defense. On defense, we fought until the long break, we knew what they were going to do, but we couldn’t stop it, it was a strange side. Later, the guys added extra energy and as they stretched out on defense, the attack also relaxed, as it often does. Congratulations to the guys, I think the game was solid after a long break, ”said the strategist.
– What did you say to the players during the long break?
– This is a great scenario to say that during the long break I said something special, but there was nothing like it. The fervor of the boys in the third part had little to do with what he was talking about in the locker room.
– What made Joffrey Lauvergne look so impressive?
– After a long break, he, like the other guys, stretched out in defense and was solid in attack early in the match. Joffrey puts a lot of work into his craft, spending a lot of time working with our assistant Arne Woltmann. When you shoot like this, you really deserve it.
– What caused the difficult game in the first half of the match?
– Chimki is a particularly talented team on defense, making the most productive passes in the Euroleague. We knew we would have a lot of work to do on defense. We knew what to expect, but in defense we did not close their attacks until the end. We were better in the second half of the game.
– Joffrey Lauvergne arrived after a difficult season, how did you manage to start him in such a match at the beginning of the season?
– Firstly, Paulius Motiejūnas brought him to Žalgiris, and when I got the job, I was satisfied with him, because he knew about his career achievements, we met on behalf of the national teams. I also got information about him from the NBA clubhouse, it was clear that he would be one of the key players. Joffrey really works hard. All the new players we brought in adapted very quickly both at the club and in this country. Before tightening travel restrictions, he managed to visit Palanga and Trakai as well, I think it helps too. Glad to have it.
– The team plays a great series, how close are you to the ideal team image you have?
– Before the game I mentioned that we are quite stable in attack. We still have to improve on defense and continue this process, although we have already made great strides in this part of the game. We want to continue working on our game and improve and analyze each game individually. There is no point attacking a long season with a different approach.
– In the second half you were 11 points away, how did you manage to survive the match when Stefan Jovičius hit from midfield?
– It was very tough, we didn’t keep up with certain stages, and Chimki took advantage of the good times. We failed to defend several times, four times we allowed points to be scored with a foul. Seeing the details made it difficult to keep up, although on a larger scale, the team stayed together the entire time.
– Now that you expect a two-match round in Russia, how ready do you feel for this challenge?
– Actually, I haven’t thought about it yet, now we have an LKL match waiting for us. I know so much that Paulius Jankūnas has a newborn and will be bringing him home in the near future, that’s why it’s a lot of fun, and now we’re focused on the LKL match.
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