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Kaunas “Žalgiris” started the Euroleague double week on force: after a dramatic 79:78 fight, Kaunas residents broke Valencia basketball players and scored 13 wins this season.
The Krepsinis.net portal reviewed the performance of the residents of Kaunas in Valencia and rated it with marks.
# 0 Thomas Walkup (23 min, 8 points, 2 reps, 5 reps, 1 reps, 11 helpful votes). Rating – 7.
If it weren’t for “Žalgiris” problems at the end of the match, we could say that Th.Walkupas closed the match with a three-point shot. Still, the situation was a little different and Marius Grigonis created the decisive episode of the match. Th.Walkupas played quite confidently throughout the match: the “Žalgiris” player never made a mistake, but even gave 5 assists. Still, there was a little problem in the American defense. Together, the pair failed to defend “1 on 1” from Martin Hermansson, who played a solid match and often surpassed Žalgiris in speed.
# 4 Lukas Lekavičius (17 min., 1 res., -1 ball use). Rating – 2.
The defender disappeared completely in this game and did nothing useful on the field during the minutes that elapsed. In attack, L. Lekavičius lacked both precision and sharpness, and in defense the player struggled with his direct opponents. This is this basketball player’s second game for the second time in a row, but I’m glad it didn’t stop Kaunas residents from winning. L. Lekavičius’s game is quite wavy and heavily dependent on opponents, so we should also see his ups and downs this season in the future.
Hayesas
# 10 Nigel Hayes (25 min, 6 pts, 2 rebounds, 4 rebounds, 2 innings, 1 pm, 2 pm). Rating – 6.
The American played the “third number” from the beginning of the game and, at least on defense, he did well. Valencia were willing to use Nikolai Kaliničius closer to the basket, but the plan did not work. “Žalgiris” managed to pause the Serbian and leave him with only 4 points. In the attack, Hayes attacked with courage, but this time the launches flew over the country more frequently. His minutes on the court were limited by accumulated fouls, and the violation of the rules at the end of the game against N. Kaliničius could have cost Kaunas even victory.
# 13 Paulius Jankūnas (15 min., 8 points, 4 summaries, 12 useful points). Rating – 8.
The captain played a solid game again. First, you have to make good use of its potential. On this occasion, P.Jankūnas perfectly collected points from the middle distance and offered a good contact closer to the basket. As usual, it took the veteran a bit longer to stop rival front-line players who retreated at least a little more from the basket. Louis Labeyrie attacked from distance 8 times, 2 of which were successful. The striker of all opponents scored 17 points and it was one of the Kaunas team’s biggest problems on defense.
# 21 Artūras Milaknis (14 min., 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 points, 0 points). Rating – 3.
Although the sniper hit a triple, he was then completely free to attack from the side. In attack, A. Milaknis couldn’t offer much more and made 2 mistakes in important moments. Once he just threw the ball to the sidelines, and once he broke the rules against L. Labeyrie and allowed him to score points with a foul.
# 23 Martin Geben (9 min., 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 points). Rating – 6.
After a very successful match in the LKL championship, M. Geben also got more minutes in the Euroleague. For once, he perfectly finished the attack after Pikenrolo, but it was his single most memorable episode. On defense, he struggled against both players on the opponents’ perimeter and Bojan Dubljevičius, who basically did not add much trouble to Žalgiris.
# 24 Augustine Rubit (25 min, 17 pts, 2 trials, 1 comp., 1 comp., 1 pm, 17 pm). Rating – 10.
The tall player played for almost 25 minutes and had previously only played in matches for the Chimki club in the Moscow region, but Joffrey Lauvergne was not in the rotation at the time. The tall man used his minutes to perfection and was especially useful in attack by playing the “fourth number”. His three-point shot came as a surprise, confusing his opponents’ defense plans. You can add his incredible shot from one leg in the fourth quarter. In defense, although it has been difficult to stop L. Labyrie himself several times, this does not weigh more than the fantastic American game in attack.
Jokubaitis
# 31 Rokas Jokubaitis (13 min., 10 points, 3 rebounds, 6 res., 16 points). Rating – 8.
The young player looked great in the first half of the match when he smashed opponents’ defense and shared passes to team friends. His 100 percent hits and 6 assists seem really solid, but his fouls and errors on defense lower his score a bit. R. Jokubaitis twice allowed opponents to score points with fouls and did not keep up with his opponents several times, so although he was very useful in attack, defending “Žalgiris” was better without him.
Grigonis
# 40 Marius Grigonis (27 min., 12 points, 2 reps, 4 res., 3 p., 10 points). Rating – 8.
Although all the matches were quite difficult for the leader of the attack on “Žalgiris”, at the decisive moment he again forced the commentator to shout his name. M. Grigonis becomes the hero of decisive attacks and that confidence is truly gratifying. Valencia were willing to stop this defender well and only made a long shot. Although it was spot on, M. Grigonis just didn’t get any more good chances to attack. Lithuania had been knocked out a bit by a strange line of refereeing, but it is important that they did not lose their minds and finally manage to control themselves and lead the team to victory.
# 77 Joffrey Lauvergne (31 min, 13 pts, 12 rebounds, 2 res., 3 pts, 15 helpful votes). Rating – 6.
Although the midfielder recorded a double, his performance was ambiguous. Not only because of those episodes at the end of the game, when J. Lauvergne attacked the basket, although he was only able to retain the ball, the shot from the goal or the missed penalty shots, but also because of the poor execution of opportunities. “Žalgiris” used to feed the tall man balls, but he caught 5 out of 13 pitches and just didn’t take a good number of good chances. Attempts to play back and beat opponents by force, though not always unleashed, seemed much safer than trying to play head-to-head in the basket. Despite these negative aspects, the center bounced much closer to the basket and the rivals at least no longer had a chance to score points after the second chance.
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