M. Schiller raised his voice in the dressing room – about three “Žalgiris” lights and team excitement | Euroleague

“Žalgiris” allowed the Germans to score up to 51 points in the first half of the match.

Marcus Eriksson whistled into the break for 17 points, and Christ Koumadje ended up taking away all of Joffrey Lauvergne’s love of basketball.

However, after a break, Žalgiris returned to the floor angry and as accurate as he had not been in a couple of months. After being hit by 10 three-point showers in the third and fourth quarters alone, the Lithuanian champion returned to winning ways.

“The story of my match is this: we stopped them 14 times in the first half and we stopped them 16 times in the third quarter alone. For me, this is a coincidence story. And yet Eriksson scored only two points later. half time (17 before half time).

With the attack, everything was in control of the entire game. Sure, Koumadje was an interesting challenge, but we still racked up points. The attack was not a problem. The challenge was defense and I’m glad the guys handled it.

Congratulations to Luke on his birthday! Luke’s game helped us attack them with Koumadje under the basket. When Luke takes long shots, he makes it very difficult to defend opponents.

I want to highlight Geben (12 points): he works hard, he trains well and today he came out of the shadows. It worked very well.

I don’t usually highlight the players, but I also congratulate Karolis Lukošiūnas (12 points). It also worked very well. Not only hitting, but also putting in a lot of effort on defense. “

– Coaches, what did you say to the players during the long break that the game has changed so much?

– I was very dissatisfied with the first half. Point 51 was unforgivable. I wanted to show the players that I see it. And I liked the reaction of the players because we saw it on defense.

– How do you welcome the remaining two games of the Euroleague regular season?

– We want to fight from the end. We must have 14 games in hand.

Our goal is clear: we want 18 wins, because they generally guarantee the playoffs. Before and with 17 wins, you could expect a place in the playoffs. Sometimes it was enough 16. But you have to go fight.

– Did the team need your awakening during the long break in the game and because of the low hands after the game with Maccabi?

– I agree that it was necessary to excite the team. But more about the first half.

It is not easy for basketball players. You play the entire season, you get 16 wins, and we usually sat here talking about making the playoffs. With the victory over Maccabi, we would have almost everything in our hands. I think things like that cross every athlete’s mind because we really wanted to make the playoffs. I understand you surprised the team. But I wouldn’t call that long hiatus a wake-up call for the whole situation. More on the front and the defense.

It should be noted that ALBA is an amazing club that shows the importance of progress. They take Koumadje as a project and want to see what they can do with it and how to improve it.

ALBA is a club very similar to “Žalgiris”. They have a collected core of players from Berlin. It is unique. Having so many local players not only from Lithuania, but also from Kaunas … That progress cannot be forgotten. Either March 30 or December.

That is our goal: to see what Martin can do, what Lukošiūnas can do.

– What do you like most about the progress of Karolis Lukošiūnas and Martin Geben and what helped the latter to come out of that shadow tonight?

– They work incredibly hard. And a lot of people don’t see that in their extra work. Whether it’s personal workouts when the coaches are called or when there are no workouts, they’re in the gym.

I really like the characteristics of Marty (Gebeno). Because he builds a good barrier, passes well under the basket, can defend well, plays over the goal. The fact is that we have Lauvergne, Rubit, two very strong centers. But it was always important for us to infuse Martin into the game, mainly at the end of the first half.

I feel like it’s important to give them a chance because they can play at this level. But Marty has two good competitors in front of him.

For Karolis, I like his gamer profile. It can be a sniper with a good defense. He defends well without the ball, hits perfectly and I like it.

– Lukas Lekavičius reached the season performance record tonight (21 points). What perhaps stopped you from shining earlier this season than tonight?

– Yes, frankly, he had stopped only because of a coronavirus. It took 3 to 5 weeks for her to come back after the illness. And it’s still slowly coming back.

But we have a lot of confidence in him. With his quick feet, he destroys the defense. I wouldn’t say he had falls. Luke is very important to us. Whether you score a lot of points or not, but we need it to create advantages.

– Patricio Garino scored the first points in the Euroleague as a “Žalgiris” player. What is your plan with the Argentine going from game to game?

– My idea – to see how far you can go. To see this, you will have to play right away. It is a process and cannot be related to a defined period of time. And I wouldn’t say it will only take a few weeks.

He hasn’t played for 17 months and people should understand that. That period of return for basketball players after a hiatus like that … We usually talk about 6-7 months for it to return to its previous form. I’m very conservative with him and I don’t give him too much hope. That would be wrong in Patricio’s case. At the same time, reckless for us as an organization. We’ll see where it can go. And most importantly, the knee is not bathed, but the body. That is the most important. And this is important for “Žalgiris”. But at the same time, Patricio Garino is very important.

He is our player and it is our duty to help him rehabilitate his career. And it depends on the path. I am very happy for his return because he feels good and his few feel good.