Jasikevicius evaluates Maccabi before trip to Tel Aviv 0

Zalgiris starts off another double EuroLeague week with a trip to Tel Aviv, where they will face off against Maccabi.

The squad was joined by Antanas Kavaliauskas, who’s returning from a calf injury, while the team captain Paulius Jankunas stayed in Kaunas and will miss the game. Sarunas Jasikevicius gave his injury report prior to the trip.

“Antanas is practicing and he will be traveling with us. We’ll see how much of use he can be. Paulius remains in Kaunas for now. Nate is already practicing. There’s still a lack of rhythm, and all the previously injured players will need some time to get back in form. We had just one serious practice here and we’ll have another one in Tel Aviv.”

Speaking of the opponents’ style of basketball, Jasikevicius highlighted Macabbi’s defensive capabilities and the importance of a home crowd.

“Maccabi is playing a defensive style of basketball, they’re a team that’s very tall, has an impressively long reach, similar to Barcelona. On the other hand, they’re very mobile. They can switch on defense for the whole 40 minutes. Playing on their home court is always tough.”

Macabbi will also have Jeremy Pargo available, who had missed the two sides’ first face-off. Jasikevicius admired the grit and defensive ability of the point guard, who has been punching above his weight in that department.

“He’s a bit different of a player to Scottie Wilbeken, more physical, drives more. He has great defensive ability, even when you switch up on him, he doesn’t back down to the big guys, despite his height. We need to play our own brand of basketball, since we’ve got room to attack. It’s important not to allow them to get rolling early on and we’ve got to play for the entirety of the 40 minutes.”

Asked about the play of Tarik Black, who’s averaged 15 points in the last six games, Zalgiris’ coach mentioned the importance of guard involvement for the center’s game.

“He’s playing really well, and that goes down to them utilizing their guards, their aggressiveness and creativity. He’s a center that doesn’t play with his back to the basket too often, but he meshes well with the guards and we’ll have to pay attention to that.”