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On Friday, Martin Schiller’s students will begin their season in the Euroleague. The first competitor of the Lithuanian champions is the Vilerbano ASVEL club from France.
Žalgiris raised his wings to Vilerban on Thursday without his captain Paulius Jankūnas. On Monday, Kaunas Club announced that a 37-year-old Lithuanian had withdrawn from the team for ten days due to injury.
“It just came to our notice then. Everything is fine in the team”, – after the exhausted victory against Alytus “Dzūkija”, which demanded two overtimes, the head coach of “Žalgiris” M.Schiller spoke last week.
But, seriously?
In the portal lrytas.lt Basketball expert and coach Algirdas Brazys shared his thoughts ahead of the upcoming Euroleague season.
The 59-year-old Kaunas resident, who has coached “Žalgiris” in the past and competed for the Kaunas club, is convinced that “Žalgiris” will be different this season.
“It has long been lost to see such an unconvincing ‘Žalgiris’, – A.Brazys summed up the Lithuanian champions’ preseason matches and the start of the LKL.
Compared to last year, the Kaunas team will start this season after cardinal changes.
Up to seven new faces joined the team: Niels Giffey, Tyler Cavanaugh, Emmanuel Mudiay, Josh Nebo, Mantas Kalnietis, Janis Strielnek and Edgar Ulanov.
This summer, the people of Kaunas said goodbye to Thomas Walkup, Rokas Jokubaitis, Nigel Hayes, Augustine Rubit, Marius Grigonis, Martin Geben, Patricio Garino and Steve Vasturia.
The change in club composition changed the face of “Žalgiris” himself, and the basketball community noted the weaker defense of Žalgiris.
A.Brazys also drew attention to the emotional state of Kaunas residents. According to the basketball specialist, the Lithuanian champions currently lack the emotional drive before the start of the Euroleague, which “Žalgiris” failed to systematize since the first LKL fights.
“Now the most important thing for ‘Žalgiris’ is to concentrate and prepare psychologically. I really hope that the people of Žalgiris have taken advantage of these days to awaken their emotions and their sporting anger,” reasoned A. Brasys.
It comes with a portal lrytas.lt shared his thoughts on the challenges facing Kaunas “Žalgiris” in the new Euroleague season.
– “Žalgiris” played the first three LKL matches and everyone had to fight until the last minutes of the match. Where are Žalgiris’s biggest problems?, – lrytas.lt asked A.Brazio.
– I had to watch the three games of “Žalgiris” LKL. Many things come to mind: the team has a hard time finding its own game and there are many problems in both personal and team defense.
In the duel with Lietkabelis, the Kaunas team managed to show slightly better defense, but in the preseason matches and the first two LKL matches, the defense problems were quite pronounced.
Of course, this is just the beginning of the season – there have been a lot of changes in the team, the lineup has aged, so it takes more time to play. However, the lack of thought is not only in the square, the emotional condition of “Žalgiris” is also cause for concern.
During the preseason games, the lack of ignition was noted in the players’ field and in the substitute bench. Seeing such a compelling “Žalgiris” has long been lost.
Yes, the three victories were obtained in the LKL championship, but it is unlikely that the matches in which the fate of the duel was clear at the end of them will be able to inspire much to the basketball players of the team before the start of the Euroleague. . .
– How is this year’s “Žalgiris” different from last season?
– So far, the team lacks a leader. Marius Grigonis or Thomas Walkup took the lead at an important time last season, and now that the team doesn’t have a clear player, it’s hard to get into emotional good shape.
If Šarūnas Jasikevičius joined the squad of “Žalgiris” last season, this year the team was entirely made up of M.Schiller. There is no shortage of older players at Žalgiris this year.
Edgar Ulanov has returned to the team, but so far he has not been able to find a suitable role for him. Much hope is placed in Emmanuel Mudiay. Even before the season, this player caused quite a stir.
But for now, he needs to get used to European basketball, and he’s back on the field after a year-long hiatus.
“Žalgiris” often faced difficulties at the beginning of the season, so it is to be hoped that the team will take the right seriously and advance systematically.
– You mentioned that there is currently a lack of fire in the game “Žalgiris”. What are the main reasons for that? Full game? Does the training staff work? Lack of emotional leadership?
– Exactly. This includes all the reasons you mentioned. Creating a good emotional microclimate in a team requires a bit of everything, and the most important thing is to have the right emotional guidance, followed by the whole team.
So far, “Žalgiris” doesn’t have it. Yes, E.Mudiay did several productive shows at the LKL Championship, but it was not that emotional flash that could start the whole team.
Perhaps the veterans of the team, especially captain Paulius Jankūnas, should take on a more important emotional role, because while looking at the subsidiary bench “Žalgiris”, it can be seen at a glance that the team lacks enthusiasm and mutual support. .
– In the match with Vilerbano ASVEL “Žalgiris”, what should change more compared to the first three LKL matches?
– First, of course, defense, but the ASVEL team is very versatile, so it is difficult to single out one or more specific factors. “Žalgiris” must radically improve his game, because the renewed team of Vilerban and TJ Parker can lose many challenges.
However, in my opinion, now during the game break, the most important thing for Žalgiris was to get up and prepare psychologically. I am very hopeful that these days the people of Žalgiris have used their emotions and their sporting rage.
Yes, the three victories were obtained in the LKL championship, but it is unlikely that the matches in which the fate of the duel was clear at the end of them will be able to inspire much to the basketball players of the team before the start of the Euroleague. . .
– Looking at the context of strengthening other Euroleague teams, is it possible to see “Žalgiris” in the Euroleague playoffs this season? What places can be expected in the regular season of the Euroleague?
– At the moment I try to look at everything with more pessimistic eyes, that’s why I see “Žalgiris” between 12-14 places in the tournament table. Most importantly, the team takes their game seriously and understands the coaching staffing schemes as soon as possible.
It’s a shame, but I don’t see “Žalgiris” in the Euroleague playoffs at the moment. I really want this prediction of mine to not come true, but for it to happen, Žalgiris has to start playing much more confident. There is too much uncertainty and confusion in team play right now.
You want to believe that “Žalgiris” will come out of this well as soon as possible. I remember that last year the people from Žalgiris also fell into the pits, I spared no criticism and was happy that the team managed to get back on their feet and get back on the winning track.
I’m really looking forward to it and I hope Žalgiris will discover the key to success this Euroleague season as soon as possible.
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The Žalgiris-Vilerbanas ASVEL duel in the Euroleague will take place on Friday at 9:00 p.m. Lithuanian time.
