Zalgiris is the best in Europe again
Without Sabonis, but with the Americans
The Zalgiris era has arrived again in European basketball. On Thursday, the famous Lithuanian team, which in the 80s was one of the strongest on the continent, became the winner of the next Euroleague. In the final, the club from Kaunas beat last year's title winner, the Italian Kinder.

The essence of most comments following the results of the Euroleague Final Four, held in Munich, boils down to the fact that Zalgiris created a sensation. But, if you look at it, is the success of the Lithuanians really so sensational? Probably not. Take, for example, the composition of the Kaunas club. Yes, now there is no player equal in talent to Sabonis. However, on the other hand, there are three basketball players who went through the NBA school - Americans Anthony Bowie and Tyus Edney, as well as Czech Georg Zidek. Moreover, they did not just make their mark in the strongest basketball league in the world, like, say, most of the black athletes playing in the Russian championship. The same Bowie, for example, at one time was considered one of the best “sixth” (that is, regularly replacing) basketball players in the NBA, he was called a star there. Edney and Zidek also performed well overseas. The company they have in Zalgiris is also by no means gray mediocrity. Suffice it to say that center Eurelius Zukauskas is often compared to Sabonis in terms of talent, and it is quite possible that in the near future he will leave for America. The rest are players of the Lithuanian national team, and it has a very solid reputation in Europe.
Lithuanians also have plenty of experience playing at a high level. Last season they won the Cup Winners' Cup, where they defeated several very strong clubs. “Kinder”, despite the presence in its composition of such big names as Predrag Danilovic, Radoslav Nesterovic, Hugo Sconocini, Antoine Rigaudeau, the Zalgiris basketball players were not at all afraid. “It’s even more interesting for us to play against star teams,” Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas said on the eve of the semifinals. “In matches with them, my players act much more confidently. A typical example is our semifinal against Olympiacos.”
Well, Kazlauskas was right. In the decisive Euroleague match, his basketball players actually played extremely calmly. At times it seemed that for them this was not the main match of the season, but an ordinary meeting of the group tournament. In the final meeting, Zalgiris players made a minimal number of defects in passes and shots.
As in the semifinals, the NBA trio set the tone. Edney completely shocked the Munich crowd with his skillful actions as a point guard and amazing speed. It is no coincidence that he was recognized as the most valuable player of the final four. Bowie, as he once did in the Orlando Magic, attacked from any distance almost without fail. And Zidek, together with Zukauskas, won the fight against Nesterovich under both shields.
“Zalgiris” had a particularly great first half, by the end of which they achieved a lead that was actually lethal for “Kinder” by 15 points. After the break, the Italians, however, perked up and, mainly thanks to the efforts of sniper Rigaudeau, managed to start a fight. Perhaps they would have been able to turn the tide of the match, but the Frenchman never received proper support from Kinder leader Danilovic. The Yugoslav defender, apparently, was not able to fully recover for the final four after his injury and did not look like himself in Munich. It was precisely his lack of activity that Italian coach Ettore Messina complained about after the end of the meeting.
A minute before the final siren, Kinder was five points behind. In principle, the Italians, with some luck, could still win back, but Bowie finally put an end to their hopes of retaining the European club champion title with an accurate three-point shot.
While the Zalgiris players congratulated each other on the great victory, Kazlauskas very calmly, as if nothing extraordinary had happened, answered questions from journalists. “Yes, I’m definitely happy,” he said. “But not because we won the final four. But because we were finally able to demonstrate a dynamic, powerful and at the same time very careful game worthy of the strongest club in Europe.”

ALEXEY J-DOSPEKHOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 70 dated April 24, 1999, p. 10

Authors:

Alexey Dospehov