By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Early in the offseason, Zalgiris confirmed the departure of Tai Webster, Janis Strelnieks, and Niels Giffey on Friday.
Per the press release: “Zalgiris Kaunas has said its goodbyes to three foreign players after the closure of the 2021-2022 basketball season.
Three of Zalgiris‘ foreign imports – Janis Strelnieks, Niels Giffey and Tai Webster, will not be wearing the green-and-white jerseys of Kaunas Zalgiris in the upcoming season.
32-year-old Strelnieks averaged 6.5 points and 1.8 assists in the Euroleague with Zalgiris. The Latvian had slightly better numbers in the Lithuanian Basketball League, putting up 7 points and 2.8 assists per game.
Giffey had similar numbers both in the EuroLeague and the Betsafe-LKL. The German national team member averaged 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in the top European club tournament and 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds on the domestic front.
The latest to join the team is Webster, who arrived in Kaunas from New Zealand in November. He averaged 4 points per game in the EuroLeague and 7.8 points and 2.2 assists per game in the Lithuanian Basketball League.
Zalgiris Kaunas would like to thank the trio for their work and wish them the best of luck in their future careers.”
Packing an 8-20 record, the team based in Kaunas finished in 15th place in the 2021-22 edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. At the domestic level and after entering the Betsafe LKL Playoffs as the second seed, it was knocked out by Lietkabelis in the Semifinals and earlier in the season won the King Mindaugas Cup.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net