By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Just before the crowning of Olympiacos as the new champion of Europe, Zalgiris Kaunas was conquering the Lithuanian league. Zalgiris beat on Sunday arch-rival Lietuvos Rytas 90-84 and won the LKL title by a 3-0 sweep.
“According to the press I was the worst coach, but it only made me stronger and we won nearly every trophy we could win”, said after the game Serbiam Aleksandar Trifunović, head coach of Zalgiris, after the team and Greek Ilias Zouros parted ways. Nevertheless, Zalgiris finished the season with three trophies (LKL, Baltic league, Lithuanian cup) in five competitions (they played also in the Euroleague and in the VTB League), something that satisfied the club’s eccentric owner Vladimir Romanov (photo).
On the other side Lietuvos Rytas played also in five competitions (Eurocup instead of Euroleague) and could not win anything, even though they got in their roster NBA draft pick Jonas Valanciunas, the best young center in Europe. The Serbian coach of Rytas, Aleksandar Dzikic, said after the game: “I am proud that I coached this team. We had many doubts about this team but we worked very hard and we were one of the best teams this season. We played at a very high level for five months”.