On Sunday, Zalgiris Kaunas suffered their first loss of the season to Rytas Vilnius, with coach Andrea Trinchieri criticizing big man Alen Smailagic, saying, "He's slow on everything."
Zalgiris Kaunas suffered their first defeat of the new season on Sunday, falling to their main domestic rivals, Rytas Vilnius, 88-91, in a Lithuanian League (LKL) road game.
Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule
Zalgiris Kaunas
FC Barcelona
Olympiacos PiraeusAfter the loss, Zalgiris head coach Andrea Trinchieri didn't hold back in his criticism of big man Alen Smailagic, who has struggled to find his form early in the season.
"He's playing bad," Trinchieri said of Smailagic after the loss. "He's slow on everything. He needs to find his game, and he needs to catch up with the team, not that we wait for him."
The 24-year-old Serbian, who joined Zalgiris from Partizan Belgrade this past summer, scored five points in 11 and a half minutes during Sunday's derby.
In his EuroLeague debut last Thursday against FC Barcelona, he played only 4:25 minutes and went scoreless.
So far in the Lithuanian League, Smailagic is averaging 5.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and a 7.5 efficiency rating over four games, with an average of 14:20 minutes per game.
According to Jonas Leksas of Krepsinis.net, Smailagic is currently the highest-paid player on the Zalgiris roster.
Andrea Trinchieri's comments:
