This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 21 showdown between Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.
Post-game quotes: Zalgiris vs. Zvezda
Jure Zdovc, Zalgiris Kaunas head coach:
“In the third quarter, they went with a small alignment. We were prepared for this, but still, they punished us, the switching defense didn’t work. On offense, we were stuck a little bit and we had some tough moments. But you see this crowd’s energy and at the end of the day, Jankunas was amazing. I am really happy first of all that we won and especially for him that he had a huge influence on this win.”
Dejan Radonjic, Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade head coach:
“Congratulations to Zalgiris for the win. We played the first half very soft on defense and made many mistakes. The third quarter was totally the opposite of everything in the first half. We had a good opportunity to win the game. In the last seconds before overtime, we didn’t make a foul, they made a three-pointer and in overtime, they played better and controlled the situation. [Jankunas] played a really good game… He can play. With our problems with injuries, we tried to find solutions to play this game. In the end, he was really good under the basket and also he made some important shots.”
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Paulius Jankunas, Zalgiris Kaunas forward:
“I feel good. We won. We won at home. My last game in EuroLeague in the gym, in front of the fans was here. A lot of fans. I want to thank them I play for them. We play for the, I am very happy that there were a lot of fans today. I tried to stay calm because I felt the atmosphere was different. I got a lot of text messages and my friends were calling me, but I tried to stay calm and prepare for the game as always.”
Lukas Lekavicius, Zalgiris Kaunas guard:
“For sure the fans gave us a lot of energy. In the fourth quarter, I was dead, but with all these fans, they gave me so much energy so I was okay. We relaxed a little but maybe [in the third quarter] and they made some shots. But we never gave up and we fought until the end.”