By Nikos Varlas varlas@eurohoops.net
It’s going to be very difficult for the home team to manage to grab a spot in the top eight and the playoffs in the last 6 rounds, but especially in Kaunas, they fight for every game head-on. Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, who has a bright history as a Panathinaikos player, is sure to push his players to give 100% for one more night and not give anything away to their opponent.
Panathinaikos, on the other side, after the defeat in Turkey by Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul, want an away win that will keep them in a strong position for fifth place, so they won’t have to look at the group of teams below them that still don’t feel very confident about qualifying to the Playoffs.
Going head to head on the court will be the brain of the Greek team, Nick Calathes, and the Lithuanian guard, Renaldas Seibutis, who, the truth is, has gotten a limited number of playing minutes and role in Zalgiris’s rotation this year.
Calathes, born in 1989, has started all 24 of his team’s games so far and this year he tallies an average of 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 steals and a PIR of 13.2 in 28 minutes of playing time. He is a multidimensional guard who does many things on the court, he has gotten close to a triple-double several times and he is a barometer for the Greens.
His weakness is still execution from mid- and long-range. He shoots with just 43.8% in free throws and 26.7% in three-pointers, which makes all defenses play him under the screens and give him space to shoot and often block his game and creation.
He’s in his 5th season in the league, all of them as a player for Panathinaikos. On his record of achievements there is the 2011 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, as well as the 2013 EuroCup with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, in a season he emerged as the MVP. In Greece he has celebrated two championships (2010, 2011) and three cups (2012, 2015, 2016). At a national level, Calathes has won the bronze medal with Greece in the 2009 EuroBasket.
Seibutis, born in 1985, is having the lowest point average in his career this season (without counting 2007-08, when he played just 8 minutes in total in the EuroLeague). The experienced guard has 2.5 points, 1.2 rebounds, almost 1 assist and a PIR of 1.1 in 13 minutes of playing time per game.
He has started 9 of Zalgiris’s 24 games in the competition and this is his sixth season in the league. He spent the first two in Olympiacos Piraeus in Greece, two as a player for Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (in both these seasons he had a leading role and a double-digit number of points) and this is his second in Zalgiris.
At a national level, he has a “full” career with three medals in men’s teams! Bronze in the 2010 World Cup, and silver in the 2013 EuroBasket as well as that of 2015. Seibutis is a very coachable guard, dedicated to pressing on the ball and individual defense, and his strong points in offense are his very reliable mid-range shot and his effectiveness in transition situations.
The upcoming showdown between Zalgiris and Panathinaikos in Kaunas is a game that is worth watching and all indications suggest that we are going to have a very close and competitive game that will be decided at the very end!