Scariolo: "When there are so few games left, each match carries greater weight"

Sergio Scariolo spoke to the media and analyzed the EuroLeague match against Zalgiris Kaunas at the Zalgirio Arena (Friday, 7:00 pm CEST; Movistar Plus+): "It's a game where we want to see maturity. And, above all, the ability of all players to perform at this level on the court. Away from home, you need an extra effort, a higher capacity for concentration to withstand the pressure, especially in arenas like Belgrade, Athens, or Zalgiris, where the atmosphere is overwhelming. It's a game that has something extra in that sense. If everyone is focused and able to overcome the small frustrations during the game, it will allow us to avoid significant ups and downs over the 40 minutes and balance our performance a bit more."

Zalgiris
"We are entering the final stretch of the regular season, and we face one of the toughest away games. Zalgiris is a great team; they have beaten practically all the top teams at home. They have a decisive home-court advantage and play basketball very well. They have a lot of depth and efficiency, with many players capable of creating danger. They are the best in three-point shooting and the second-best in defensive rating. Due to their size and organization, they also have the ability to reach very high defensive moments, especially driven by their fans. We must be very clear that this is one of the toughest away games in the EuroLeague."

Would winning there give a boost for this stretch?
"When there are so few games left, each match carries greater weight. Obviously, we depend on ourselves to be at the top in the end, even if we lose."

The first-leg match
"It was really atypical because we scored 100 points while averaging only two or three three-pointers throughout the game. Partly because of their way of defending, which greatly limits your ability to generate three-point shots, and partly because we were very accurate in the paint. We didn't play our best defensive game, surely. We gave more space than necessary to Francisco and Tubelis, which are things to improve for this match."

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.