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Although the Rimas Kurtinaitis students sped 16: 2 in the second half and won the first half of the match, the hosts, who smoked 39:13 in the third half, answered all questions ahead of time.
After such a blow, the only intrigue was the personal records of the Žalgiris people: in just 23 minutes Joffrey Lauvergne, who scored 29 points (13/14 colonies) and bounced 9 balls, played more effectively and profitably (38 points ) during his Euroleague career, 8), and Martin Geben grabbed the most rebounds (8).
Finally, at the end of the match, Rokas Jokubaitis led Žalgiris to the two-zero zone for the first time in the Euroleague season with free throws. The Lithuanian champions, who scored 102 points, also played the most productive match of the season.
It is also worth noting that Marekas Blaževičius, who repeated his teammate’s shot in the closing seconds, scored the first points in the Euroleague “offside”.
“It was strange: we knew what Chimki was doing in attack, but we still couldn’t stop them in the first part of the match. They beat us a bit, even though we were preparing for such a rival game.
But after the break, the team showed amazing focus and willpower. I can pretend to be the hero of the night now, but I didn’t really say anything special in the locker room, we just talked about some tactical stuff. “Only the guys did a really good job after the break,” Schiller said.
The hero of the night was not really him, but Lauvergne.
As Chimki concentrated on defending at the three-point line, the midfielder’s hands parted to dominate the penalty area. And in the second half of the game, he said, according to Schiller, he did the same under his own basket.
The coach called the 29-year-old Frenchman, called by his friends, the cornerstone of the team.
“Paulius Motiejūnas came up with the idea to invite him to Žalgiris. When I signed the contract, JoJo was already a member of our team. I knew a lot about his career, I was also faced with working directly in the coaching staff of the German national team. Coming to Kaunas, I interviewed representatives of NBA teams, so I had a lot of information about JoJo. Then we talked face to face and quickly came to the conclusion that he would be a cornerstone in this team if he met certain conditions.
JoJo took care of that with a ton – he works really hard from day one, invests a lot of time, works with my assistant Arne Woltmann individually. Therefore, I can confidently say that he deserved such a show in attack.
Another thing that JoJo fits very well in “Žalgiris”, he identifies with the club and, in a sense, with the whole country. He knows a lot about Lithuania, he traveled a lot here; Before the quarantine was announced, he was the first to go to Palanga, the first to Trakai. I think it also has an effect on the fact that he adapts very well to the dressing room and the club, ”said M. Schiller about the height.
.@ 1JOLOLO flying to the edge 🛫# 7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/V7gh85NHQM
– Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) January 8, 2021
If J. Lauvergne managed to travel around Lithuania in his spare time, the entire “Žalgiris” will have to fly to Russia next week.
Kaunas residents are looking forward to a return match in the guests with the country’s two remaining clubs in the Euroleague: CSKA in Moscow and Zenit in St. Petersburg.
Obviously, Schiller’s students can’t look forward to an easy walk, but the 38-year-old himself has yet to reflect on the challenges ahead.
He was just happy that the family of team captain Paulius Jankūnas was visited by storks along with the Three Wise Men: on Wednesday, the veteran had his third child.
“Jankis will have a few days to spend with her newborn. The baby did a great job because she was born at the same time, her father will now be able to travel through Russia much more relaxed ”, smiled M. Schiller, who is also raising two daughters.
On Friday, Žalgiris played injury-free against Patricis Garinas and Steve Vasturia, Chimki was missing Janis Timma, Sergei Monia and Jonas Jerebkas. There was also no Greg Monroe in Kaunas, who no longer needed Chimki.
Also, Sergei Karasiov was injured in the third quarter.
The general balance of the duel between clubs throughout history is even more favorable for Chimki (8: 4).
We remind you that the first match of this season in Russia “Žalgiris” won 84:70, then R. Kurtinaitis had only seven healthy players.
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