Day 10 Euroleague

Crvena Zvezda - Zalgiris Kaunas

* Crvena Zvezda's players tend to shoot from three points range rather than to penetrate to the paint. Jasikevicius took advantage on that in the beginning of the game, and ordered his players to put the defensive pressure on the 3pt line. It means, for example, automatic switch after a pick'n'roll, so no Serbian player was free for a three point shot - even at the cost of a mismatch which can lead to a penetration. When Red Star's players started to take the ball to the rim, good things happened to them. Sometimes is also lead to a three, after Zalgiris' defence sagged and the Serbian guard passed the ball outside.

* Randonjic had Simonovic coming up from the bench in order to break Kauna's defence. He managed to do that, with some nice shots. Walters also provides the Red Star an option of taking the ball to the rim when necessary. After Simonovic was fouled out (I guess that in Kombank Arena the refs would not have dared to give him the technical foul), Crvena Zevzda's players looked a bit lost; there was no one to build up a momentum and bring Zvezda back to life in the last minutes, as Simonovic did in the second quarter.

* Zalgiris are making a screen the their 3pt shooters, in a move which resembels Madrid's Lasso move for JC Carrol and Rudy Fernandez. The center (Kavaliauskas makes it really good. see the next paragraph) makes a screen for a shooter (usually Milaknis), which comes from the inside to the 45 degrees angle to the basket, gets the ball from the gaurd (who is located on the top of the key) and shoots a free shot. In the first half, Milaknis shot those threes like a machine gun. Jenkins was able to stop him in the second with impressive defensive performance, but Zalgiris also had Westermann and Motom to play to move with.

* Kavaliauskas is my MVP of the game. The 22 yeras old Lithuanian is a great prospect: He screens great for the shooters (see the paragraph above), finishes very well in the paint (tonight 7/8 from the 2pt zone), move nicely with the ball and takes offensive rebounds (he had 3 of those). As a bonus, he shoots fantastic from the free throw line (6/7). His downside seems to be the defensive side. 20 minutes with just one defensive rebound is not enough for a center.

* Milko Bjelica is the superstar of Crvena Zvezda, at least in his own eyes. His is doing whatever he wants in offence - usually it means playing one against two (or three, or four), or attempting to dribble (not his best quality as a player). By the way, it is not a very bad idea - the Red Star needs a go to guy, and Bjelica is the most suitable for the job.

* Despite he is just 1.98, Ulanovas had a great game in the paint. He was able to dominate his Serbian opponents - most of them are just so tall as he - using his strong body wisely in order to draw fould and go to the line. He was Zalgiris' ex-factor tonight.

* Zalgiris won 37-24 in rebounds. It is not that they dominated the paint much more than Zvezda. They simply missed lessed shots. Even tough the Serbs had more steals than Zalgiris (8-5) and less turnovers (8-14), they lost the game on shot precentages. The Lithuanians shot 51% from the 2-pt (20/39) and 52% from the three (9/17). You can't lose with such numbers.

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