Barça are looking for more joys at home of Jasikevicius
MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barça will try to maintain their current growth in their game with a second consecutive away win in the 2022-2023 Euroleague Regular Phase in their duel this Thursday (7:00 p.m.) against a Lithuanian Zalgiris Kaunas who has been competitive so far .
Little by little, the Catalan team is finding the coupling to its new reinforcements and a better version after a somewhat hesitant start to the campaign with the defeat in the Endesa Super Cup against Real Madrid and in the premieres of the Endesa League (Gran Canaria) and of the maximum continental competition (Olympiacos).
However, the Blaugrana team will be presented at the Zalgirio Arena in a positive dynamic of four consecutive victories, including the first two in the Euroleague, in the Clásico (75-73) and this past Tuesday against the German Bayern Munich (73- 84), which show his improvement both in defense and attack, where, despite everything, he still misses Nikola Mirotic.
Barça will seek to get 3-1 at their coach’s house, a Jasikevicius who is a total idol in Kaunas, but who will move away from any sentimentality on a court that usually pushes a lot in favor of his team and where he has already fallen in his last visit after a great last quarter of his former team settled by 35-21.
Zalgiris will receive the Barcelona team, where there is also another ex like Rokas Jokubaitis, with a negative balance after losing their first two games, both away and against two of the candidates to be up, the Israeli Maccabi (84-83) and Olympiacos (90-80), although in good spirits after beating Sergio Scariolo’s Virtus 68-65.
Kazys Maksvytis’s side hope to repeat the defensive performance they offered against the Eurocup champions, to whom they only allowed 27 points after the break. In his ranks, there is also a former Barcelona player like the Latvian Roland Smits, who is being one of the best and who will try to shine against Jasikevicius.
Beside the center, the Lithuanian team has other important pieces such as the American point guard Keenan Evans, who averages more than 13 points per game, and his traditional national product with Ulanovas or Lekavicius, reinforced this year with ex-NBA Ignas Bradzeikis, his best scorer. Until now.
ZALGIRIS KAUNAS: Evans, Ulanovas, Bradzeikis, Smits y Hayes –possible quintet initial– Lekavicius, Kalnietis, Dimsa, Lukosiunas, Cavanaugh, Butkevicius y Birutis.
BARÇA: Satoransky, Laprovittola, Kalinic, Tobey and Sanli –possible starting five–, Vesely, Da Silva, Abrines, Jokubaitis, Higgins, Paulí and Nnaji.
–REFEREES: Jovcic, Mogulkoc and Rossi.
–PAVILLION: Zalgirio Arena.
