Olympiacos season restarts
The abrupt departure of coach Jasikevicius in Barcelona, caused a forced restart in Zalgiris. It is known that he was not just a coach for this team but something much more. However, he left behind an almost closed roster, as many of the transfers had already been made. The new coach comes from the Utah Jazz program, as the coach of the second team in the G-League. This program is famous for how close it is to the European way of thinking. So coach Schiller has a very difficult task, as it is not so easy to replace the coach who was much more than just a bench manager for Zalgiris.
The users
- This year, Walkup will be decisive, more than last year. It is now his 3rd year in the team and in the Euroleague and he is expected to be decisive in what the Lithuanians want to present. Also next to him and logically also with a lot of time the ball in his hands will be Lekavicius, just as important and even more compare to his previous appearances with the team. Here we now have 2 players next to it with a question mark on whether they can upgrade their status ,
- Steve Vasturia, whose (acquisition by Jasikevicius before leaving for Barcelona) surprised us, as he was a player with a small European presence but with a remarkable career in college.
- of Rokas Jokubaitis who showed especially in the friendly with PAO that he can present some solutions for them. This year he will have increased responsibilities. Characteristic of him that he also has a strong left drive . He is a player who shows that he can satisfactorily read off the dribble , but there is no getting around the fact that it will definitely take time to see the quality translate into efficiency in the Euroleague.
- When Milaknis step on the floor , as last year, many plays run in order to take advantage of his ability to perform coming off the screen.
So, with the help of Grigonis, all those guys will “run” the team.
What we saw from the users – guards in the first games
Zalgiris played at home in a Euroleague level tournament with PAO, Armani and Alba. They have also played in championship 3 matches and was defeated in the last game by Lietkabelis. In relation to hose games I can mention the following notes:
- There is no user who can pass or execute off the dribble at a very high level. It is characteristic that in the friendlies , shots that came from dribble were proportionally half of what a team has in the Euroleague as average ( volume ). This means that the defense can more easily cover the spot up shooter positions most of the time and the big man will not need to be busy enough with the user. As a consequence of the former, a team that will push the ball and will not let them drive to the basket will easily have a big advantage over them as beyond the drive it will be a little difficult for them to find another way to attack.
- While they have players who like attacking the basket, they do not have the characteristic of drawing fouls and going to the charity line. This was evident from the free throw shots they won in all the games they have played so far.
- In defense we can say with few exceptions most of them can not easily stop someone in defense. I think the loss of Ulanovas will be quite decisive for them, as it has not been replaced by an equal size or aggressiveness.
Front line
There were big changes with the loss of Landale, LeDay and Ulanovas who helped a lot like PF as well. Of course in theory Lauvergne is an upgrade compared to Landale… remains to be seen on the floor as he comes from injury and bad last season. There is also Rubit in the place of Zach LeDay who usually plays as a center for them , however sometimes I saw him as a PF. From there, there seems to be a question among the tall ones about how much and how they can space the floor. Last year Hayes played with Leday and they had both Ulanovas and Jankunas, but he also played a lot at 5. Now instead of LeDay who was an offensive threat and away from the basket, they have as I said Rubit who more I would say it plays with characteristics of a center. For a few minutes they also use Geben as a center, a player who shot 2 years ago enough three-pointers; last year he did not have much participation. They have to play a few games to see how the front line will gel together.
Style of play
Their playbook has some of last year’s plays as well as some new ones. Their coach seems to like the European way of playing in attack as I said. We’ve seen plays to take advantage of Lauvergne’s ability to pick and cut in the game (and in the post) and try to create handoff situations. Let’s look at 5 characteristic clips from the situations they are going to create:
1) From a handoff attack
2) A play mainly for Milaknis again trying with handoff to create an attack
3) A fairly common move that starts with the 2 short screen in order to create confusion in the defending guards.
4) POST UP attack on Lauvergne
5) They sometimes tried to put in the post with Walkup and Grigonis some of the weakest defenders.
Conclusion
Zalgiris without being a team that should not be neglected , is not in the group of strong teams. It has players who have played in the Euroleague for many years, but with known capabilities more or less.
The number 1 thing they will try to do is to attack the basket (from PnR, handoff etc, post game) in any way and if there is no lay up, to create a kick pass. In defense I would say that they do not touch the level of energy that came out in previous years there … but it is still preparation.
If one could choose a first match and even at home it would be one of the teams one would like. After all, Olympiacos is at the beginning of a new era and would not like to put a high degree of difficulty against the team from the start. What is certain, however, is that it is, as we used to say in the old school electronic games , a good “Level 1” game , to test what the future holds for them.
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