Željko Obradović spoke to journalists before the match with Žalgiris.
Source: MONDO/Nemanja Stanojčić
Partizan is looking for its 12th victory in the Euroleague. After 22 rounds, the score is 11-11 and in the next round they will welcome Žalgiris in the Belgrade “Arena”. It is clear how important the home field is and how important home victories are in the fight for a place in the playoffs. On the other side will be the former coach of the Black and Whites, Andrea Trinkieri.
Before the match, Željko Obradović expressed his expectations. “It is important to say before the match that they will have three players who did not play in the first match, it’s Lekavičius, Butkevičius and Manek who help the team a lot, especially in defense. He has outstanding percentages, plays really well. With the arrival of Trinkieri, one thing changed, they became more aggressivethey have almost three more balls won per game,” Obradović said.
He continued in the same breath to praise his rival. “They are the best team in terms of three-point shooting percentage, that’s what adorns them. It’s also important to point out that the most fouls are played against us and against them in the Euroleague. We’re roughly similar there. It’s obvious that they’re more aggressive, some players refused otherwise roles. Everything we knew before the first match is similar now.”
He talked about the health bulletin and the condition of the players. “Everyone is healthy, Tristan had a little problem with his knee, but he did the training. We always look forward when we are complete, we had two good training sessions, I hope that a good game will come from that,” concluded Obradović. As a reminder, Partizan celebrated in Kaunas in mid-December last year (93:85), then the Lithuanian team was led from the bench by Kazis Maksvitis.