[ad_1]
Although Kaunas really didn’t have much of a chance to win neither from Moscow, where CSKA was 73:83, nor from St. Petersburg, where they did not face Zenit 65:77, the Russian press forgot to mention that in the first and second quarter quarters match. the green-white lagged behind their opponents by a total of 3-4 points and lost only after the persistent fight of the virus until the last minutes.
Even greater passions and intrigues, contrary to said portal, swarmed in the first round match in Kaunas, where Žalgiris’ team was one point behind (78:79) after the decisive minute of the duel and only then the beneficiary organized by Mike James saved the skins of the guests.
“I do not agree with the Russian journalists. Both parties were very tenacious.” Žalgiris “had the opportunity to win both in Kaunas and in Moscow. It was not enough that the people of Žalgiris had passed the course of those meetings,” he forcefully expressed commentator Vaidas Čeponis on Delfi’s TV show “Basketball Zone”.
Another eloquent fact can be noted: the current leader of the Euroleague CSKA, of which all Russia is proud, and congratulations on the victories in the Euroleague, Vladimir Putin, has long been so Russian – all the Russians in the club scored 4 points Antonovas), when the Lithuanians from Kaunas pitched as many as 40 (out of 73).
The difference between the contribution of the locals was a bit smoother in St. Petersburg, where the Russians from Zenit scored 18 (out of 77) and the Lithuanians from Žalgiris 35 points (out of 65).
In both cases, the contribution of local players to saving Lithuanian Champions League points was more than 50 percent. And that’s the trend for the whole season.
During the 20 EuroLeague matches played so far, Lithuanians are responsible for 53.6 percent of all Žalgiris points, 855 out of 1595. Marius Grigonis (298 points, 18.7%), Lukas Lekavičius (167 points, 10.5%), Rokas Jokubaitis (128 points, 8%) and Artūras Milaknis (122 points) play the first violins here. , 7.7 percent).
According to the importance of the local players for the team’s attack, “Žalgiris” is second among all the Euroleague teams and is only slightly behind the USEL team from Vilerban, for which the French get 54.5 percent. points (767 of 1416).
“For us it is important that the Lithuanians are one of the leaders of the team. As we say, we really have the Lithuanian backbone around which we beat foreigners. This is the most important. Not everything is determined by points. The microclimate and mindset are the key.
We want to make our players grow, that’s why we invest a lot in youth. Much nicer to watch when they are not just bench warmers and playing than all the major – legionaries. “Žalgiris is a Lithuanian team, we want to continue like this,” Paulius Motiejūnas, director of the Žalgiris club, told the portal.
Piraeus Olympiakos is also not far behind, with the Greeks amassing 53 percent. points (786 of 1483) and the Panathinaikos of Athens with 46.5 percent. compatriots points (687 out of 1477).
In all other teams, the role of local players is much less or even almost imperceptible.
A unique situation at the Zenit club, for which only Artūras Gudaitis (180, 13 percent) scored more points than seven Russians (137 points, 9.9 percent).
It’s not much better in this regard in Moscow, where local basketball players score only about every seventh point from CSKA (14.1 percent, 235 out of 1661).
“All conditions are dictated by the basketball market. And when you don’t have a big budget, you have to deal with players who are by your side. I’m glad we keep that good balance between Lithuanians and Legionnaires. We raise good basketball players, some of them already play abroad.
I think that in the future we should trust the Lithuanians more and buy a single foreigner to strengthen the missing position, ”assured the legendary Žalgiris Valdemaras Chomičius captain in the Basketball Zone.
Even after winning the match, the Russian press paid special attention to attacking leader “Žalgiris” M. Grigonis, who scored almost 15 points this season, and said that the acquisition of such a player would strengthen even CSKA.
“I think a lot of the strongest clubs in Europe are hunting M. Grigonis, probably already now. I would be happier if I did not choose CSKA but another team, say Barcelona or Real Madrid, Čeponis said.
The whole show “Basketball Zone” – on video.
It is strictly forbidden to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to cite DELFI as the source.
[ad_2]
