Jokubaitis: “I really needed a match like this” / News

Before Tuesday night, Rokas Jokubaitis scored an average of 3 points and 2.5 utility points in the Euroleague during the four-game period, so the duel with Vilerbanas ASVEL player Kaunas Žalgiris was very happy not only because of the victory, but also for his personal performance. .

To the 85:75 victory, Jokubaitis added 10 points (3/8 doubles, 4/4 penalties), 5 assists, 2 rebounds and interceptions and 14 utility points in 23 minutes of play.

5 successful passes were the best result for the “Žalgiris” team.

“Yes, rightly so, my section was really not very nice to me, the coaches or, I think, the fans,” Jokubaitis said at the press conference. – The coaches gave a lot of time to play, but they failed to do anything impressive on the field.

Inside, he didn’t know where to put it because he really needed a match like that. Both psychologically and to raise my mouth for me and my colleagues. I am very excited for the team and for my performance, my losing streak of matches came to an end. I hope the curve goes up by the end of the season. “

“Žalgiris” has been stuck in attack lately, and this time he faced one of the most physical teams this season and shot 85 points to his basket. This was Kaunas’ best result since January 8, when 102 points were scored for the Chimki team from the Moscow region.

“I want to congratulate everyone on a really important victory. I think this is one of the most important victories of this season. We talked like that before the game, I also thought about it. Now it will be the most serious challenge, the last 8 games. We won against the hottest team in the Euroleague. In the second half, we showed good defense and of course we moved well in attack, “said Jokubaitis.

– The third quarter was won at 27:15. What can you distinguish from him?
– First of all, the moment I took the ball from Davido Lighty comes to mind. The team’s departure recovered, we were without team fouls for a long time, so we gave them a lot of contact. It was a break, the ball intercepted, the ball threw to Joffrey Lauvergne. That gave him a boost. It’s good that we got the upper hand. There was a slight panic at the end of the match, but when we had that advantage, it was very difficult to squander it.

– How are you doing this season to discover a connection with Lauvergne, for whom you threw many balls today?
– Personally I lost so much playing with him before, we probably made more shots in a game than with other teammates throughout the season. We all see that Lauvergne has a particularly high number of episodes this season when it has a small cabin over the bow. It means that he builds the barrier very well and descends below the basket. He has done very well. In addition, he dances very well, so sometimes the transmission does not seem logical, he stays high, above the arch, but he manages to catch it. It is not difficult to play with him, the little one just has to hang the ball for him.

– After the injury of Artūras Milaknis, second consecutive game you started start five. How different is that role for you?
– Throughout the season he had started the game only once at the beginning of the season, in the Lithuanian basketball league. Throughout the season, it was common for me to have to play in the starting five, but something changed and the coaches did a rotation. I’ve had a good time getting off the bench all season.

Now, at the end of the season, in the most important game, playing in the fifth starter, you feel important for the team, psychologically very funny. But if you gain confidence, you have to exploit it. I was unlucky in a few games and was more upset as a result, but today everything went well.

– The team has been stuck in attack lately. What made it possible to play better in attack and why did the team get stuck before that?
– That number of parties is considerable. If it is not the Euroleague, try inserting LKL. But there can only be a small detail here as to why we are so unbalanced. Of course, the time had to come when we got stuck in the attack, because we attacked very well all season and the coach had no complaints, he always said that we can shoot, but the most important thing is defense. We looked good in the last game on defense, but since the beginning of the season our engine has been attacking. We needed a match like that. I think that will be the point of resistance to the last series of games. Hopefully we look good both in attack and defense.

Match summary: