Zalgiris Kaunas lost their first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 76-88.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
24
|
| Elie Okobo | |
| Points | 23 |
| Accuracy | 9-9 |
| Rebounds | 2 |
| Assists | 1 |
In the post-game interview at the Astroballe arena, the visitors’ head coach, Martin Schiller, recognized the opponents' advantage and his team's defensive problems.
"Congratulations to ASVEL, they won a game. They deserved to win a game," said Zalgiris bench boss after the game. "We had problems coping with their aggression, especially in the first half. We got to the three-throw line twice in the first half.
We picked that up drastically in the second which did not mean we played better basketball. Obviously, we had big problems in isolated situations keeping players in front. It was a deserved win for ASVEL, no doubts about it."
Asked about how to improve one-on-one defense, Schiller did not say much: "For us, the only way to do it right now is to be more compact defensively as a group. I think that is the main thing."
The Austrian coach admitted that Zalgiris is struggling not only on the defensive end but on the offensive side too. Schiller talked about the potential which needs to be found on both ends of the floor.
"It would be nice if we could say it's only one end of the floor. But that's not the case. So, we have to dig on both ends of the floor and improve on both parts of the game. I think that's the only way to do it.
Offensively it's about being very diligent in who you do you go to, who do you have, which looks to give to whom. Defensively, we have to do a better job collectively, as I said before," said Schiller.
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