2024-05-14 10:44:10
The Wolves held a one-point lead, 80-79, with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game, but the home team went on an 11-5 run to eventually win the game 91-84.
“Congratulations to the players. A very important victory, a typical playoff match with a lot of waves, some nervousness, – said N. Pacevičius. – I’m glad that in the fourth quarter, when everything didn’t go the way we wanted, we found strength in ourselves. A few important shots and we pulled the match out.
But as I told the team – the match is beautiful, very ugly… nobody cares. At this stage, the most important thing is to achieve victory, but on the other hand, we understand that today we neither won nor lost anything. Everything is moving to Klaipėda, where we expect an even better “Neptune”. At the same time, we have to be better too.”
However, the road for Wolves is easy, as the students of Ned Pacevičius absorbed 2:17 in the second half and were in the role of the chasers (37:39).
According to the “Wolves” helmsman, the fact that the teams know each other well also contributed to the excitement of the match.
“We know them, they know us… it’s just that we’re playing the same team in a very short period of time. We lost our game, we lost adherence to our plan and that’s exactly why “Neptūnas” returned (to the match – ed.), N. Pacevičius taught. – They didn’t give us anything tactically, practically all the points were from quick attack. The good tone of the opponents was set by our bad attack, bad decisions, which allowed them to get back into the game.
Everything happened in the same way in the fourth quarter. I’m glad that we seem to have gone through so much this year that difficult moments don’t bother me anymore. In the playoffs, not being afraid to take responsibility, not being afraid to make a mistake is very important.”
The team’s nominal offensive players Vaidas Kariniauskas (0/2 doubles, 2/2 triples) and Kristupas Žemaitis (0/2 doubles, 2/6 triples) each scored 6 points, but together they made only 3 assists and made 4 mistakes. .
Not only that, Artūras Žagaras, who sometimes also creates the game, distributed 2 assists and made 2 fouls on Monday night.
However, N. Pacevičius is still not sure which of the team’s offensive players can best organize the team’s game and bring peace.
“This is a topic we discuss practically every day in our coaching staff. I think I have those players, but I won’t say them out loud,” the Wolves specialist answered briefly.
Wolves forward Garrison Brooks had a great game in this game, scoring 14 points (6/7 doubles, 2/2 penalty), 6 rebounds and 19 RRP in 12.5 minutes on the court.
True, in the first half of the match, the basketball player landed painfully on the floor after trying to load the basket, got injured and did not appear on the field after a long break.
“I don’t know (the seriousness of the injury – ed.), we’ll see tomorrow. He was sorely missed. The way he started the match was impressive. As coaches, we really want that from him. Nice to see him bring that into the playoffs. We keep tabs so that nothing serious is too much for him,” N. Pacevičius taught.
In addition, Vilnius “Rytas” also won the first match of the series this evening in Vilnius, who managed 110:77 against Jonava’s “CBet” team (1:0).
– Ažuolas Tubelis scored 15 points in this match (6/12 doubles, 0/3 triples, 3/7 penalty), rebounded 10 balls and finished the match with 14 utility points. It looks like a good game for him, but he made 6 of 15 shots and life wasn’t easy for him. How do you rate the students’ defense against him? How much emphasis is he in this series?, – journalists asked N. Pacevičius.
– I think that he was emphasized by all teams. We are no exception. The point is that he will collect those points in any case. But the question is how he will collect those points. Will there be a selection of difficult shots, or will you give all your strengths. I wouldn’t say we did everything we wanted to do against him, but I think at the end of the day, some of our players did a great job with him.
Of course, we have 48 hours to make some more corrections so that his choice of shots and his own game would be even more difficult in Klaipėda.
– Today, Artūras Žagaras looked good at certain moments, but there were also moments where he was uncharacteristically wrong. How much more does he need to reach 100 percent? The Arthur we saw before the injury?
– Missing. That’s because he played his fourth game back from injury. Those ripples are normal. Somehow Neptune’s defense is not the most comfortable, somewhere we, as coaches, have to try (find) even better ways to exploit it.
I could single out not so much Arturas, but other players as well… I will do that in training tomorrow morning. Arthur is no exception.
– Your veterans Jeffery Taylor and Rasheed Sulaimon combined for 7-of-27 shooting today. How much more of a boost can they be?
– This league is definitely not a league for fools. As my colleague mentioned, we made it difficult for A. Tubelis to throw, they made it difficult for J. Taylor and R. Sulaimon to throw. This is completely normal. Today I met with a coach who worked in the EuroLeague and saw a lot, having seen the playoffs… here it is a normal thing in the playoffs that the responsibility is greater, your opponent defends differently and takes risks, does everything to make the shots of the main players difficult.
We tried to talk about Neptune, they tried to talk about us. Rasheed with Jeff – the targets on the forehead are there. Sometimes even the very first.
– But their experience gives a lot not only to them, but also to the team?
– The fact that you build a team throughout the season, you highlight the leaders. Maybe those players were signed to the team with the idea that they would bring those positives in the playoffs. The fact that we will look to make their throws and decisions easier.
– What will be most important in the second match in Klaipėda?
– The most important thing will be to forget about today’s match, that we have some kind of advantage… we will have to go to it like a decisive match. We will need to make some adjustments tomorrow, Wednesday afternoon and try to play to our strengths.
2024-05-14 10:44:10