By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
In what was a thrilling overtime contest, Zalgiris Kaunas upset Olympiacos Piraeus in Greece to steal Game 1 on the road.
After this historic playoff win, since 1999 in the playoffs, coach Sarunas Jasikevicius talked about the game, and what this win means for the rest of the series: “It was an incredible win but just a game and nothing else. Every game mattered the most in the regular season, and now we have to win the series. The team will get better throughout the series. We must be ready for Olympiacos in 48 hours because they’ll be more focused and try to steal Game 2.”
Before traveling to Athens, coach Jasikevicius was asked about refereeing in Kaunas, and he said that referees must always play 50-50. On Wednesday, after Olympiacos’ loss, there were some complaints from Olympiacos’ side about the referees. Zalgiris’ coach said the following: “I’m gonna translate exactly what I said because you guys (media) created a mess and I know what you are writing because I have friends here in Athens. When I was in Kaunas, they asked me about refereeing, and I said: ‘The referees will play 50-50.’ Just like there are the eight best teams, there also are the best referees. I don’t understand what was wrong in what I said. The only thing I’m asking is 50-50. If you ask Coach Sfairopoulos, I believe he is also asking 50-50. You (media) have the power to put out whatever the headline is. What I said was clear: ‘I hope that the referees play 50-50.’ It’s no different with Olympiacos, or Panathinaikos.”
Zalgiris Kaunas is undefeated against Olympiacos in the three times they have played this season, but coach Saras does not think there is a reason for that: “First of all, we understand the situation with Olympiacos. They are missing some players. Players like Printezis played limited minutes; we know he’ll be better in Game 2. There is no reason why we are beating Olympiacos. Zalgiris does not have a reason. One game at a time, one possession at a time we decide. We cannot look two weeks into the future. Our profession is tomorrow’s practice, in 48 hours we are right here trying to compete. It’s the biggest truth of our profession, only the next day exists.”
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