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It was he and Joffrey Lauvergne who started the attack on the people of Žalgiris in the third half: after an effective tandem game, two against two spectators did not jump from their seats in the first rows of the Žalgiris arena just because they were cut from cardboard .
R. Jokubaitis finished with 10 points, 5 assists and 14 utility points.
Mr. Lauvergne was the best player of the game overall: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 19 utility points.
It is symbolic that the two basketball players, who personally went through the worst of the season last month, helped each other so much.
During the last four Euroleague duels, R. Jokubaitis was twice “zero” (he did not get any utility score) and he was satisfied with an average of 3 points.
“The last stage was not very pleasant, neither for me, nor for the coaches, nor for the fans. The coach gave him a free kick, but he couldn’t get past the visiting defenders.
And now inside I don’t know where to put it. Psychologically, it was necessary to have a game like this, it was necessary to raise the pitch for you and your teammates. I enjoy both the whole team and my performance. Let’s hope that at the end of the season the game curve goes up ”, R. Jokubaitis did not stop at the press conference.
– Which episode of the third quarter was the most important, which allowed Žalgiris to take the initiative into his own hands?
– I don’t even know, maybe the ball I took from David Lighty. Then we start, we revive. We played without fouls for a long time, so we were able to offer a lot of contact to our opponents, we were able to take control of the balls. That episode was perhaps a turning point, followed by a dead end with Jojo. Yes, there was still a slight panic at the end of the match, but in reality we already had an advantage that would be brutally difficult to squander.
– So far we have hardly seen your transfers to Mr Lauvergne.
– They were more in one game than in the whole season, not only for Jojo, but also in general. But after all, everyone sees that this season Jojo often ends his attacks in this way. Consequently, it builds the barrier very well and descends below the basket. Also, dancing on high – the transfer may not make a lot of sense, but it still manages to catch up. All that remains is to hang the ball over the goal.
An athletic finish of @ 1JOLOLO ?# 7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/8ArHlP1dcx
– Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 2, 2021
– For the second time in a row you appeared in the top five. Does it feel any different than getting off the spare bench?
– So far, I have only started once in the Lithuanian basketball league from minute one throughout the season. More than once I had to play in the starting five, but something kept changing. And now, with the arrival of the most important matches, the situation changed due to the injury of Artūras Milaknis.
The coaches trust me for quite a few minutes, I feel important to the team and it’s a lot of fun. Only if you get that kind of trust should you take advantage of it. I had no luck in some games, I was a little sadder. Now everything has gone well. If I start again in the next game, I hope it will be even better, I will bring more benefits.
– In your opinion, why was the attack on all “Žalgiris” suppressed in February?
– Hard to say. The number of matches is really small: if it weren’t for the Euroleague, then they are trying to insert LKL matches. And we did not have a day off during the national team break, because we were preparing for a postponed duel with Crvena Zvezda from Belgrade. Maybe it’s just a small detail, but sooner or later the time had to come when we would get caught up in the attack.
This season our coach has never had any complaints about the attack, he said we can shoot in any case, so the most important thing is to manage the defense. We finally balanced ourselves a bit. He needed a game like today, it will be his point of resistance. Hopefully we look good on both offense and defense in the final stages of the regular season.
***
The hosts were treated without Artūras Milaknis and Patricis Garinas on Tuesday, the guests were not helped by former Žalgiris resident Derrick Walton, Antoine Diot and Kevarrius Hayes.
Žalgiris won the first round match in Lyon last October, when ASVEL had not yet recovered from the coronavirus outbreak, with the result 83:74.
The overall win-loss balance between the teams is more favorable for Kaunas residents: 8: 4.
“Žalgiris” will continue “Double Euroleague Week” on Friday by hosting Olimpia in Milan (Italy) at home, and ASVEL will travel to Fenerbahche in Istanbul (Turkey).
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