By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne in an exciting display secured the victory, 88-76, over Zalgiris Kaunas on Friday. The team led by T.J. Parker never trailed in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague opener.
Despite being slated questionable due to a foot injury, Elie Okobo put up 23 points in his EuroLeague debut. He made 9/9 from the floor, including 3/3 triples. The former Phoenix Suns player picked 31st overall in the 2018 NBA draft, did most of the damage in the first half with 15 points at the break.
“It feels good. We wanted to get the first win at home in the EuroLeague,” he said after the game at Villeurbanne, Lyon, “We knew we are playing a good team; obviously, we came out ready to play. We needed to adjust to some little stuff on defense, but we can see offensively that we get what we need when we bring energy on the defensive end. We have good chemistry. All the guys know their roles. We are playing the right way. We are unselfish, we have a good group of guys, and the coaching staff is doing a great job.”
Another former NBA player making his first EuroLeague appearance but on the opposite end, Emmanuel Mudiay struggled for large stretches being responsible for five of his side’s 12 turnovers. He finished with 12 points in the Regular Season Round 1 contest.
“Coming out in second half, in the third quarter we played pretty well. And they called a timeout. They hit 3 threes and that was that,” said the former player of the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz, “That kind of was a defining moment of the game. I had some turnovers as well, that I could have controlled a little more, but that’s part of the game. We let them have a lot of threes, that hurt us. We have to figure it out, tried to get to learn each other more and more. It’s a lot of new players and a lot of camaraderie-ship that we have to get down.”
Newcomer Chris Jones added 14 points and a game-high six assists for ASVEL. Youssoupha Fall off a fast start with six quick points tallied 12 points overall and also grabbed nine rebounds. Charles Kahudi had 11 points at Astroballe.
“The difference was getting stops, tightening down on our defense to get out running in transition,” said Jones, former Maccabi Tel Aviv point guard, “We know it was going to be a tough game, the first EuroLeague game. But us getting stops and running in transition helped us a lot. I feel good. Credit to my teammates. Getting good screens, I got shooters around me. We are building our bond and our chemistry, so it will get better throughout the season.”
Kostas Antetokounmpo recorded six points while logging multiple debuts, including his first appearance in a European club competition fixture. Wonderkid Victor Wembanyama was limited to 3:23 with one block and a couple of turnovers.
Head coach Parker missed important players in David Lighty and Raymar Morgan. Recent arrival James Gist was also out.
“We made stops when we needed them. At certain points, stop after stop. We shared the ball really well in the second half with extra passes. We made shots down the stretch,” noted the ASVEL tactician, “It was a good team win. Elie Okobo and Chris Jones are the top two choices to run the backcourt this year in ASVEL. I have full confidence in them. Elie was excited, he did not play in a long time, and he had a great game. But it is a long season.”
Following the first official game of the 2021-22 season, ASVEL is scheduled to start its Betclic Elite LNB Pro A campaign and then travel to Germany to meet ALBA Berlin in Round 2 of the EuroLeague Regular Season next Friday.
On the losing end, Latvian Janis Strelnieks poured a game-high 21 points powered by 4/6 three-pointers in France. Captain Paulius Jankunas was sidelined with a calf injury.
“A tough one,” confessed Strelnieks, “We have to learn a lot. We did not compete enough defensively. It starts with me. I let (Okobo) score too many points, enter the paint too easily. I played most of the minutes; it has to start with me, and everybody else after. The season just started, we still have a lot of time, but we have to get better as soon as possible. Our one-on-one defense did not work. We let them enter the paint, and then help was either too late or there was no help. So we have to stay together and build the chemistry in there. When you play good defense, the offense will come. Everything starts from the defense. It gives you more confidence and freedom that you can run. Everything starts from the defense.”
The visitors trailed by 13 points in the first half but came within shooting distance from the lead in the third quarter before the French champions got back in double-digit distance and peaked at a 20-point lead. The seven remaining minutes were not enough for a comeback.
“It was a big challenge to cope with the aggression. We could not bring the aggression. They brought the aggression on both ends of the basketball,” explained head coach, Martin Schiller, “I thought that when we closed the game to 50-50 after halftime, it was a pretty good reaction. ASVEL took a timeout and made three threes in a row. I thought two of them were pretty tough shots, one off the backboard. But that run right there hurt a lot. Afterward, came another run. Wish we could have kept that run, could have stopped the bleeding a little earlier, to stick in the game. But no doubts ASVEL deserved to win the basketball game.”
Schiller’s side after a 3-0 start in Lithuania’s LKL, fell to 0-1 in EuroLeague. The team will visit Pieno Zvaigzdes in domestic action on Sunday and from there look to get to 1-1 via the home game against Zenit Saint-Petersburg next Thursday.
Photo Credit: Zalgiris