“Žalgiris” tall people shrug off open defense: someone lacks responsibility

Martin Schiller’s students had to admit Zenit St Petersburg’s home advantage at 75:83 on Thursday. The Kaunas team again had no antidotes for 52 percent. accuracy (12/23) for rival three-year-old snipers, and the guests who scored closer to the basket discovered a number of gaps in the hosts’ defense.

“I don’t know why the lack of communication in defense is repeated. If we knew, we would solve this problem. ”Paulius Jankūnas shrugged. He and another tall man from Žalgiris, Joffrey Lauvergne, admitted that the inability to fulfill the defensive plan envisaged for the match is the team’s biggest pain.

Looking for a possible explanation of the problem, P. Jankūnas hinted at the responsibility of the players.

“We have players from last season, there are also newcomers … Everyone in the Euroleague is a professional and highly qualified player, but there must also be team communication. Maybe someone lacks focus and responsibility. If you are weaker, you’ll be overwhelmed, but defending the team is the job of the five – everyone helps each other.

Better defense is especially necessary now that we have already lost so many games … One attack can win the other’s game, but the defense has won much more. The more you lose, the stronger the defense must be. But for some reason we don’t do it, “lamented the captain who scored 6 points and 5 rebounds on Thursday.

At the same time, angered by the perforated defense of “Žalgiris”, Fr. Jankūnas himself made statements to the coaches. The athlete understood perfectly that the team had to play differently.

“It just came to our notice then. The attack lacked progress and situations where we would be more aggressive and cause more fouls, and the most important thing was the aggression on the defense – after a poor quality, second, third episode we had to activate the defense. The score deteriorated with each attack. When this is the result, all you need to do is activate your defense, not try to chase your opponents with an attack, “said the veteran.

“Maybe the lack of responsibility is to blame for the problems on defense, maybe someone is afraid of being punished, maybe someone is afraid that the defending player will get main points if they come to the rescue. This is where we have to work like clockwork and defend more aggressively, but we do nothing. I don’t think anyone understands anything. It’s just not done, ”added P. Jankūnas.

At the time, J. Lauvergne said that “Žalgiris” suffered the most in situations where players were unable to avoid opponents’ barriers. The Frenchman praised the coaches’ coaching staff for a well-prepared match plan, but questioned the current level of the Kaunas team.

“We played well for three or two minutes, but to win a game we have to play well for 40 minutes because we are not at a level where we could win otherwise. We had a lot of trouble avoiding barriers. We were well prepared, we analyzed all possible situations, but we still had many problems.

To win we have to do our best and play our best basketball. Errors in defense constantly hurt us and we are not at a level where we can afford that kind of damage. We have to wait for us to improve, “said J. Lauvergne, who had 17 points and 8 balls.

One of the leaders of “Žalgiris”, who defended himself by the difficulties, did not want to blame the lack of an easy advantage in the forward’s rotation, which was caused by the prolonged treatment of the injury of Patricis Garinas. According to the center, the biggest problem is the concentration of basketball players.

“It just came to our notice then. It would be nice to have a higher rotation, but we have already shown that we can beat Anadolu Efes. We can also lose to Lietkabel. Most importantly, we can never lose focus for even a minute, because during that minute opponents build up a 10-point lead, and then it’s too hard to catch them. “

It is difficult for “Žalgiris” and without fans. Kaunas residents have yet to win a single Euroleague match while playing in an empty stadium. Although basketball players can now better listen to the instructions of the coaches, the Frenchman assured that the help of the fans is no less important.

“It just came to our attention then. The constantly filling arena is a great advantage for Žalgiris and a great help. Hopefully we will find a way to win without fans as it will take some time to play.

Sure, listening to the coach is very important, but the fans would definitely be a huge asset. At the moment, we constantly play in neutral scenarios, we just travel to different places and the atmosphere is the same everywhere. We look forward to better times “

The next game in the Euroleague will be played by Žalgiris on December 4, when they will host Šarūnas Jasikevičius and his “Barcelona” at home.