Schiller: on the defense improvement and the reason why Blaževičius and Lukošiūnas did not play / News

Kaunas “Žalgiris” took the first step towards the final four of the King Mindaugas Cup, and head coach Martin Schiller distinguished the team’s best defense in the second half of the match after the victory.

“First of all, there were very fighting games on both sides of the field,” Schiller said after the victory. – We were not satisfied with the performance in defense in the first half of the game, we improved it in the second half. It was very important for us to gain a certain advantage, but “Milk Stars” are a very good team and we respect them. “

Schiller was also asked why Karolis Lukošiūnas and Marekas Blaževičius did not appear on the field.

“We play a rotation of ten players, which is already wide. That is the reason, ”said the strategist.

At the time, Gediminas Petrauskas, strategist for Pasvalys ‘Milk Stars, was happy with the students’ combativeness.

“We can only thank the players who played, but after a lost match it is difficult to enjoy anything. We play to win. Even if you are thinking of losing by making as little difference as possible while playing with Žalgiris, you have already lost immediately.

We are happy with the third quarter, because we played well in the first half with Lietkabel, but in the third quarter we got into the pits and didn’t come out. Today, although the result has increased, we have not given up, we have found the strength to launch the fight and you yourselves have seen more ”, said Petrauskas.

When asked about a possible retreat for Kaunas residents, Petrauskas said he hadn’t thought about it yet.

“First of all, we have to regain strength, we do not think there are so many games ahead, because, as we see, the situation with the health of the players is changing. The most important thing is to regain strength, and the next game will be LKL, where there is no reason to lose the advantage ”, said the specialist.

Petrauskas also pointed out that there are players on the team who suffer from certain health problems.

“Arvydas (Šikšnius) doesn’t feel a bit. Or a cold, or something else, but we really didn’t want to be in the team. And Edgar (Želionis) has a bruised muscle. He was already playing in Panevėžys with an injury, all of this really did not add health.

We saw that he was struggling to move so I didn’t want to throw him into a fight, repulsive albeit. We will see how he will feel and we hope he is ready for the duel on January 10 ”, concluded the strategist.