In the third match of the quarter-final series, which took place on Wednesday, the Žalgiris players defeated the Istanbul Fenerbahce club coached by Šarūnas Jasikevičius 81:78 and softened the result of the series to three wins to 1:2.
“A great victory for our organization, fans and players,” smiled T. Masiulis, the 50-year-old coach of “Žalgiris”. True, this victory was dug out with claws.
In the second half, the Kaunas lost the section by 4:22 and fell behind their opponents by a crushing margin of 16:35. However, “Žalgiris” started to raise its head slowly, but it started to be raised by impressive episodes of Sylvain Francisco.
On the island of Nemunas, a bomb of emotions was literally detonated, when the 28-year-old Frenchman, after intercepting the ball, powerfully resisted with two legs and ruthlessly pushed the ball from above.
“It showed his enthusiasm. A really impressive shot, I saw it up close. Really impressive, fun. But we don’t play for one episode, we play for victory,” the coach of Zalgiris assessed the episode of the student.
The second part of the match was a completely different story. Combativeness, passion and desire, which were missed last week in Istanbul, reminded themselves in abundance this time – T. Masiulis’s army was approaching the rivals with small steps, and Sharo’s fury increased with every ticking minute.
In the fourth quarter, “Žalgiris” managed to finally dissolve the deficit, and then an impressive performance in defense awaited – the stars of “Fenerbahce” were completely locked up and could no longer organize successful attacks, and the Kaunas took advantage of this to break away to the front.
“I didn’t make huge changes, the players just believed in what we were doing. In the beginning, we missed good shots, of course, we made mistakes in defense, but most of all I wanted to convey that we stayed together, fought as a team. In such a match, the team shines, not the players,” reasoned T. Masiulis.
Ažuolas Tubelis, who created a career show, led the hosts to victory.
The man from Vilnius, met with ambiguous thoughts by the fans of “Žalgiris” before the season, became the real hero of the match – in 33 minutes he scored 26 points (6/10 doubles, 3/4 triples, 5/6 penalties), rebounded 6 balls, made 2 assists, blocked 2 shots and collected 31 utility points.
“We know what kind of player he is. Oak is not afraid to take responsibility. That’s why he’s having a great season. I’m very happy. We need players like that.
We’re not talking about his defense either. Oak worked well with Talen Horton-Tucker and other players,” the strategist bowed his head to his pupil.
When the final siren of the match sounded, T. Masiulis sighed a little more calmly together with more than 15 thousand. “Zalgiris” fans who watched the match live.
The specialist, raising his fists up, kissed the camera and smiled. He understands very well – the victory is sweet, but the work is far from over.
At the press conference, T. Masiulis also congratulated the former “Žalgiris” physical training coach Aleksandras Kosauskas, who celebrated his 85th birthday on Tuesday.
“He contributed a lot to my career. I want to congratulate him on a beautiful anniversary – his longest year,” the Kaunian sent his congratulations.
The fourth match of the series will be played again in Kaunas on Friday.
Full press conference:
