Zdovc after first EuroLeague victory: ‘I don’t make a big deal about this win’ / News - Basketnews.com

After ten tries, Zalgiris Kaunas (1-9) finally got the first victory in the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, but Jure Zdovc remained reserved after the game against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

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“I’d like to thank the players for this win,” Zdovc said. “We finally won and kept the opponent below 70 points. I don’t make a big deal about this win, we must keep going and believe. We rotate a lot of players, and it was easy for me because every one of them gave something.”

Asked if this victory took the pressure from his shoulders, Zdovc repeated himself, saying that it was just another game and the next one is waiting in only three days.

“I’m empty because when you lose, you lose. Usually, after the game, you feel empty. At the end of the day, we did what we were supposed to do. We won, and thanks to the fans for believing in us. But in three days, we have a new game and a new story,” Zalgiris’ head coach noted.

The Slovenian specialist was also satisfied with Tyler Cavanaugh’s performance at the center position.

“I like the center who can shoot and stretch the floor. In the first half, he didn’t punish their defense, but in the second half, it worked,” Zdovc commented.

Zdovc also admitted that he didn’t have much time for practices, but last week, he finally had the opportunity to organize ordinary training sessions, and it paid off.

“It helped a lot. In practice, you can put your rules, ideas and it becomes easier to control the game. What I want, especially in defense, is that immediately someone would know who’s responsible.

We still have a lot of work to do. We aren’t pressing, we aren’t aggressive enough, and we basically play only a system of defense. So, we still need time,” Zdovc noted.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Edgaras Ulanovas Points 11 Accuracy 4-6 Rebounds 6 Assists 3

Meanwhile, Dimitris Priftis didn’t have a lot to say but admitted that his team still lacks something.

“It was a tough game,” Priftis noted. “Zalgiris had control of the game, but we were close. We approached the game at a certain moment. There was a couple of possessions which were bad for us, and they retook the lead.”

“We were missing something extra to win the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, and congratulations to Zalgiris. The schedule is really tough, so there is no time and room for overthinking,” the head coach added.

For Panathinaikos, it was the fourth loss in a row. Asked about the reasons behind this slump, Priftis couldn’t name one thing.

“It’s not only one or two things. There are some things we have to do and execute better. Unfortunately, we go close (in the games), but we miss one extra thing. One shot, one better execution, which could help us to win these kind of games,” Priftis concluded.

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