{"id":260891,"date":"2022-02-07T20:07:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=260891"},"modified":"2022-02-07T20:07:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T19:07:51","slug":"olimpia-is-going-to-kaunas-coach-messina-passing-and-transition-defense-will-be-the-keys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/olimpia-is-going-to-kaunas-coach-messina-passing-and-transition-defense-will-be-the-keys\/","title":{"rendered":"Olimpia is going to Kaunas, coach Messina: Passing and transition defense will be the keys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olimpia is riding a four-game winning streak on the road, Monaco, Barcelona, Moscow, and Belgrade,<\/strong>\u00a0but is coming off a home loss against Fenerbahce. Playing without Shavon Shields for the last six game and with no Dinos Mitoglou over the last 12 outings, Olimpia is struggling to be effective offensively as it is defensively, where it is first overall for points allowed (70.1 per game). The Kaunas make-up game is crucial to erase the last home loss and restart the path toward a playoffs berth, while the pressure behind is mounting. Zalgiris is historically dangerous especially at home and was a tough out during the recent Milano\u2019s game between the same teams. In addition, Mantas Kalnietis, Josh Nebo, Paulius Jankunas and Joffrey Lauvergne, after a very long absence, have all recovered. All four played in their league game last Sunday, so it will be an objectively very different and deeper team the one that Olimpia will meet this time around. From its side, Olimpia won\u2019t have available Gigi Datome, too, while Trey Kell is not eligible to play since he was yet to be registered when the game was originally scheduled.<\/p>\n

COACH ETTORE MESSINA<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cZalgiris has recovered basically all of its players with the only exception fo Janis Strelnieks, so they are in a very better situation since the last time we faced them, ten days ago. It is a team based on defensive aggressiveness and the high tempo set by its point guards. For us it will be crucial to pay attetion to the quality of our passing and the defensive transition\u201d.<\/p>\n

MALCOLM DELANEY<\/u><\/em><\/strong> \u2013 \u201cWe are going on the road to play on one of the best home court environments that there is in basketball. We have to be better than we were during the last EuroLeague game and be disciplined, if we want to get another road win.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE REFEREES \u2013 Miguel Angel Perez (Spain), Mehdi Difallah (France), Seffi Shemmesh (Israel).<\/p>\n

ZALGIRIS KAUNAS<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Zalgiris is used to rotate four guards, Lukas Lekavicius (9.0 points and 3.9 assists per game, he was the best in the recent Milano game) who had played for Panathinaikos before returning to Kaunas, Mantas Kalnietis (5.9 points and 4.4 assists per game), Tai Webster (5.4 points per game), a New Zealander who spent the last two years at Galatasaray, and the Latvian Janis Strelnieks (8.2 points, 40.0 percent from three) who ha splaying sporadically lately because of some injuries. The forwards are Edgaras Ulanovas (6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds on average), Niels Giffey, a veteran coming from Alba Berlin (37.5 percent from three), and Arturas Milaknis, one of the greatest outside shooters in history (6.3 points, 42.5 percent from three, this season). Power forward Tyler Cavanaugh (8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game) is capable of being dangerous as a shooter, while Josh Nebo (8.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 68.5 percent from two) is an energetic player, who plays strictly inside and was absent in the Milano game. Marek Blazevic (7.1 points per game) made himself ready to go during the absence of Joffrey Lauvergne, the guy the team was built around. Lauvergne has returned lately and at this he is averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Paulius Jankunas is a veteran who is also the first ever in the EuroLeague for games played and rebounds grabbed.<\/p>\n