Zalgiris aims for a new start against an old foe 0

by Frankie Sachs, Euroleague.net

Former Euroleague champions Zalgiris Kaunas and FC Barcelona Lassa will meet on Friday for the 20th time. All but one of the first 19 meetings have come in the Euroleague. The lone non-Euroleague clash was the 1985 Cup Winners’ Cup final, which Barcelona won 77-73 in Grenoble, France. Chicho Sibilio led the winners with 29 points and Juan Antonio San Epifanio, better known as “Epi”, added 18 points. The Zalgiris squad that nigh featured two current Euroleague head coaches; Khimki Moscow Region head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis scored 36 for Zalgiris and current Zalgiris head coach Gintaras Krapikas played 21 minutes off the bench. Hall of Fame center and later Zalgiris and Lithuanian Basketball Federation president Arvydas Sabonas added 14 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in defeat. The victory marked the first continental trophy of any sort for Barcelona.

In the 30 years since then, Zalgiris has established itself as the Lithuanian basketball powerhouse. It won the Saporta Cup in 1998 and the Euroleague a year later. Barcelona won three more European trophies plus a pair of Euroleague crowns. Both are regulars among the upper echelon of European hoops. But when it comes to game between them, it has essentially been a one-way street. Barcelona has defeated Zalgiris in 13 consecutive meetings and has an 18-1 record all-time against the club. Zalgiris’s only victory came in Barcelona, 98-102, in November 2004, in Barcelona. Which means that Zalgiris is winless in nine home games against Barcelona! Of course many of those games have bene pretty close; six of them were decided by less than 10 points, including two games by a single point. Nonetheless, the rivalry has been all Barcelona’s.

Among the players responsible for Barca’s dominance over Zalgiris is Juan Carlos Navarro, the Euroleague’s career scoring leader. Navarro has had some of his best Euroleague performances on the road against Zalgiris, including a career-best performance index rating of 35 in a November 2006 victory in Kaunas. Navarro scored 31 points on 10 of 10 free throw shooting that night. He also netted a career-high 32 points in February 2006 in Kaunas to lead Barca to victory. Clearly, Navarro likes the hoops in Kaunas.

Does this season’s Zalgiris squad have what it takes to turn things around? One the one hand, many of its experienced players have experienced the hardships of losing to Barcelona over and over. Paulius Jankunas played 17:30 scoreless minutes in the November 2004 victory over Barcelona. He’s also taken part in 11 of the 13 losses since. Mantas Kalnietis is 0-8 in his career vs Barcelona. Robertas Javtokas is 1-6, but has lost all four games against Barcelona he’s played for Zalgiris. Marytnas Pocius is winless in four past contests against Barcelona. On the other hand, Zalgiris has some experienced coaches that know a thing or two about Barcelona. Assistant coach Sarunas Jasikevicius played four seasons with Barcelona. He was there between 2000 and 2003 and returned for the 2012-13 season. Saras helped Barca win the 2003 Euroleague crown, two Spanish League titles and three Spanish Kings’ Cups. Zalgiris model 2015-16 also has several players that know little of the history of this one-sided matchup and shouldn’t care about it when the game begins. Brock Motum and Olivier Hanlan are Euroleague rookies and center Ian Vougioukas is playing his first season in Lithuania.

Does Zalgiris have the mettle needed to finally take down Barcelona? So far, its three games have been decided by a total of 8 points, so Zalgiris clearly knows how to keep games close. And aside from Navarro, not a single active player has competed against Zalgiris more than twice in a Barcelona uniform. Friday could be the day some loyal Zalgiris supporters have long been waiting for.