Zalgiris and head coach Krapikas part ways 1

Following its second Top 16 defeat in as many games, Zalgiris Kaunas on Saturday announced the departure of head coach Gintaras Krapikas. The club also said that assistant coach Sarunas Jasikevicius would serve as interim head coach for the team’s domestic league game this weekend.

Zalgiris has a 5-7 overall record this season but is the only 0-2 team in Top 16 Group F after losing 96-63 on the road to Brose Baskets Bamberg on Friday.

This was the second stint for Krapikas with Zalgiris. In the first, between 2008 and 2010. Since rejoining the club late in the 2013-14 season, he and Zalgiris have compiled a 16-21 mark together, reaching the Top 16 last year and this. Under Krapikas, Zalgiris won the Lithuanian League title twice and the Lithuanian Cup last season.

Jasikevicius, a legend as a player who is from Kaunas and played his last season for Zalgiris, has been an assistant coach with the team since the start of last season. This will be his first head coaching experience.