For the fourteenth time in a row, the people of Žalgiris who beat “Rytas” were happy with the timely conclusions and the return of “B tribune”

Rytas, who had not played a game in more than a week, could have prepared more thoroughly for the LKL leadership battle, and early in the game it looked like homework might pay off.

Without playing for two minutes. Martin Schiller called the students together for an unscheduled meeting after the hosts rushed in 7: 0.

At the same time, Rytas was able to enjoy the advantage of up to 15 points, but after the break, the capital team breathed a sigh of relief. Guests 14: 0 won the third quarter 28:10, and Donald Kairis’s students were unable to start a close fight.

Thus, only two of the predictions that promised invisible intrigues for several years were confirmed.

On both sides of the field, defense dominated against attack. When they found no open paths to the opponents’ basket, teams were more likely to make a mistake than to share the ball effectively, as well as to collect shots from a distance of at least two points.

And there was more tension and nerves in the basketball beauty plaza. In the final seconds, passion erupted when Thomas Walkup unnecessarily stopped the rivals’ attack, which was no longer necessary, with a non-sporting foul, as a result the outraged Dovi Bičkauskis had to be reassured by both himself and strangers.

“In the beginning, the opponents played very fast. We did not concern ourselves at all with the advances of the defenders in the penalty area. After the break, we solved this problem a little better,” commented M. Schiller.

“The first half was very bad, one of the worst of this season. We did not defend one against one, we lost points in simple situations. You have to fix it, you have to work more, you have to change something.

Then we didn’t let them get away, we put them in a more viscous game. Then they lost, they started to play one by one, they threw heavy pitches and we took over some balls, “added Marius Grigonis, who played for the winning team (13 points).

“Žalgiris” lost the fight “under the board” at 23:30, but caused more fouls. Kaunas residents visited the penalty line 25 times and Rytas representatives 10 times.

Interestingly, the visitors shot 3-pointers (13/29) more than two (13/23), although it was on the front row before the game that Žalgiris could see more advantages.

Why, especially in the first part of the match, the students were slowly accumulating points from the penalty area, it is difficult to say M. Schiller.

“Sometimes it’s more effective to kick the ball out of the penalty area, but I really don’t know how to respond. Certainly, 3s are not necessarily always more thrown than both, but it is perfectly normal that we often attack from a distance as long as the players are free. This alone does not mean that we are forcing long shots, “explained Schiller.

He was satisfied with the defense against Andrew Goudelock, who scored just 4 points, although M. Grigonis made no secret that the most famous debutant of “Rytas” received no special attention in the team’s game plan.

“We covered it as every metric, I wouldn’t say there was a lot of emphasis,” the defender opened.

The game was watched by 4.4 thousand people at the Siemens Arena. viewers.

Before the match, after resolving disagreements with LKL and the police and returning to their usual place, “Grandstand B” of the most active fans of “Rytas” welcomed the former beloved Marekas Blaževičius.

The 19-year-old midfielder, who swapped Vilnius for Kaunas last summer, received a mocking banner and a chanting ‘clown’, although the newcomer from Žalgiris did not step onto the parquet on Sunday.

And as the duel escalated, there were also uncensored chants towards the Lithuanian champions, who had previously imposed fines on the Vilnius club.

“I don’t remember when so many Ryto fans were in our game. They have a big increase now, and we have more fun playing with him, the opposition is bigger. It’s fun to play in such an environment and even more fun to win,” commented M. Grigonis.

“I have heard a lot about the atmosphere of this match, although the danger of the virus did not allow it to fill the stands, it was fantastic,” shared M. Schiller, who was in charge of Žalgiris in the summer, his first impression.

On Sunday, the hosts worked without the injured Martynas Echodas and the latest newcomer Maurice Ndour, who has not yet arrived in Lithuania, “Žalgiris” lacked the injured Martin Geben and Patricis Garinas.

Kaunas residents beat Rytas 14 times in a row in all tournaments. Vilnius neighbors celebrated their last victory in the clash of main rivals in June 2018.

The following morning, Rytas is expected to debut in the FIBA ​​Champions League home match with Athens Peristeri (Greece), while Žalgiris is still awaiting news of Thursday’s trip to the fortress of Vilerbana ASVEL (France), which is infected with a coronavirus infection.

The infection has also entered the field of future rivals of Žalgiris LKL; It has already been announced that the match with Klaipėda Neptūnas, which took place a week later, will be postponed due to two positive tests in the port city team’s ranks.