[ad_1]
On Tuesday, the Lithuanian vice-champions said a sad goodbye to their home crowd, who saw no wins at the Siemens Arena during the two biggest games of the season so far.
The FIBA Champions League debutants, who talked loudly about the last four summers and landed in Kaunas “Žalgiris” on Sunday, this time did not match Athens’ “Peristeri” 88: 106.
Steven Gray just made fun of his home defense: The 31-year-old set a new Champions League performance record, scoring up to 47 utility points in 30 minutes of play.
The Peristeri defender scored 10 triples (13.77%), repeating another tournament record, for a total of 39 points and 7 assists.
Morning legionnaire Chris McCullough hinted after the match that the Vilnius people exposed the most dangerous opponent, because too often he was going to help his teammates.
“We need to speak more in defense, we need to be more united,” said the tall man.
D. Kairys believes that the main problem was the lack of energy.
“And with a poor defense, you still need to be able to make ten 3-pointers. But I agree that our defense really didn’t work. It was only slightly better in the fourth quarter when we started swapping covers.
The lack of energy was the same as when we started the match with “Žalgiris”. Not everything is how we prepare it. Maybe just four minutes after the second half I was overwhelmed by the feeling that we were in control of the game. But even at that time, we did not seem to be in control of the situation on defense, everything went too easy for the opponent.
We talked about not allowing Mr. Gray to be thrown in the initial phase of an attack, not being able to feel the throw. For our part, we did almost nothing to prevent it, we allowed the rivals to choose their favorite shots, “said the 43-year-old specialist.
However, he argued that both tactically and psychologically, the team was properly prepared to fight the Greeks.
“I don’t think anyone has underestimated them. We draw the opponent very correctly for the players. After all, they defeated Panathinaikos from Athens at the beginning of the season, what more could they need?
More than tactics, we lacked energy and some toughness: when the opponents fell away, we were completely divided. What I didn’t like the most was that we didn’t show toughness in a difficult moment. There were very difficult stages in the match with “Žalgiris”, although yesterday I was not so disappointed. We have to get used to such difficult situations and learn to maintain stability, ”said D. Kairys.
Before S. Gray’s record show, Mindaugas Girdžiūnas 3s threw five points before the break and Ch. McCullough’s appearance in attack. The American, whose future in Vilnius is still uncertain, tried to convince the club’s leaders with 22 points (4/4 3-pointers) and 9 rebounds.
However, the arrows of criticism did not prevent it.
“There is no need to talk too much about his points – they fell four triples, but he lost 2 of 7 points, and it costs us, it hurts. As far as defense goes, I wouldn’t say Chris is the biggest hole, there are and more. It is still difficult for us to put on all of us, but we are working to achieve it.
Chris hasn’t played at that level, he does a lot of things instinctively. In addition, he tires faster than the other teammates because later he joined the team, he still missed training when he was suspended. Due to his situation in the team, we are watching very closely what he can give us, his trial period will last until December 1.
In general, some of our players are not stable yet. I don’t think losing 16 balls was inevitable today, Peristeri’s defense was definitely not as aggressive as “Žalgiris” who strangled us from line to line, “said D. Kairys.
Who do we give credit to for mate? ?#Basketball me @brisskuno @RytasVilnius pic.twitter.com/y4wpwcK3Rc
– Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) October 27, 2020
The match at the Siemens Arena was probably the last in the country this fall with spectators in the stands; On Wednesday, the government should ban the public from attending sports competitions due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases.
“Peristeri” arrived in Vilnius without the former legionary of the “Legion” of Greece Loukas Mavrokefalidis.
For its part, the Vilnius team is still waiting for the latest addition of Maurice Ndour, Senegal, as well as Martynas Echodas, who is undergoing treatment for an injury.
On Wednesday, the remaining teams from Group E will test each other: Riga VEF (Latvia) and Strasbourg SIG (France).
The “morning” fights of the Champions League should be extended on November 10. Strasbourg.
Was this Butkevicius Europaso straightforward? ﾸ ﾏ#Basketball me @RytasVilnius pic.twitter.com/nmuxya4WXG
– Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) October 27, 2020
It is strictly prohibited to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source .
[ad_2]
