Anxiety for Žibėnas before the battle with “Žalgiris”: “If we get to the game like this, they can take us off the field” / News

Vilnius “Rytas”, who faced the LKL derby on Sunday, extended the winning streak to twelve in a row, but such a section, and especially Aūktus “Dzūkija” overcome by suffering, makes the capital’s club squad the less happy.

In the first part of the duel, the poor Vilnius residents were 11 points behind (29:40), and Dovis Bičkauskis had only scored 29 points in almost 20 minutes before the siren sounded the siren.

Rytas strategist Giedrius Žibėnas stated that he did not recognize his team, which entered the field after losing concentration. As the battle with Kaunas “Žalgiris” approached, the attitude of the “Rytas” players towards the match was alarming.

“If we enter the game like we did today, any opponent can take us off the field,” Žibėnas said at the press conference. – Not to mention, it would be “Žalgiris” or another team, but any team can take it away if we come to the game with such dedication. I did not see any signs before this match, we played sports normally and prepared. The approach was very appropriate. What happened to the team today will have to find reasons ”.

– How did this match work in your eyes?
– There is nothing to hide, we feel a bit embarrassed after this match. Today there was no discipline as the team took a step back, for some reason there was no concentration for this game. We won in the third quarter when the men worked very honestly. Instead of closing the game in the fourth quarter, we allowed Dzūkija to score 27 points and this number is not at all up to our standards. We lost the fight for rebounds. For some reason, he was not in our square.

– Starting a game for your team has been much more difficult lately than playing after a long break. Are there reasons for this?
– We are still a new and evolving team looking for your game. You see a start five in a match, today we even tried to start with Martynas Echodas and Ivan Buva. We are on a quest journey, but as the decisive battles draw near, we will need to be less distracted, have our own line, and go into battle for the sole purpose.

– How did you and Echod manage to fit into the starting five?
– In today’s game it did not work, we had a plan to dominate the penalty area and the fight for the balls, but the plan immediately collapsed. We try to force shots from under the basket, sometimes even one against two opponents, which is intolerable. We know how to play against the double, but today we have trained and played alone. As a result, Dzūkija continued with the match.

– How important is the next weekend match with Kaunas “Žalgiris” for the team?
– It shouldn’t matter. We and the coaches speculate that maybe it influenced the mood today, but we are professionals, with a four-day break between games. There are no reasons or excuses to save us or to be already in mind in that match. It can’t be and we try to remove it for the players. We should ask each of them individually if we can knock them out.

– What’s your mood for the derby?
– The first thing we must do now is to react correctly after a match of this type. The second thing, to prepare as best as possible, we will have two days to prepare for “Žalgiris”. As we prepare in those two days, I will have the answer of how we are prepared and what our chances are in that match.

– Can Christian Kitsing play on Sunday?
– We are awaiting an investigation. The swelling in the knee begins to go away, but it is still too great. It’s a big question mark if he will play, but we’ll probably only find out on Friday.