Zalgiris Kaunas is gearing up for a tough battle against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade, with coach Andrea Trinchieri offering his insights in a pre-game interview.

Trinchieri first discussed the challenge of bouncing back after a difficult result, emphasizing the importance of a solid defensive performance.

“Merry Christmas to everybody, especially to Zalgiris fans. It is what it is, the schedule says we have to fly, we’re gonna go to Belgrade. Playing a tough game and we are coming from a bad result, so we need to bounce back to play a very solid game, especially defensively.

Maccabi despite losing the last games, they are a good team very well coached, with their main motor Tamir Blatt, who is having an amazing season and it will take us a lot of work to try to slow him down,” Trinchieri noted.

He then went on to highlight Maccabi’s unique playing style under coach Oded Kattash, noting the difficulties Zalgiris will face in countering their system.

“Unique style, this is I would say typical Kattash system, with two bigs playing, they have at the same time playing two bigs playing very well inside outside. Filling the spot on the baseline, lifting behind the ball, lifting in front of the ball, and there is a lot of player movement, so we need a great level of concentration,” Trinchieri concluded.

Zalgiris is currently 8th in the EuroLeague with a 10-7 record.