By Antonis Strongylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The outcome might not have stunned many people, but the way it came and the final difference probably came as a shock to even the most dedicated fan of the Lithuanian team, since Zalgiris Kaunas dominated Olympiacos, 75 – 55.
In his first Euroleague game in Kaunas, as the head coach of Zalgiris, Sarunas Jasikevicius surprised us with a quite interesting starting squad, compiled by many young players and 19 year old Martynas Sajus as the starting center. The ones who did most damage for the Lithuanians where its guards, since both Lukas Lekavicius and Renaldas Seibutis won fouls in their attempts for a 3point shot in the first two minutes of the game. Although the defensive switches by Olympiacos, often helped Lekavicius find himself guarded by 30 plus cm taller Nikola Milutinov, the guests managed to make the necessary stops and tie the game 10 – 10 in the mid of the first quarter. Sfairopoulos’ players improved their levels of aggressiveness on both ends of court with Hunter’s and Strawberry’s entrance, but Zalgiris managed to stay at a close distance, trailing 17 – 18 against Olympiacos after the first quarter.
Daniel Hackett became quite the offensive pole for his team in the first minutes of the second quarter, scoring for himself an delivering timely passes to his teammates, making it 19 – 24. Zalgiris Kaunas responded with strong high low connection between Brock Motum and Ian Vougioukas who started warming up to keep his team close. But what truly made a difference for the hosts was the constantly increasing good defense on their opponents that reduced the Reds’ options on offense. Coach Sfairopoulos’ players failed to find some solid good low post game, or generally safe choices, being stuck into a loop of attempting mid or long range shooting that didn’t bear fruits. Mostly because these shots were not a product of Oly’s systems, but were forced by the Lithuanians’ disruption of their opponents’ plans. Zalgiris’ initial 7 – 0 run, brought them ahead 26 – 24 and when the hosts became equally potent on their attacks, they expanded their lead for the 33 – 27 of halftime.
A 7 – 2 partial score in the beginning of the second half gave Zalgiris Kaunas its biggest lead in the game, 40 – 29 ! The Reds kept shooting horribly from the 3point line, having 2/14 from the perimeter , while they still could not find an other way to the basket. And although the hosts’ offensive rhythm had been tuned down a bit, Olympiacos’ continued being unwilling, or unable, for some quick thinking on offense, being at a loss in its scoring attempts. Zalgiris preserved a lead around 10 points with its big guys, Motum and Vougioukas doing lots of good job. Olympiacos finally found target from downtown with consecutive 3s, reducing the deficit a bit, and Darius Johnson – Odom scored 5 points in a row, heating up the engines of his team a bit.
But Zalgiris was still in a relative control, finishing the third quarter in front of the score, 53 – 45. Taking advantage of Oly’s new round of making all sorts of mistakes on offense, which caused the guests to be without a single point scored for 5 minutes, the team from Kaunas didn’t only make it once again a double digit lead game in its favor, but expanded theidifference even more than before, for the 60 – 45! With 3 minutes to go, it definitely looked like things have taken a road to one and only outcome, that nothing could change. The only thing that remained, was the “seal” on the upcoming victory, which was put with a 3point dagger by Renaldas Seibutis that gave a difference of 20 (!) 67 – 49 to Zalgiris Kaunas. It was nothing less than a pure triumph for the Lithuanians and for Sarunas Jasikevicius in particular.