Grigonis, who was satisfied with the team’s selection to the EC: “In the last minutes it really turned the belly” / News

On Monday night, Marius Grigonis watched with anxiety the most important match of the Lithuanian team in the European Championship team, and on Tuesday, in the match with Crvena Zvezda from Belgrade, he could feel much calmer at the decisive moment. .

“Žalgiris” won the last quarter 15: 4 and celebrated the victory 75:62 and achieved the 14th victory in the Euroleague in 25 matches.

“We lost 4 points in the last quarter, defense and we had to win the game. We came up with the idea to defend only from the third half. Maybe we will start badly, we need to change something, but when we defend in this way, then everything seems more free, ”Grigonis said at the post-match press conference.

The defender played 36 minutes, the majority in his Euroleague career. Before that, he played longer only in the first game of this season with Piraeus Olympiakos (32 minutes).

Grigonis’ defender scored 17 points (2/2 doubles, 3/6 trit., 4/4 penalties), made 6 assists, bounced 3 balls and scored 24 utility points.

– Mariau, from the side it seemed that the victory was working. Do you think the quality shown will be enough to win in Madrid in 48 hours and what needs to be improved the most?
– Our strength has always been defending and running, taking light three-point shots. Now it has gone somewhere, which is why its performance is so low. Would such a match against Madrid be enough? The way we defended in the fourth quarter would definitely be enough. But it is not easy, there is another system, other players. We’ll see, we have a couple of days to prepare.

Grigonis’ comment:

– Marko Simonovičius scored 16 points in the first two halves. How did you manage to close it in the second half of the game?
– Before that he threw three shots against Rubit, when it was possible to raise his hand more, to be closer. We need to know what players are doing and not let strengths be exploited. There were no easy shots, they lost and they didn’t score any more points.

– In the second half you played almost unchanged. How you feel? Is that playtime what you always wanted?
– I played those minutes of a good life, Arthur has problems. Our rotation such, Luke just got back, that’s why he did it that way. Everybody wants to play as much as possible. Sure, 36 minutes, especially a double week, sounds like a lot, but it’s not a good life. It is fun to play, as long as the body allows it, we will play.

– What needs to be improved before the duel with Real?
– We need to improve the start, our defense. We can certainly defend ourselves, but there was no set tone and then we didn’t get in touch. We felt like they had more problems, but we never thought about it. We can improve the defense, the percentage of three points. We look much better when we can run, to prepare for quick attacks. It needs to be recovered.

– The team has been playing a lot of games lately. Are you already tired?
– It is normal to feel some kind of fatigue. When the middle of the season comes around, there is always a physical hole, at least for me. But I have played basketball for years, I know my body and I know what it takes. Now, because the virus causes matches in a week, you have to play every two or three days. As long as we play and give joy to someone, I can play every day. It would be fun to sit and cry over how much we played.

Grigonis episodes:

– Did you watch the Lithuanian national team match with Denmark and how did you feel?
– In the last minutes I really turned my stomach and got up from the couch. I always support everyone from the coaching staff to the players, I’m glad there isn’t a free summer because they don’t really need it. As long as you can play basketball, you don’t want to have a vacation. I’m very happy. I am very happy for the coach, for all the players, for the return of Vaidas Kariniauskas. Too much fun. That’s right, yes, people will keep talking, but what matters in the final is that we get there. And then we’ll look, a lot of work awaits us.

Match summary: