Žibėnas – about inspiring sections of “Rytas”, Goudelock’s injury and only two fines / News

Vilnius Rytas, who hosted Panevėžys ‘Lietkabelis’ for the second time in a row, played on exactly the same stage. Lagging behind after the first part of the match, the students of Giedrius Žib estudiantesnas beat the opponents in the third part, winning 18: 6, and achieved a double victory.

The capital team not only achieved a series of ten victories, but also surpassed one of their direct rivals in the fight for second place in the regular season. Rytas, who is in this position, has now separated from Panevėžys in two victories, and has also played one less.

Lietkabelis was very well prepared for the match and the same scenario was repeated for us for the second time in a row. Giedrius Žibėnas, the Rytas helmsman, started the press conference. – We connect the fifth way when we are in the role of laggards. But during the long break we didn’t panic, we argued in the locker room that we are not throwing our good shots and we are too soft on defense. Lietkabelis played the first part as he wanted and as he was ready.

In the second part of the game we entered with a very good mentality, we handled it on defense, they scored only 6 points (during the third part). We forced them to throw very awkward pitches, which resulted in a very tough fight for the ball and we won it 42-27. The players did a good job, they just wanted the victory not to be too deep, because this is the next game. “

– Why is the team in a situation where it lags behind after the first half and then has to fight in the second half?
– Good question, but above all, we did not panic. We saw what they throw away and what we throw away. Basketball takes place in 40 minutes. But if that becomes a trend, then this topic would be very much related to the topic. I would not say now that this is a trend. We just have to go to the game differently and give a message to all the teams about who we are and what level we can be at. We can only imagine how we would be against all teams if we played the way we could after a long break for the second game in a row.

– Lietkabelis scored just 2 pitches in the third half. How did the accents change on defense after a long break?
– We wanted to maintain a high pace because we knew they had problems with the rotation. We also learned in the morning that Andrew Goudelock would not be playing, but that did not change our plan. In the second half of the match, we simply closed access to them, exchanged and represented more often. We have assumed individual responsibilities in defense with much more responsibility.

– Ivan Buva faced a huge body in this match – George Gagic. How did your eyes go?
– I told the team that it was a team victory, I don’t want to single out too many players, but we know that Ivan can play much better against Gagičiai. He will do it in the next match in Panevėžys. Ivan was really mad at himself today.

– Your team took only two free throws. Isn’t it over?
– We have to emphasize that, I have circled. We only took two free throws, although we played a lot in the middle, through Ivan Buva, through Martynas Echodas. It is very strange why we only took two penalties. But not my competition to comment.

– And Andrew Goudelock, who hurt his finger?
– 90% who (on Saturday) will play in Klaipeda. Very mild trauma.