By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas and Real Madrid will both honor Jonas Maciulis during halftime in Thursday’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 27 clash between the two teams, the Lithuanian giant announced Wednesday.
Maciulis, 37, retired from professional basketball in September. His career starting from Zalgiris extended to multiple countries in Europe, including the successful stint with the Spanish powerhouse stretching from 2014 to 2018. Capturing the lone EuroLeague championship of his career in 2015 highlighted his run as a Madrid player.
Besides Zalgiris and Real, he played for Nevezis, Olimpia Milano, Siena, Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Kuban, and AEK landing multiple domestic titles to go along with the 2015 and 2019 Intercontinental Cup championships. At the international level with Lithuania, he won a bronze medal in the 2010 FIBA World Cup, a couple of silver medals in the 2013 and 2015 editions of EuroBasket, and bronze at the 2007 EuroBasket.
Coming off five consecutive EuroLeague losses at home and lifting the Citadele KMT trophy during the weekend, Zalgiris will welcome Pablo Laso’s side at Zalgiris Arena standing at 4-19. The distance of 7.5 games with 11 fixtures left on the schedule has all but eliminated the team coached by Jure Zdovc from the Playoffs. In full contrast, the Madrid outfit tied with archrival FC Barcelona at 20-5 and on top of the standings is looking to put itself in the best possible position nearing to clinch a postseason berth.
Moving on to next week, Zalgiris is set to visit Panathinaikos OPAP and ALBA Berlin, in a suspended Round 18 affair Tuesday and Round 28 as originally scheduled Thursday, respectively. The Whites will travel to Russia and face CSKA Moscow next Friday.