Olimpia won the last road game, performing at a very high level, the one needed to prevail in Monte Carlo. But it will take the same type of game to win in Kaunas: Zalgiris is 8-7 on its own court but has won six of the seven games played in Zalgirio Arena (which will once again be sold out, with over 15,000 people in attendance) in 2024. In these seven games they have a point differential of +11.7 and four times have exceeded the 90 points scored. Last week they beat Bologna 96-81 and then Baskonia 94-76. The overall record in this case is a lie: Zalgiris is in great shape and at the very least intends to end its season on the rise.
Olimpia has moved up in the standings thanks to the two wins earned last week, against two of the best teams in the game: Monaco has lost only to Olimpia over the last ten games played; Fenerbahce were on a four-game winning streak before succumbing in Forum. Zalgiris’ main trait is its three-point shooting: with 40.0 percent it is first overall, because of its huge number of specialists across all positions, Keenan Evans, Roland Smits, Brady Manek, the battery of local players from Giedraitis to Dimsa, to Butkevicius and Lekavicius.
Olimpia has seen good signs recently from Alex Poythress to be able to reinforce the paint; Shabazz Napier did not play the last Italian league but will be available as well as Maodo Lo. Nikola Mirotic has averaged 19.7 points over the last five games played, going over 20 three times with 18-for-33 on threes over this span. Devon Hall has averaged 13.4 points per game over the last five, becoming a sort of third offensive threat (15-for-28 from three) after Mirotic and Shavon Shields. But everyone’s help will be needed to play up to what’s demanding in Kaunas.
THE REFEREES – Fernando Rocha (Portugal), Piotr Pastusiak (Poland), Seffi Shemmesh (Israel).
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We face a team playing usually with great enthusiasm on its home court, led by its crowd. Zalgiris is also a very athletic team, well organized at both ends of the floot. We’ll need to play a physical game, a game with a good transition defense and careful decisions at the offensive end of the floor.”
ZALGIRIS KAUNAS OUTLOOK – The star of the team coached by Andrea Trinchieri (former youth coach and first team assistant at Olimpia) is point guard Keenan Evans, the fourth overall scorer with 17.3 points on average, 45.3 percent from three on 5.5 attempts per game, 3.9 assists, 1.3 steals. Evans started 31 times out of 31 and with 27.2 minutes he is the second most used player after winger Edgaras Ulanovas, who has always done well against Olimpia (8.0 points and 4.2 rebounds on average for the season) and normally plays 27.4 minutes. The strating shooting guard normally is Dovydas Giedraitis (4.6 points per game), a 44.0 percent three-point shooter. The power forward is the Latvian Rolands Smits, who missed the last few games due to injury, who is a top-level shooter (11.1 points per game on 63.6 percent two-point shooting, 38.7 percent on threes). The tandem of centers is made up of Kevarrius Hayes (5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game) and Laurynas Birutis (7.8 points, 65.6 percent from two and 3.8 rebounds per game). Coming off the bench are the point guard Lukas Lekavicius (39.6 percent from three), the former NBA combo-guard Edmond Sumner (6.4 points on average, 44.7 percentfrom three), the wingers Tomas Dimsa (6.8 points, 39.4 percent from three) and Arnas Butkevicius (4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game). Among the big men, Brady Manek stands out. He is a product of North Carolina, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game and is also dangerous when shooting from three (40.7 percent).
HISTORY VS. ZALGIRIS – The two teams have met 24 times with a record of 13-11 in favor of Zalgiris. The first game dates back to the 1985/86 season, when Arvydas Sabonis’ Zalgiris won 80-79 against Olimpia in Kaunas, but Milan made up for it at home by winning 95-66. The following season, when Olimpia would win the first of two consecutive European Cups, they beat Zalgiris twice out of two, 75-71 at home, 100-85 in Kaunas (the latter game played without Sabonis who was injured). Zalgiris instead won the 1998 Saporta Cup final (82-67) in Belgrade. Olimpia won four straight games between the two teams, before losing three times in a row in the last two seasons. In all, Olimpia has won four times in Kaunas, the last in the 2021/22 season.
NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – Nicolò Melli entered the podium of the all-time defensive rebounders of in the EuroLeague, surpassing Georgios Printezis and also Felipe Reyes. Melli now boasts 1,117 defensive rebounds, 47 less than Ioannis Bourousis, who was his teammate for two years at Olimpia. Melli is also eighth in total rebounds with 1,485 (seventh in the list is Ante Tomic, who has 1,545).
SHAVON SHIELDS NOTES – Shields has scored 1,313 points for Olimpia in the EuroLeague, first in the current competition and now first ever including the previous, Fiba era. In the last 19 games played, 15 times Shields has made at least two three-pointers and 12 times at least three. Shields also has 167 three-point field goals for Olimpia and is ready to become the all-time leader because the record-holder Sergio Rodriguez has 169 and Vlado Micov is second with 168. Shields has also become the third Olimpia player with at least 300 two-point field goals in the EuroLeague after Kyle Hines and Nicolò Melli. Shields is also eighth in steals with 1.3 per game and has had at least one steal in 16 of the last 17 games including the last nine. Finally, he is the seventh-best scorer (16.2 per game) and eighth in average personal rating (17.9).
KYLE HINES NOTES – With the 88 blocks, a milestone reached against Fenerbahce, Kyle Hines has joined Kaleb Tarczewski at the club’s first place in this category.
NIKOLA MIROTIC NOTES – With 17.1 points per game, Nikola Mirotic is fifth in the scoring list, this season. Among the top 50 scorers, only two players are shooting over 60.0 percent from two, 40.0 percent from three and 80.0 percent from the free throw line: Nikola Mirotic (62.9; 43.9; 84.8) and Real Madrid’s Dzanan Musa (60.4; 41.9; 82.4). Shavon Shields is very close to it (59.5; 40.6; 81.9).
