The Lithuanian champs wore special retro jerseys with some of the 1999 heroes in attendance
Zalgiris marked 25th anniversary of EuroLeague crown with off-the-mat win
Andrea Trinchieri was beaming with a bit more pride than usual after his Zalgiris Kaunas team pulled off a major victory in its fight to stay in the post-season race. Moreover, they produced the win as the club was marking the 25th anniversary of its 1999 EuroLeague championship.
“I believe that all the players and coaches on that team would have enjoyed watching this Zalgiris team tonight,” Trinchieri said after his team’s 96-81 win over Virtus Segafredo Bologna. “This is something we also did for what they did. Zalgiris is what it is also because of that Zalgiris 1999 edition.”
For the Round 30 game, the Lithuanian champs donned a retro jersey from 1999 - recalling the April 22 final against Kinder Bologna with Tyus Edney guiding the team to a shocking 82-74 win in Munich, Germany.
“When I saw the uniforms I was kind of moved to see the retro jersey. I had a lot of flashbacks of Zalgiris and that pumped up the situation. I’m a bit romantic and when I see these things I really enjoy them,” Trinchieri noted afterwards.
The head coach of that 1999 title-winning team Jonas Kazlauskas was in the arena among others.
And what they saw was a Zalgiris team get off the mat and show it is still alive in the race for the Play-In Showdown.
Zalgiris came into the game with a three-game losing streak and knowing it was two games behind the last post-season spot with a number of teams in the way.
“We were coming from a difficult stint but this was the best answer we could give to our fans,” the coach said.
“We are very happy. A three-game losing streak is not fun. And to be able to pick up a huge win in a double week in front of these fans is amazing,” said Keenan Evans, who scored 14 points with 7 assists in the win.
Zalgiris knows its path to the Play-Ins Showdown will not be easy. It has four games left: three of them at home - Round 31 versus Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Round 32 against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Round 33 at AS Monaco and the final game versus Real Madrid.
And Zalgiris has a recent past with happy endings as the team beat FC Bayern Munich in Germany last April 80-83 in Round 34 to sneak into the Playoffs.
With the 1999 EuroLeague anniversary as an inspiration, Zalgiris still could pull it off.