By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas coach Andrea Trinchieri evaluated Lonnie Walker IV’s level of adjustment to the EuroLeague game so far and explained what kind of improvement he wants to see from his star player.
“He’s a great guy,” Trinchieri said after Zalgiris‘ 92 – 83 away win over Real Madrid. It was the just the third ever road victory for the Lithuanian powerhouse against the Los Blancos. “He’s very talented but very humble. He tries to grasp what we’re teaching him. To be honest, his adaptation in EuroLeague is at 5o percent in this stage because he’s able to play only 20 minutes, in the first half.”
Trinchieri was referring to the fact that Walker had all of his points by halftime against Real Madrid. In fact, the former NBAer dropped 21 points over the first 17 minutes of the game to push Zalgiris toward taking a 38 – 54 lead at the break.
“Now I’m thinking of putting him in the third quarter and not the first half,” Trinchieri joked. “Because he has to learn to play 40 minutes. He gaves us the confidence and trust in our skills in the first half. He took the team on his shoulders. But he wasn’t able to perform the same away in the second half. He has to learn to manage his energy, both physically and mentally.”
It was a similar affair to the previous game of Zalgiris, a victory over Anadolu Efes. Walker then put up 16 points in the first half and finished with 18, struggling to overcome Efes‘ when they began putting some hard, physical defensive pressure on him that involved a lot of contact.
“21 points in the first half and zero points in the second half? We have to find a balance,” Trinchieri added.
After a rough introduction to the previously alien to him European basketball style, Walker is now averaging 21.6 points over the last six matches for Zalgiris while shooting nearly 50 percent (20 out of 42) on threes. The Lithuanian team is 8 – 6 overall after two straight victories.
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