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Photo: BNS
BNS photo
In the second game of the Euroleague double week, Martin Schiller will face a familiar face. The rival of “Žalgiris” on Thursday, at the “Fenerbahce” in Istanbul, is led by Igor Kokoškov, with whom the Kaunas manager had to work in the United States.
2017-2018 When Schiller made his debut as head of the Salt Lake City Stars team, Cocoshkov served on the main team in the same city, the Utah Jazz.
“I know him very well and I respect him very much,” Schiller said before a showdown about his future opponent.
After that season, their paths parted: Kokoshov became the head coach of the Phoenix Suns and the first European in such a position.
It is true that his career here did not last long: the Serbian was fired after the first season.
This summer, the paths of both coaches turned towards Europe and both replaced the long-term coaches who worked on those teams: Kokošov – Željko Obradovičas and Schiller – Šarūnas Jasikevičius.
It’s true that due to these twists and turns in the race, Schiller didn’t see much of a resemblance to Kokoškov.
“There are some similarities, but his history and experience are quite different: he was NBA boss. Coach, he became the European champion with Slovenia, before that, he coached the Georgian national team”, – Schiller named the aftermath of the opponent.
Unlike Žalgiris, who have won twice in a row, Fenerbahche have been stagnant lately: they have lost six of the last seven games.
It is true that in five of those games, they played without Nando De Colo, who only returned to qualifying last week.
“He’s such a good player that with or without him, there is a big difference for the team,” explained Schiller. – They had a great game, they had a game where they got caught. They are a new team, sometimes it takes time to find a rhythm. “The Fenerbahce team will need time, because they have a lot of talent and the coach is very good.”
According to the “Žalgiris” strategist, there is not much time to prepare for the second duel in three days, so the most important thing will be to know your direct opponents.
“The most important thing will be to understand the specific competitors. It seems to me that this is always the most important, because you have to win one by one, and if you do, then you will have the opportunity to play fighting,” said Schiller. – We will not know everything they are doing here, because there is no time to prepare. This is a different match than you have 3 days to prepare. The emphasis on individual players has to help us. “
The people of Žalgiris started meeting future rivals on Wednesday by singing “Happy Birthday” to Nigel Hayes. Before reviewing the video of the rivals, the greeting song for the polyglot celebrating his 26th birthday was heard in several languages, including Lithuanian, English and German.
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