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Photo: BNS
BNS photo
Kaunas “Žalgiris” have gone to Madrid, where they will play the last Euroleague game this month against local “Real”.
Kaunas Žalgiris / Schedule
Before the trip, Kaunas head coach Martin Schiller highlighted the work of his opponents on his side of the court and compared Walter Tavares to one of the best defensive basketball players in the NBA.
“A very good team with the second best defensive index as well as the best blocking team,” Schiller said of the opponents’ defensive strengths. – They force opponents to attack the basket at a very low percentage. In the penalty area he has Walter Tavares, who is Rudy Gobert’s counterpart in the Euroleague. So winning points against them will be a challenge and we met it. “
Before the trip, Žalgiris announced that Artūras Milaknis would remain in Kaunas due to pain in the groin. The sniper had the longest series of lost games in existence before the game in Madrid, appearing on the floor up to 200 times in a row.
Schiller said the team is now awaiting the results of the MRI, and revealed that players other than Patricio Garino will be ready to compete on Thursday.
– Real have had problems lately, especially in attack. What will be the most important thing to prolong your difficulties in the attack?
– First of all, we have to talk about their personalities, because they have a lot of strong players individually. His strength is to get out of the barricades and shoot, with players like Jaycee Carroll or Sergio Llull. They also have a good time Pikenrolus Meeting Tavares. We will have to do a good job on defense.
– In the first game, Facundo Campazzo with Walter Tavares was the one who caused the most problems. How did your game change after the Argentine’s departure?
– The game has changed a lot because they have lost a great quality player and have not found a replacement for him. They lost one of the top three players in the league, which changes the game and the quality. Anyway, it is still a very good team and we are talking about the highest level.
– What is the most important thing about playing against Tavares on both sides of the court?
– In defense, the most important thing is not to let him spin quickly under the basket and collect balls, which is not easy, we will all have to fight, because we cannot leave it to JoJo (Joffrey Lauvergne), Martin (Geben) and Agustín (Rubit ). In an attack, we have to get him out of the basket, no matter how difficult it is to do so.
– There are 9 games left until the end of the regular season. Do you follow the situation in qualifying now more and see Real as a direct opponent of the playoffs?
– I no longer follow the situation, I watch it all season as well. For me, the most important thing is the balance of our victories and defeats. What that means is that we only keep track of how many wins it takes to make the playoffs. Finally, let’s look at each game separately.
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