Peristeri surrendered in Vilnius
One of the most surprising games took place yesterday in Rytas Arena. No one would have believed that the Greek team that last round dominated Lenovo Tenerife will be this time totally demolished by the Lithuanians.
Peristeri came to Vilnius without one of their most important Greek players, Leonidas Kazelakis, but even so, it was expected they will be able to offer a strong answer to their opponents. But it was not the case: Rytas imposed their rhythm and dominated the first half, having a huge margin 52-26.
Peristeri played without heart. They didn’t trust themselves to compete and have a chance to victory. The defense was poor, but the offense was even worse. The Greek squad looked like a second-league team that cannot find the way to the basket. They missed many easy shots and didn’t manage in a proper way the possibilities to come back. Simply, they capitulated in front of the Lithuanian motivation and aggressivity.
You simply could recognize that Peristeri was supposed to be a title contender in Basketball Champions League. The absence of Kaselakis revealed the main problem of the team: the very short rotation. While Rytas successfully used a lot of players, Spanoulis couldn’t count on many solid fellows. Of the Greek players, only Dimitris Moraitis was of true help with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Good players like Marcus Denmon and Devin Davis finished with only 1 unit at the index rate, while Miro Bilan had only 6 in this chapter. With so poor contributions from key players, you cannot win anywhere in the world and less in Lithuania.
The article was written by Gratian Cormos, a Romanian journalist, book writer, life coach and mentor currently living in Barcelona, Spain.
If you are interested in collaborating with his website brainbasketball.net, in order to publish articles, interviews or other features related to basketball, feel free to contact Gratian Cormos by Whatsapp or Telegram at this Spanish number: +34 612414486.
Photo credit: Basketball Champions League
