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The bad start to the match was due to the difficult fate of the Lithuanian champions in the duel. From the first minutes of the match, the hosts sent Žalgiris’ team into the first tie, from which M. Schiller’s army did not rise until the final siren of the match.
Anadolu Efes, who gained a landslide lead in the second half, dominated on both sides of the pitch, and Žalgiris basketball players, who had a hard time guessing their opponents and had no options in attack, suffered a landslide defeat.
The Kaunas club has already suffered the fifth slap in seven games and is moving away from the dream of eight, who will compete in the playoffs.
After a failed evening of Lithuanian champions in Turkey, basketball expert and coach Tomas Purlys claimed that Žalgiris’ poor performance was influenced not only by Joffrey Lauvergne, who left the line early due to injury, but also poor condition. physics Žalgiris players.
The game of “Žalgiris” depends largely on the physical condition of the team. This affects both shooting and aggressive defenses.
Winning a team like Anadolu Efes requires a very good game and being on your physical ground. On Friday, the Kaunas team faced serious rotation problems: both J.Lauvegne and Artūras Milaknis were missing, Lukas Lekavičius is also not in good sporting shape at the moment.
Besides these things, the party was condemned from the beginning ”, said the portal. lrytas.lt T. Purlys spoke.
At the moment, the severity of the trauma to the Kaunas club skyscrapers is unknown. In the 13th minute of the game, J. Lauverge tried to return to defense, but fell behind the opponent and fell backwards. The player walked onto the field of play with his side lying down and no longer appeared in the match.
Desperate decisions didn’t help
Thomas Walkupas, who scored 15 points, was the most productive player in the nightmare match in Istanbul, Žalgiris and Marius Grigonis, who scored 14, was the second most productive.
However, basketball expert T. Purlys said that the tandem of defenders who scored points in the individual game did not bring much hope to the game of “Žalgiris”.
The basketball expert added that the Lithuanian champion’s game lacked the movement of the ball, which was repeatedly demonstrated in the first round, which was crowned with an accurate shot to the last siren of the second half of the attack.
“We can say that” Žalgiris “tried to save with unique actions, but when he is 25 points away, he can do nothing: throw heavy shots, try to play individually.
There was a lack of a well-prepared team game, in which a frequent attack ends before a shot already made; in this game, the people of Kaunas shone in the first round.
In the duel against Anadolu Efes, the guests practically did not throw any prepared pitches. Of course, there were “pick and pop” situations with J. Lauvergne, but this is not a real “Žalgiris” game. Opponents often like to take risks with our highs on the perimeter.
“Th.Walkupas and M. Grigonis, who scored four triples, played successfully, however, we practically did not see that aggressive game, because” the defense and physicality of Anadolu Efes were much better, “argued T. Purlys.
The Kaunas club failed to stop Vasilije Micičius, a former Žalgiris player, who scored 17 points, bounced four balls, made 4 assists and scored 25 utility points.
He was assisted by Shane Larkin, who scored 18 points in 27 minutes, had 3 assists, took 4 balls and scored 23 utility points.
The physical condition of the players is alarming
When J. Lauvergne retired from the lineup, “Žalgiris” basketball players were forced to fight with less turnover than usual on Friday.
However, in the demanding match, M. Schiller decided not to give more time to the youth of the team and returned to trust the main players of “Žalgiris”.
Karolis Lukošiūnas, who appeared on the parquet for the first time during the match in the fourth quarter, played only 5 minutes, Marekas Blaževičius, who completed the Kaunas club this summer, did not appear on the parquet.
In the second half of the season, the main basketball players of “Žalgiris” who carried a large load on their shoulders began to lose strength, which, according to T. Purlis, is influenced by M. Shiller’s decision to dedicate less time to young Kaunas Club basketball players in the local championship.
“Currently, the physical condition of” Žalgiris “is really bad, we could already see him perfectly in the duel against Real Madrid, when both L. Lekavičius and Rokas Jokubaitis fell on the floor barely standing.
You have to understand that not all Žalgiris, but all Euroleague teams are in this situation, because they also have a tight schedule when it comes to playing in local championships. We can only highlight Olympiacos from Piraeus, who do not compete in the Greek championship.
The problem is that Žalgiris finds it difficult to rotate players even in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) matches. Schiller should allow the youngsters to enter the field more frequently and give the players time for the main teams to rest. Everyone would win in this situation. Now we see that the players are tired ”, thought the basketball expert.
T. Purlys also added that the Kaunas team, which had been characterized by the previously successful integration of young basketball players, has recently been disappointed with their decision to spend less time on the field with up-and-coming Lithuanian basketball players.
“In the past, many young Lithuanian basketball players really wanted to play in Žalgiris, but now the promising players are in the dark: they see the situation of M.Blaževičius and K.Lukošiūnas.
I am a little sad for the youth of Lithuania. Yes, they have time for LKL, but there should be many more, even one, another loss suffered by “Žalgiris” in the local championship would mean nothing, “he added. lrytas.lt spoken coach.
Sad prognosis
At the end of the Euroleague regular season, Žalgiris had five games left to play. Currently, M. Shiller’s students are in eleventh position in the rankings with 15 victories.
To enter the top eight of the strongest, guaranteeing a playoff spot, the Lithuanian champions must play the remainder of the season as stated in the notes.
However, Tomas Purlys believes that even after J. Lauverge returns to the lineup, Žalgiris would face a task similar to a miracle.
“Without A. Milaknis and Steve Vasturia running and giving nothing on the field, it will be very difficult.
Even if J.Lauvergne’s injury was not serious and could help “Žalgiris” in the next game, the chances of reaching the playoffs are minimal, perhaps even amounting to a miracle, “said the basketball expert.
Next week, another Turkish test awaits Kaunas “Žalgiris”, Istanbul’s “Fenerbahce” team, which Kaunas crushed in the first round by 99:62. However, currently the team represented by Edgar Ulanov is showing a much more solid basketball and has become a direct competitor of the Lithuanian champions in the fight for the playoffs.
“Žalgiris” depends a lot on freshness. Much will depend on how Kaunas will appear in the duel against Fenerbahce, who lost to the Valencia basketball players on Friday and showed that they are vulnerable, but you have to understand that this is no longer the same team that Žalgiris crushed in Kaunas.
The Kaunas club needs to play more aggressively and accurately to attack the pitches created. If you want to win against a potentially stronger team, shooting free throws is just a must.
I would also like to see a more versatile game. We see that the physical condition of the defenders is not good, so “Žalgiris” has to diversify his game, try to play more through the central forwards and use his advantages and created situations, “argued T. Purlys.
