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Photo: BNS
Photo: BNS
Photo: BNS
Photo: BNS
Photo: BNS
Despite the dominance of Kaunas “Žalgiris” against Vilnius “Rytas” in the last decade, the matches of these clubs are still the true Lithuanian derby, the importance of which is far greater than a simple point in the standings.
The first meeting of Rytas and Žalgiris, which will take place today in Vilnius, arouses more intrigue this season than in recent years: the people of Žalgiris are going through a new stage after the Šarūnas Jasikevičius era, and the off-season shopping of the capital club generate great expectations among team fans.
Even bigger is the fact that Donald Kairis’ students face Sunday’s duel as the sole leader of the Betsafe – LKL championship, having won all 6 victories, while Martin Schiller’s army managed to lose at the same time in five matches. .
The website “BasketNews.lt” highlighted the essential arguments of the participants of the match before the LKL central round duel that will take place today, which will influence the final result of the match.
morning
The philosophy of the left game
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Already in the summer, watching the “Rytas” team, it became clear that this team will not be a defense-oriented team, and will punish its opponents with a quick attack, based on long throws and dominance of individual perimeter basketball players. .
Kairys, who promotes the American style of play, introduced herself to the LKL community at the helm of “Rytas” with an average of 99.5 points per game with an average of 22.2 assists, with 45.9 percent attacking from distance. accuracy.
Demetrius Jackson, Mindaugas Girdžiūnas and Andrew Goudelock leave a lot of latitude for improvising from Šilutė, which requires a lot of intensity from the students during all matches, and this philosophy can be justified in matches against stronger competitors.
“Rytas” cannot be compared to “Žalgiris” in terms of both budget and player level, but it is attack-oriented play with high intensity on both sides of the court that is the direction where weaker teams can expect success. at least in individual battles.
Preparation and advantage of playing at home
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Vilnius residents had much more time to prepare for Sunday’s duel. Rytas played the last match 8 days ago, when “Žalgiris” devoted all his concentration to the Euroleague and started thinking about future rivals only on Friday.
Although the people of Žalgiris are used to Euroleague double weeks and are physically well prepared at the beginning of the season, this is a definite advantage for Vilnius residents, who use a deep rotation at the start of the championship, although they do not play as full.
Siemens’ return to the arena and the game in the presence of their fans will give the Morning wings, and the return of “grandstand B” to the derby will add additional confidence.
Kairys also had much more information with the entire coaching staff in preparation for the derby: the Kaunas players have already played five games in the Euroleague with opponents of the highest level, and Rytas did not have such serious tests this season at all.
Of course, the fact that “Rytas” has not yet started the season on the international front may resonate against him: Vilnius may be unexpected by the level of contact that “Žalgiris” constantly offers to opponents, and also, before the beginning of the duel, players can start thinking about the FIBA Champions League, which starts on Tuesday.
Motivation of Andrew Goudelock
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It should be the first game of this season when we see the true face of Goudelock.
The former Euroleague star came to Lithuania motivated to rehabilitate after a serious injury and return to the highest level, and matches with teams of the same level as “Žalgiris” will be the litmus test for the strongest teams on the Old Continent.
At the start of the season, the 31-year-old sniper immediately demonstrated the level of this player, but the rivals so far have not been the ones who objectively value his chances of returning to the Euroleague.
A solid average of 15.2 points at 58.6 percent. Goudelock, who has met from afar so far, will now face the Euroleague club, which will emphasize defense against him and it will be interesting to see how motivated the Rytas leader can cause problems for Žalgiris.
In addition, the Lithuanian champions will undoubtedly emphasize the game through Goudelock, because at the beginning of the season the defender does not shine in his basket, it is not clear whether he can or does not want to.
Žalgiris
First line
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If “Rytas” on the basketball perimeter can be equal to “Žalgiris”, then the latter’s front row on Sunday, even without Martin Geben, looks much more solid.
First of all, Vilnius residents really miss the traumatized Martynas Echodas, who started the season perfectly, and club newcomer Maurice Ndouras, who has yet to arrive in Lithuania, will not provide mobility on defense.
Although Schiller does not promote the game on the mustache at the beginning of the season and the tall players of “Žalgiris” get the most points picenrole, on Sunday your advantage will be too great not to be emphasized.
Of course, all eyes will turn to Joffrey Lauvergne, who plays with a lot of confidence at the beginning of the season and it is unlikely that his direct opponents, Rokas Gusčius and Tautvydas Lydeka, will be able to cope personally without help.
Kaunas will also have an advantage in fourth position: Augustine Rubit is looking better and better and both Christian Kitsing and Chris McCoullough cannot stop him individually. At the time, Nigel Hayes is faster than the Estonian, and McCoullough simply lacks the focus to confidently defend himself on the perimeter.
Trust
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After the lost King Mindaugas Cup (KMT) final in the 2018-2019 season, Žalgiris won the last nine matches.
Last year’s results among the Lithuanian grandchildren were so biased that even before the match, looking at Žalgiris’ faces, it seemed that they did not even imagine how they could lose to “Rytas” and come to the duel just to win.
The wings grown in recent years in “Žalgiris” have really instilled the mentality of the winners, which is automatically a psychological advantage that helps in the important moments of the match.
“Žalgiris” relies not only on the duel against “Rytas”, but also at the beginning of the season: Schiller’s students started the Euroleague season with 4 wins in five matches, registering the best attack index and hitting from distance in the tournament (119.5 points per 100 attacks and 41.1% from distance).
Motivation
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If after the Euroleague battles “Žalgiris” did not always find motivation and strength to prepare for matches even with “Rytas”, this time it definitely will not be.
The fact that this match is important for all Žalgiris players is demonstrated by the first words of Rokas Jokubaitis after the defeat of the Valencian club. The defender was positive about the failure, believing that it would be a good motivation before the derby.
It could also have been thought that in the event of a win against Valencia, Kaunas residents would have stalled with five Euroleague victories, but this did not happen and a better opponent could not recover.
The Lithuanian champions are also motivated by the move in Vilnius, where both Rytas coaches and players loudly emphasize their intentions to bury Žalgiris.
The first match of the season is a great opportunity to suppress the emerging high faith in the capital, motivation will be added to the game for fans of militant opponents, so we can expect a similar attitude from Kaunas residents towards the Euroleague.
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