BasketNews.com

On Wednesday, Zalgiris Kaunas held a press conference, where head coach Andrea Trinchieri addressed the upcoming opponent in the EuroLeague, Olympiacos Piraeus.

One of the first things he mentioned was the return of Sasha Vezenkov to the EuroLeague.

“He’s Vezenkov, he’s a genius. He’s Klay Thompson in Europe. He can score 30 points without one dribble. Very rare. He’s a unicorn, one of a kind,” Trinchieri said. “Guarding him is a headache for the coach, for the players, for everybody.”

Trinchieri named Olympiacos as the team that has the best defense in the EuroLeague. Asked whether Evan Fournier, the star signing of the organization, could be used as a defensive liability to focus Zalgiris’ attack toward, the coach disagreed.

“He cannot be because their defensive system, which is unique, is made, built, and crafted for not having defensive liabilities because they have the best help system in Europe. I don’t see liabilities there,” Trinchieri said.

He later praised Olympiacos’ offseason moves.

“I believe that they’re built for winning it, finally,” Trinchieri claimed. “From the outside, it’s extremely interesting to watch the reaction. They lost two Final Fours, one at the buzzer with Llull’s teardrop. Last year, they lost again. What they did? ‘I wanted more, I wanted more, I wanted more.’ So they invested more, they brought back their best player from the NBA. I see from the outside what their mission is. They’re on a mission to win the EuroLeague title.”

Following his praise of Olympiacos, Trinchieri was asked whether the red-and-whites are the team to beat this season.

“In my opinion, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, and Fener[bahce] are, at this moment, the three best teams. But this doesn’t mean anything because what counts is who will be the best team in May,” Trinchieri concluded.