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Kaunas residents, who have already taught rivals from Greece, Russia, Serbia and Turkey, are currently not only outright leaders of the Euroleague, but also lead or are among the leaders in most team statistics: they are first in terms of utility (average of 90.75 points), defense (average 69.8 points) and accuracy of three points (41.7%), second – according to effective passes (average 18.8%) and penalties (87.8%), third – based in two points (57.9%).) and fourth according to the attack (average 79 points).
These figures mean that Euroleague rookie Martin Schiller, who runs the helm of Žalgiris, does not even know what it is like to lose in this tournament.
You may consider this to be the success of a newcomer to the poker table, but so far the green and white game only gets better with each round. And if this trend continues for some time and the inhabitants of Kaunas face the next two rivals that await them, the clubs Valencia Basket and Vilerbana ASVEL, they will reach the historical record of ownership of the franchise (6/0).
What gives Žalgiris wings this season? How long will the people of Žalgiris surprise Europe? And in general, can they play even better?
A conversation about it – on Delfi’s latest TV show “Basketball Zone” with coach Tomas Purlis and commentator Vaida Čeponis.
– Did you imagine before this season that, after playing four rounds, “Žalgiris” will be the absolute leader of the tournament, and the “Anadolu Efes” of Istanbul, last year’s fashion dictator, only the fifteenth?
– And it is clear to the horse that it is not. I think a lot of Žalgiris fans didn’t expect that either. The current result is incredible. Of course, various favorable circumstances and injuries to rival leaders also contribute to this. But still, the merits of Kaunas cannot be underestimated. They seem better prepared than many Euroleague teams at the moment. Talk about a very serious job during training and dedication during the match, which you will not say about Anadolu Efes himself, who until now resembles a tired team, physically poorly prepared and exhausted.
– Tom, Šarūnas Jasikevičius himself has said that when you hit well, the players look better and the coach is smarter. Is it possible to attribute such an impressive start from “Žalgiris” to the fact that those pitches are going down really well so far?
– I would not agree that those shots alone are falling. I would mention something else here. Shar himself wrote in his book that it is very important in a player’s career to have as many different types of coaches as possible.
Now most of the players, especially the Lithuanians from “Žalgiris”, have spent three or four seasons with Š. Jasikevičius and after supervising his systems and disciplines, he greatly improved his understanding of basketball and reading situations. After a few years in the army, they start to unfold in all their beauty and make decisions in the square and create the game themselves.
Of course, when you hit, your hands come off and the tension drops. It’s fun to watch it play very crisp, but simple enough, with just a few combinations, the essential is two versus two.
– The impression is that green-white now enjoys what it does more than ever. Vaidai, why is that?
– We have a completely different coaching style. Over 70 different combinations were used near Shar, and now only about 10. And most basketball players don’t like complicated attacking tactics and lots of combinations. This season, players enjoy freedom and no one yells at them. But Shar’s workmanship and some tactical things are also very visible.
– Tom, Žalgiris’ defense (69.8 points on average) is so far the strongest in the entire Euroleague. Both the Crvenai zvezdai in Belgrade and the Anadolu Efes failed to find loopholes. What is the secret
– One of them is a very good physical preparation. I remember when the people of Žalgiris met Panevėžys “Lietkabelis” (61:72), it seemed as if they were right behind a very heavy physical load. They may have just lifted their loads at that point, and a week or two later, when the Euroleague began, came the so-called supercompensation and peak of their athletic form.
Now the players are very well on their feet, one by one also defending themselves. I couldn’t even list who doesn’t work in defense. Mistakes, of course, do happen, as you are often also playing with stronger or faster opponents.
– Looking at the current form of Kaunas residents, does the game of “Žalgiris” still have potential to emerge?
– Hard to say. You can see that both the confidence of the players and the atmosphere in the team are now great. Everyone has left their personal stats and their selfishness somewhere at home and they fight like a team as much as possible during the match. There will probably be more, but at least the start of the season is very optimistic. No one could have expected us to get such a high level game so quickly with a change of coach and system.
– Vaidai, and is it possible to see any disadvantage in the pride of Kaunas?
– “Žalgiris” now looks almost perfect, so we have to try to score as many wins as possible, while many teams are still in bad shape.
What is very gratifying is that Žalgiris now has a lot of good one-on-one players. These are Marius Grigonis, Rokas Jokubaitis, Lukas Lekavičius and Thomas Walkup. And the advancements and opportunities they create are a huge weapon in modern basketball.
The whole show “Basketball Zone” – on video.
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