The Žalgiris, sharply dressed, with hats: “They probably defend better in the Euroleague” / News

Photo: BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

Photo: BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

Photo: BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

Photo: BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

Photo: BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

Martin Schiller’s uncensored expression at the beginning of the third quarter was inappropriate content for young viewers ‘ears (if they were still on TV after 11pm), but it probably best described Kaunas’ performance “Žalgiris” in Barcelona.

For the second time this season, the people of Žalgiris were strangled in the best defense in the league and had no hope of playing with the former coach’s team – 62:86.

“Žalgiris” scored fewer points this season only in the match with Maccabi Tel Aviv (57), and the accuracy (41.1%) was only twice as bad of the match – with “Zenit” of St. Petersburg (39 , 3%) and at the same time Maccabi (36.6%).

The 24-point loss is the second-biggest for Žalgiris this season.

“Žalgiris” made two mistakes in a row for the second time in a row and overall there were three such cases this season. 13 of those mistakes were made after a long break.

Barça did what they did well throughout the season: defend, which is probably the best defense in the Euroleague. And we attacked badly, – said Marius Grigonis to the BasketNews.lt website after the duel. “You can analyze it, but they were better and tested in all areas.”

The first 5 minutes of the game seemed unpromised: the scoreboard showed Barça’s advantage at 18:15 in the middle of the first half. Thus, both teams scored more points than in the first half of the first match.

After the first quarter it was still even (24:24), but the other two halves were a completely different story.

Kaunas started the second quarter with just 2 shots out of 10, and in the third quarter they had to wait almost 8 minutes for the first goal shot of the game, missing all 8 shots, making a mistake 3 times and getting two blocks.

Man of the match

In this way, Barça won an impressive stage of 41:17, obtaining an overwhelming advantage of 65:41.

“They put a lot of pressure on us in attack, especially when the ball went through the field, which made our attacks difficult, especially when we want to get the ball to attack quickly,” Martin Schiller said after the match. – If you can’t play your combinations, the game becomes very static and you start playing one by one. That was the history of the party. “

In the midst of this beastly streak, “Žalgiris” had a long break for the match and then returned to the field with the zone defense, but after missing Nikola Mirotičius’s 3-pointer in the first attack, these ideas were quickly abandoned.

When Pierre Oriola shot from under the basket a few moments later after an error by Žalgiris’ team, Schiller took a minute of rest in which he did not explain any tactical details. Fear that there is a combat foul and the players allow themselves pollinated, The “Žalgiris” strategist threw the combination board onto the sand parquet and thus ended the break.

“It was obvious that we needed some emotions because I didn’t like how we came out of the locker room after two quarters. There was a reason for that, “Schiller said.

However, the game of “Žalgiris” did not change much after this tirade.

“They were very disciplined on defense and we were very static due to the change in defense,” Thomas Walkup told the BasketNews.lt website. – We did not do very well, we only passed the ball to the penalty area, where their help arrived. They defended themselves very solidly. “

Walkup’s participation in the match was in doubt when he vomited a lot the night before due to food poisoning and missed a morning practice.

The defender started the game in the starting fifth anyway, but in two and a half minutes he broke twice and sat on the bench. In his place came Rokas Jokubaitis, who joined the game without being able to warm up. Leandro Bolmaro’s knee will hurt for a few days, but luckily for FC he will be able to finish the game.

“Žalgiris” also had big trouble finding her front-line players, when the penalty area filled with Barcos players as the ball traveled towards her.

The “Žalgiris” players were also suffocating so much that this season’s record for strong shots was probably reached in the closing seconds of the attack.

“They played well on defense and we didn’t attack,” Grigonis said. -I don’t think this year someone will hesitate to attack and do everything they can. Today he clearly failed, we have to move on, important games await us ”.

Shar Barcelona was willing to strangle Kaunas’s neighbors from the first minutes and that was evident even in the defensive lineups. If Kaunas chose traditional defense options: Walkup covered Calathes, Milaknis covered Alex Abrines and Grigonis covered Cory Higgins, then Barça defended quite differently: Walkup was stopped by Higgins, Milaknis – Calathes, Grigonis – Abrines.

So Walkup was eliminated early, Grigonis lost all 5 triples and the end of the match was clear after three halves.

“It just came to our notice then. Like I said, their defense was very good and they were better,” summarized Walkup.

At the end of the duel, Jasikevičius spent more time than usual on the opposing team’s bench, personally congratulating everyone he could find there. It took him a long time to get to Jokubaitis, which when he stopped in the middle of the field, he seemed to remember one of the episodes of the match and seemed to show how he behaved there.

It was a difficult match for the young defender of “Žalgiris”: 6 points, 2 assists and all this accumulated after a long break.

The 198cm tall Bolmar, who played against him, scored 8 points and 6 assists.

“It was a lot of fun watching the fight between two of the best young players in the world or in Europe,” said Jasikevičius. – I think the two came out absolutely odorless, half dead, because really the two were squeezed. A wonderful micro fight came out. For me, after training both of them, it was amazing to watch. They both have a similar and incredible mindset and diligence. They were stacked on top of each other, it was fun to watch. “

Jasikevičius communicated with Lithuanian journalists for the first time in the corridors of the Palau Blaugrana Arena in Barcelona as the host coach. Here, his dominance was felt even during the interview.

Due to the strict procedures of the Barça club under the guise of a coronavirus situation, communication with the strategist is very limited even for local journalists. Only 5 local spokespersons can attend press conferences and can ask one or a maximum of two questions each.

An exception was made for Lithuanians and allowed to speak to Jasikevičius separately, but the interview had to last only 2-3 questions. When, after the fifth or sixth question, a Barcelona spokesman wanted to intervene and end the conversation, Jasikevičius waved him off.

Shar “Barcelona” welcomes a short break in the calendar leading the Euroleague, and Jasikevičius – expanding the victorious section after the cup competition. This was the fifth time in a row that his team had won the Euroleague after the cup competition, only it had been with Žalgiris four times before.

“We celebrated well, I hope Žalgiris did not celebrate better than us, because today it looked worse. We will have to work on the celebration – joked Jasikevičius. – We celebrated in Žalgiris, really very well, I liked how they know how to celebrate. I hope they still win something so that we can celebrate again with the same force. “