By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Paulius Jankunas and Janis Strelnieks will not play for Zalgiris Kaunas at Olympiacos on Friday evening, the Lithuanian powerhouse announced on game day.
Jankunas, 37, returned to action last week but will be sidelined again due to a calf injury. The captain of Zalgiris recovering managed to put up 1.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, and 0.5 steals per match over 32 minutes in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 2 and 3.
Strelnieks, 32, will also miss Round 4 due to a calf injury. He had 13.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per contest before being ruled out of the game against his former team.
Another player out, French center Joffrey Lauvergne. He will be sidelined four to six weeks, as recently announced. Barring a last-minute setback, the rest of the players will be available. Youngsters Marek Blazevic and Karolis Lukosiunas can be in line for an upgraded role against healthy Olympiacos at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
“Olympiacos this year is very strong,” noted head coach Jure Zdovc, “They added some new players and completed a very good roster. They have two or three quality players in each position. Olympiacos plays smart and organized. They try to read the game and they try to punish you in your weakest spots. Again it will be a good test for us and we will see the character of our players.”
Zalgiris is down to 0-3 to begin the 2021-22 EuroLeague Regular Season after losses to Crvena Zvezda mts, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne. The poor start was met with experienced Slovenian tactician Zdovc taking over head coaching responsibilities after Austrian Martin Schiller was dismissed.
At the domestic level, the dominant LKL champions are up to 5-0.