Strelnieks unsatisfied despite impressive season start: 'I better don't score, and we win games'' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: T.Matijoška Credit T.Matijoška

Janis Strelnieks' appearance against Zenit St. Petersburg was a game-time decision. But his effort helped Zalgiris Kaunas to run into a close game vs. EuroLeague playoffs team. However, Strelnieks 14-point performance wasn't enough to win64-70.

Player of the Game EFF 19 Jordan Loyd Points 19 Accuracy 7-11 Rebounds 0 Assists 1

"We lost two games, so I guess I better don't score, and we win games," Strelnieks smiled ironically in the post-game conference.

He couldn't finish the Round 1 game in Villeurbanne due to injury, but he was his team's top scorer again. In his first two EuroLeague games, Strelnieks averaged 17.5 points on 80% two-point and 63.6% three-point shooting.

In two consecutive EuroLeague games, he played respectively 24 and 26 minutes. That's the most since December 2019.

"It's an adjustment I have to make because the last couple of years, I didn't play that many minutes. But I will be good," Strelnieks said.

However, he didn't want to focus on his performance: "There's still a lot of work to do. We're 0-2, we didn't win a single game this season, and we have to prepare for Sunday's LKL game and then a double-game week in the EuroLeague. It will be tough, but we have to start winning something."

All Zalgiris players were emphasizing bad defense against ASVEL last week. This time the main focus was on the other end.

"The good thing we stepped up defensively. The bad thing, we had too many bad turnovers," Strelnieks explained. "I had a couple of them in the first half. It gave them a lot of easy points. We have to start over again to be better."

Highlights

Xavi Pascual's post-game comments

Martin Schiller's post-game comments

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