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5,131 fans gathered for the game with Valencia. Although it looked much more visually, it was only 120 more than in last week’s match with Istanbul’s Anadolu Efes.
Be that as it may, the record spectators in this tournament this season saw the first failure of “Žalgiris” in the tournament live.
Although Valencia strategist Jaume Ponsarnau highlighted the unfair advantage of the home crowd before the game, he softened the tone after the duel.
“Me and we are all very happy to play in this environment. For basketball, this is a very good thing. I am responsible for what I speak, not for what journalists write. The problem is that we live in unequal conditions. We cannot enjoy that atmosphere at home. We live in difficult and difficult conditions. But such a life, we have to adapt. Today we were able to enjoy this atmosphere, which helps Žalgiris a lot. It will be difficult for many to win in Kaunas, ”said J. Ponsarnau after the match.
2 seconds before the end of the game, the Valencia strategist called for a minute of rest when the end of the game was clear, thus causing the discontent of the Žalgiris fans. After the duel, J. Ponsarnau explained his actions to the Kaunas team coach, Martin Schiller.
“I want to apologize for the last minute break, but I took it because we have great respect for Žalgiris. We and Žalgiris will fight for a better place in the table, so every point is important. We had two seconds, I had to use them.” said the helmsman of the Spanish team.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Eurolyga in Kaunas: “Žalgiris” – “Valencia”
The start of Žalgiris was very hopeful. Marius Grigonis and Steve Vasturia fired the first four darts, and the hosts, who hit 9 3-pointers out of 16 (average 56.3%) and made 3 errors, took the lead 45:37.
Martin Schiller’s student target got stuck in the second half of the match, they lost 9 triples until Lukas Lekavičius and Artūras Milaknis broke the silence 3 minutes before the end of the match.
“Žalgiris started the first half of the match at a very high level, especially in the first half,” explained J. Ponsarnau. – They played with great confidence. They strike perfectly from afar. We knew we weren’t defending well, even though there were some good moments. We knew we needed to improve our defenses. In the second half, that changed. It was very important that our defense was not so predictable. “Žalgiris” perfectly read our defense in the first half. We found a way to attack. 3s are very important in today’s basketball and we attack very effectively ”.
At the time, Valencia was ruthless. With just 3 long shots out of 12 in the first two halves, guests fired like a cannon after a long break – 11 out of 20, for a total of 14 out of 32.
The last quarter became the third, when Jaume Ponsarnau’s soldiers scored up to 30 points. Žalgiris has never spent so much this season.
“We wanted to defend ourselves more aggressively against the opponent’s barriers with the ball,” the coach named the changes after the long break. – This is how we must always defend ourselves, with a lot of energy. We were a little late on some launches. In the second half, we were more aggressive, we hindered more the attack of the Žalgiris players. “
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Eurolyga in Kaunas: “Žalgiris” – “Valencia”
Even more than Valencia’s long throws, Žalgiris was penalized for the Spanish play in the penalty area, on whose hits he scored up to 44 points (22 of 30 – 73.3 percent). Mainly from the back attackers, who completed the attacks by themselves and created opportunities for others.
“This is very important. We believe that in our attack, the play of effects and the resulting attacks are very important – Nikola Kaliničius, Derrick Williams, Dubljevičius or Fernando San Emeter, – said J. Ponsarnau. – At first, our design was bad. We wanted to take advantage of that. We had a problem with the placement of the players on the field during the season. But in a week we improved it significantly. We were able to punish Žalgiris’s defense not only for hitting, but also for his good movement. “
Next week, the people of Žalgiris will go to Vilerbana, where they will have an ASVEL test still fighting the coronavirus.
VIDEO: A. Milaknis sigh: we will not clean up the Euroleague with an attack
VIDEO: M. Grigonis pointed to Žalgiris’ biggest problem
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