Gaidamavičius satisfied with Neptune’s game: “Lauvergne looked horrible” / News

Photo: BNS

Photo: BNS

Photo: BNS

Photo: BNS

Photo: BNS

Klaipėda “Neptūnas”, who occupied three quarters in the match, finally fell in the semifinal of the King Mindaugas Cup against competition favorite Kaunas “Žalgiris”, and the coach of the port city team Tomas Gaidamavičius was satisfied with such a fight. .

At the end of the third quarter, “Neptūnas” went ahead 53:52, but with the siren of the fourth, Artūras Milaknis stabbed a triple and the people of Klaipėda took the lead.

“The match was somewhat successful, obviously it’s a shame that we didn’t win. We were very focused on this semi-final, despite the fact that the opponent is a powerful team in the Euroleague. The defensive tasks were accomplished a bit and resulted in a pretty good result. It is a shame that we did not win, “Gaidamavičius said at the press conference.

Joffrey Lauvergne, who played uncontrollably at Žalgiris, scored 28 points (13/19 colonies) in 25 minutes and bounced 10 balls, thus playing the second most productive game of his career.

“Of course our front line depends on him, Lauvergne is a good player in the Euroleague,” Gaidamavičius said of the French performance. – We try to limit it with help, but not double it, because when doubling the defense, Milaknis and Grigonis keep opening. It was a tactic to stop the rivals’ little basketball players, because “Žalgiris” has three points. However, it was not the best match we have seen for Lauvergne’as. And with rebounds, one against one ”.

Norbert Giga also supported him, scoring 16 points and 7 holds for Klaipeda.

“I lost a lot of game to him in person, but Lauvergne is a high-level player, the team was looking for him under the basket and he threw almost everything after receiving the ball. A truly physical and athletic player, Giga said. – We tried, during the first two parts we fought a lot, after the break we came out maybe a little upset. We tried, we fought, but “Žalgiris” is a Euroleague team and ended the match physically. It’s not a bad combination at all. “

Man of the match

Neptūnas performed without Martynas Mažeika, Klaidas Metrikis, and newcomer legionnaire Darrinas Dorsey. Will they be able to appear tomorrow in the fight for third place with Juventus de Utena?

“The spine has a problem with his back, he felt a lot of pain the day before during training and as a result we could not release it today. He will definitely not be able to play, – said Gaidamavičius. – Mažeika tried to play sports yesterday, his back hurt another Once, he forgave me this morning, but he said he was feeling a bit. He took the medication and said he would try to play. Thanks to him for his sacrifice, but today we will not allow it, we will not risk it. We will see if he escapes tomorrow, we will see according to the situation how we are doing because we lack strength.

Dorsey arrived yesterday. He was due to arrive on Sunday, but was not allowed to travel on plane after plane due to testing, after which he was late. Yesterday a person arrived, did a test and came to us, participated in a little training session, lost, but he will definitely not be able to play ”.

Battle for KMT Third Place: Sunday at 2:45 PM.

Match summary: