By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas suffered an ugly 76 – 43 loss to Fenerbahce Beko in Game 1 of the EuroLeague playoffs. A defeat that was combined with the lowest-scoring game for the team this century.
After such a performance, Zalgiris coach Sarunas Jasikevicius expects nothing less than a strong reaction in Game 2, Thursday.
“We have 48 hours to change our face and to find something between our legs,” Jasikevicius told Lithuanian media, per 15min.lt.
Saras took his own share of blame for his team’s horrid performance and blowout defeat. “We have to take responsibility. Especially me.”
Zalgiris is famed for putting on a tough, physical attitude on the court. But Fenerbahce, the top defensive team in EuroLeague this season, outplayed them also in that area of the game.
“We didn’t let the players realize that today, everything will be determined by physical contact, a thing in which our opponents beat us. We didn’t find out where we can punish them,” Saras commented.
This is how Fener forced Zalgiris to merely 48 points.
“I wish we could score more,” Jasikevicius had commented in the post-game presser when asked on Zalgiris’ lowest-scoring game this century in EuroLeague.
Jasikevicius acknowledged that his team’s opponents were simply superior. Congrats to Fener. They were the better prepared, much better organized, and physical team today. We couldn’t do anything that we wanted to do. We have 48 hours to prepare ourselves for the next game,” Saras said.
There’s a history of teams bouncing back from blowout losses in the playoffs and ultimately even winning the series. A notable example is Montepaschi Siena that recovered from an 89 – 41 defeat to Olympiacos in Game 1 of the 2011 quarterfinals to win three straight matches and get to the Final Four.
“The past doesn’t matter. It’s 2019 now. Fenerbahce and Zalgiris are the ones playing here,” Jasikevicius commented.