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ALBA Berlin (11/21), which had never triumphed in Kaunas, was able to foster such intentions on Tuesday only until halftime, when Marcus Eriksson was working miracles. The Swedish sniper scored 17 points in the first 7 minutes of his game, attacking without errors, including fantastic hand shots.
However, in the third quarter, the hosts, accelerating 12: 0, began to dominate on both sides of the pitch – in the end, the four-loss series in the Euroleague ended with the score 96:86.
Lukas Lekavičius, who scored all 5 long shots on his 27th birthday, played the best game of the season (21 points, 5 assists), Martinas Gebenas and Karolis Lukošiūnas demonstrated the most effective basketball in their careers (both – 12 points each) , and Patricio Garino scored the first points wearing the “Žalgiris” jersey in the Euroleague.
Together, the Kaunas reserve shot 56 points, and the entire team hit 16 of 24 3-pointers (67 percent) and caused 17 rival errors.
After the duel, M. Schiller congratulated L. Lekavičius on his birthday and assured that if the coronavirus had not defeated the player in February, his active legs would have similarly destroyed the opponent’s defense in other matches, which have not been successful. for the Defense of the Lithuanian national team lately.
The strategist also praised M. Geben, who had “emerged from the shadows”, and highlighted K. Lukošiūnas’ defense after the second half of the match, which allowed M. Eriksson to score just 2 points.
The wings were the focus of most of the attacks of today’s winners.
But Schiller himself said that alarm clock had to be set for students only for passive defense in the first half, and that the missed opportunity to fight for a playoff spot didn’t affect him.
“I was very unhappy about the fifty points lost and I made it clear. I liked the team’s reaction.
The whole problem in this case was the wrong defense. Although I understand that everyone was very disappointed after last week’s loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, if it weren’t for that, we probably would have been on the road to the playoffs. Very difficult situation. Normally, we could still talk about them now. After all, we can still rack up 18 wins, and the previous two seasons have always guaranteed a place in the top eight. Sometimes 17 and even 16 were enough … “- lamented M. Schiller.
While this is not usually the case for comparison, as the last Euroleague regular season, in which 18 teams competed for the first time, did not end due to the pandemic, oyster words are indeed part of the truth. .
In 2019 Žalgiris himself, still coached by Šarūnas Jasikevičius, reached the quarter-finals and won exactly half of his match.
However, a similar scenario will not happen again this year, and Schiller will have to accept it. And, as the 39-year-old specialist himself says, undertake other purposes that can be learned from ALBA itself.
As an example, the “Žalgiris” manager only loaned to the 223cm tall Chadian midfielder Christ Koumadje, who made his Euroleague debut in the last round. and earned 7 utility points.
“Žalgiris” – ALBA. Match statistics
“ALBA is a unique club with a core of young Berliners who strive to progress in every game. It’s great how they incorporated an inexperienced newbie into their game as they tested it on various tactical schemes.
We also have local players from the club’s youth program whose care must be taken. If outside the window it is still December or already at the end of March. Let’s see what else the hard work of M. Geben and K. Lukošiūnas will bring, let’s keep pushing Rokas Jokubaitis and try to finish with 18 wins, “said the helmsman of” Žalgiris “.
However, when asked if withdrawing from the playoffs in the last two games would give Marek Blaževičius, who was left behind, more opportunities to express himself, he did not share his promises.
“I really don’t know, we’ll see,” Schiller said.
The hosts were on Tuesday without Artūras Milaknis injured and Augustine Rubit infected with coronavirus. Maodo Lo was missing from the ranks of ALBA.
Žalgiris won the first round match in Berlin last December 74:71. Throughout history, these teams met ten times, the Lithuanians celebrated six victories.
On Thursday, Kaunas residents themselves will travel to Germany and we will challenge Bayern Munich, with the regular season ending on April 8. duel with the Panathinaikos of Athens.
ALBA will receive the Valencia basketball players on Friday.
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