Jure Zdovc on Mudiay: 'He is a great guy, but I still cannot trust him' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: zalgiris.lt Credit zalgiris.lt

Zalgiris Kaunas lost to Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and suffered the third defeat in a row (61-73). Jure Zdovc made his debut as a head coach of Zalgiris and he had mixed feelings after the match.

Player of the Game EFF 19 Nikola Kalinic Points 15 Accuracy 6-11 Rebounds 5 Assists 3

"We did not play badly, we did not play great. We were in the game for 38 minutes which is not easy. In the last part, we missed a bit of quality, toughness, and confidence. We do not have a lot of time, we have another game immediately. The team gave me a picture, there were good things," Zdovc said after the game.

What was the biggest problem defensively today?

Zvezda played really physically and they pushed us out of the systems, of the rhythm.

On the offensive end, I missed extra passes. We could not find the easy baskets. We still hit some shots but in the end, we were a little bit afraid. We did not grab some rebounds to keep in the game.

What did you like about your team?

The defense was pretty good. We did not give them a lot of open shots. Zvezda needed to fight for every basket. Some players were on the level I want to see but also we missed some players.

We missed Lauvergne, we got some minor injuries. Jankunas did not play in the second half, Strelnieks also have problems. We did not know if Giffey could play. It is not an excuse but in these kinds of battles, every player counts.

Niels Giffey played in power forward position today. Did you like his play?

He can play in different positions. We tried him at 4 to stretch the floor, to make some three-point shots. I like him a lot. He is a player that every coach would like to have.

How would you rate Josh Nebo's performance?

You asked me what was good. He was good on defense. He got tired because he played a lot. Maybe he played too much.

Free throws this season

71%10,0Points made:10,0Accuracy:71,4%Place in standings:15Record max:18Record min:6Most made FTs:Janis StrelnieksTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

In the end, the game is 40 minutes. I tried to play with Cavanaugh at 5 to stretch the floor but it did not work out.

How much did you change in these couple of days? How team executed it?

I changed the defense. We were good, I liked it. Offensively I was lost because I did not know the systems. Even if you know before the game, during the match you must decide quickly.

I put some new things during the timeout but they did not execute that correctly. It did not work out because Zvezda pushed out us immediately from the lines or from the screens.

Mudiay played just a few minutes in the second half. What is he lacking?

Everybody, including me, want more from him. He is a great guy, a very good player but I cannot still trust him.

In this position, we have four players. Maybe I needed to try Giffey on position 2 as they had strong guys. We definitely suffered there because of playing with two point guards.

Talking about Friday, what do you need to change?

We do not have time. Moreover, we need to see who can play, who is 100% ready. I have an idea to put some things offensively but it is not so easy.

Some shots were shot too quickly. When we penetrated, we did not kick out the passes. We missed toughness and athleticism, except Josh Nebo. But I did not come here to cry and make problems.

Are there players who are questionable for Friday's game?

Yes, but we will see.

How serious is Jankunas' injury?

I do not know, I do not know any information about Jankunas. I hope it is nothing serious.

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