By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The mood in the locker rooms of Zalgiris Kaunas was almost festive. Big smiles all over the place, a mood for certain jokes that had to do with your punishment if you step on the team’s logo that was on the carpet and lots of wide smiles. How could it be any different since the Lithuanian team had just achieved a huge victory for the Euroleague Top 16 against a really strong opponent. Winning Olympiacos, 75 – 55 was no small feat, and the Zalgiris‘ power forward center, Brock Motum definitely agreed with us.
The 25 year old player did not stay on court for more than 13 minutes but he did every single thing that was in his hands to give his personal “push” for the final triumph of Zalgiris. Being able to stretch his shooting even at long range, he troubled Olympiacos, finishing the game with 9 points and 4 fouls won, while also providing big helps on defense, being energetic and dedicated enough to cover lots of spaces and guard many different players of the Reds.
And considering who the opposing team was and the timing of this victory, it is not an exaggeration to say that he did all that in what was probably the biggest victory of Zalgiris Kaunas during the season. Does Brock Motum share our opinion? “Yes, i think it was. We were tough and we did everything according to what the coach told us”. So what was the masterplan of coach Sarunas Jasikevicius for this game? “Many different things called for our attention but perhaps the most important part was to put a stop to the action of Vassilis Spanoulis and Giorgos Printezis. Two truly great players who guide Olympiacos‘ offense. We thought of something that went like this: Take these heads off and then the… monster is gone. That would kill the beast, since it would not be so difficult to contain the rest of the players of Olympiacos. We absolutely targeted our defense on Spanoulis and Printezis and the result shows that we were right to work like that”.
The defensive behavior that the international Australian player speaks about, certainly impressed the Euroleague crowd, since it didn’t only bring a positive result, but a 20 point difference against a powerhouse like Olympiacos. “There’s one word that explains the margin by which we won: Aggressiveness.”, explains Brock Motum. “In the last couple of games, the other teams were upon us right from the start. We were taking one hit after the other from them, until we started to make our decisions.” And what changed against Olympiacos? “Why, it is quite simple. We threw the first punch instead of taking it”.
For the big guy of the Lithuanian team, this game serves as an example of how he and his teammates should proceed with now on. “The key is having the right mindset. An aggressive mindset. If we build from this, the results will come. Time is on our side. Time to practice and time to get even better”. But will this improvement change Zalgiris future in such a difficult Top 16 Group? “We believed that we have some good chanced even before the game of Olympiacos, since we also had won Barcelona in Spain. Now we definitely believe in ourselves even more. I don’t know exactly how the other teams fared tonight (yesterday), but I think that everyone is 2-2 in our Group. Obviously we are 1-3, but we have a chance. It’s not like there are teams that are… 6 – 0 and we try to hunt them from a 0-6. We are very close. If we can keep working, then… who knows? Maybe we can get there”.
Zalgiris’ “cherry popping” win in this season’s Top 16 and Sarunas Jasikevicius’s Euroleague debut in Kaunas, as a head coach, were accompanied with a sound victory. How does Brock Motum feel about the new man in charge? “What he does is different from what we did before. He has a new, fresh concept and he tries to transmit it to us. You know, I could say that his behavior as a coach is like the one he had as a player. He is quite fiery. Not in the games, so much, but with us. His character should reflects on us as people and players. We have to be fiery, and aggressive, as well. Then all the other pieces will fall into place”.
The improvement of the whole team is quite obvious for the ex “Cougar”: “We are working really hard in practice. All our training sessions have been great. So full of good job“. Yet, according to Brock Motum, the only thing that his team needed, was for this work to translate itself on court. With a big win. “We hadn’t got the results to accompany our great practices, until the match with Olympiacos. This another reason why this win makes us feel so good. And to make it with 20 points difference? That simply proves that we can do it. Now it’s up to us to continue like that. Because now we have showed what we are able for. We must improve and continue winning”.