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On Wednesday “Žalgiris” will fight “Valencia”, and on Friday, he will compete with two Lithuanians, which includes Vitorija “Baskonia”.
The first matches with the Spanish teams turned out differently: the advantage of the Valencian team had to be recognized 82:94, while the Basques had surrendered with confidence – 92:73.
Valencia’s response may seem like a problem, as tall important Derrick Williams may not play due to injury, with a question mark over Joan Sastre’s name.
After last week’s impressive comeback and victory against Piraeus Olympiacos, Žalgiris’s team ranked sixth in the tournament table with 12 wins and 9 losses.
Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Victory moments of the match
This week can also be very important in terms of the tournament table, as Valencia (11-10) is in ninth place and Baskonia (9-12) is in 13th place.
Valencia is at the forefront. It’s a very good attacking team, ranking second in the league in terms of attacking efficiency, first in terms of two-point accuracy, third in terms of free throws and first in terms of effective passing, Schiller said. – How do you do this? Mainly because the ball gets very close during basketball attacks due to the progress and spin of the game. They have big people in positions 3-5.
And they have a very mature team, the ball moves well, there is not a single player responsible for effective passes, there are four. This is a very mature and experienced team. Playing against them will be a great challenge. “
Eriko Ovcharenko / 15min nuotr./Martinas Schilleris
– In the Kaunas match Nikola Kaliničius and Bojanas Dubljevičius caused you a lot of problems under the basket, how to defend yourself against them?
– If possible, don’t let him get the ball closer to the basket, then he won’t be in a good position so easily. That is the main idea. This is not very easy to do, of course.
– “Valencia” won once in the last five games. Can you say that the team is not in the best shape?
– I would never say that. You need to look at the context and think about why this is the case. An important factor was the fall of Dubljevičius, he is a very important player. Now he has returned and that is changing a lot in the team.
Louis Labeyrie returns to fourth position, the team becomes more balanced in attack, his front row is very strong and he (B.Dubljevičius – aut. Past) is the main part. So to sum it all up, I do not agree with your statement.
– Do you have information on Williams? Should I play tomorrow?
– I heard that there is a possibility that I do not play. Of course, we are preparing for a script with him in the square.
– This week’s competitors will be different. Valencia are excellent in attack and Baskonia is more focused on defense. In your opinion, which competitor is more favorable to “Žalgiris” this year?
– That is a good question. Sorry I can’t answer, I really can’t. From that point of view, I have not looked at the situation. We are only focused on the game against Valencia. My assistants do the work, then we move the focus to a meeting with Baskonia.
I haven’t really thought about it. You know my boring answer: we go from game to game.
– How does Marekas Blaževičius feel about COVID-19?
– Improves, the symptoms subside, he no longer has a fever. Not everything looks bad. Of course, we must remain vigilant about the situation in COVID-19. Follow medical instructions, you are at home, isolated. When the time is right, he will be put to the test and rejoined the team.
– You will play seven games in two weeks. Do you plan to play at least one of those games with the second team? Or maybe add even more young players?
– You have probably seen the last match (against Kėdainiai “Nevėžis” – aut. Past), where our two youngsters played a long time, especially Mantas Rubštavičius, who played for 18 minutes. We work closely with the second team, we are a great club.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Mantas Rubštavičius
His work is wonderful and very useful to us, Coach Arvydas Gronskis does a great job. He and his assistants not only educate the players, but also give us a chance to relax some basketball players. In the last game we had the opportunity to rest Thomas Walkup.
In answering your question, we are always looking for the opportunity and thinking about how much we can involve the younger players. We also look at how many minutes we can raise for those who don’t play as much in the Euroleague or don’t play at all. Karolis Lukošiūnas, I think, played in the last game and took advantage of the minutes given and contributed a lot.
– Waiting for two games in a row. Do you still feel the difference between home and away games when there are no fans?
– Yes, to travel. That’s the main. The great advantage of Kaunas is the green-white wall, which, unfortunately, does not exist between us. But being at home is still an advantage because you don’t have to travel, you can train as usual, you can sleep in your own bed. The advantages are, of course, that they are a little smaller than before.
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