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Matches without history? We cannot say that.
The bad start of “Žalgiris” in the attack from a distance and the low aggressiveness gave interest to this match probably longer than the Kaunas coaching staff wanted. Meanwhile, Rimas Kurtinaitis, saving the strength of his students and trying to knock out opponents of the rhythm, was forced to apply almost the second part of the match to the defense of the field.
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Bad start of “Žalgiris”
It is not easy to come out with maximum concentration and mood of the match, when you know that the whole group of main players will not play in the ranks of the opponents and will have to rotate only 6-7 players. As soon as the subconscious mind takes over the idea that the match will be won one way or another, expect the downside.
Perhaps that is exactly what happened to the residents of Kaunas. At the start of the match, they clearly lacked proper energy and aggression on defense. Meanwhile, Chimki’s players, full of strength, easily turned the ball around the three-point line at the start of the match, playing the classic transition combination, they knew perfectly how to attack Kaunas short. get out fast passes, and Jonas Jerebko punished for not being aggressive enough closing three point shots.
Photo from Getty Images / Euroleague.net/Martin Geben and Sergei Monia
On the other side of the site, there were basically no big problems for the people of Žalgiris. The light casts were created quite easily, there was a lack of precision in their execution. Nigel Hayes was often on the spine of an attack, but his long free throws didn’t even hit the arc twice. It appears the American is once again facing the confidence issues in his pitching that also hit him in the first half of last season.
Overall, Kaunas players scored only 1 in 8 points in the first half. 41:32.
In the first half of the game, efforts to fight for balls bounced in attack also looked positive. Kaunas residents removed up to 6 of them, but due to the aforementioned accuracy issues, only one of them was exploited. It’s also worth mentioning that Chimki doesn’t face the problem of dribbling defensive balls for the first time this season.
Photo by Scanpix / ITAR-TASS / Rimas Kurtinaitis
Defense of the Chimki Zone
Another important moment of the match was the defense of Chimki Square. Rimas Kurtinaitis was forced to use it to save the strength of his players and try to get Kaunas out of the rhythm of the attack, in which they developed light throws during every game.
By his own calculations, Chimki used zone defense, with 2 defenders up and 3 down, for 20 positional attacks on Žalgiris. Kaunas scored 19 points through them, less than 1 point per attack, which is not a good result.
A significant difference arises when these statistics are broken down into different quarters. In the third quarter, Kaunas scored 11 points in 8 attacks, which is equal to 1375 points per attack, while in the fourth quarter only 8 points were scored in 11 attacks, only 0.72 points per attack.
This fundamental difference can be explained in several ways. Chimki adapted a bit to the combination used by the people of Žalgiris against the defense of the squad. Furthermore, Kaunas started the third part of the game with concentration and a lot of energy, but in the last quarter concentration was replaced by relaxation. Martin Geben failed to complete a beautiful Schiller combination early in the fourth quarter alley-oopui, and the free throws flew back across the field.
Photo from Getty Images / Euroleague.net/Rokas Jokubaitis and Vladislav Odinokov
Žalgiris’s points famine lasted nearly 5 minutes in the deciding quarter, allowing Chimki to return a minimal amount of intrigue to these, at first glance, predetermined matches. Finally, M. Grigonis and A. Milaknis, who were given two more chances to attack after Chimki’s mistakes on court defense, did not make a mistake and beat Kaunas’ second victory this season.
Summary
It is doubtful that anyone remembers these matches for their quality. As long as Chimki’s team suffers injuries and a virus, Kaunas’s game just isn’t brilliant.
Yet for the second week in a row, they are doing their best job: winning the away game. The next double week should better reveal the current level and potential of Žalgiris’s game.
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