BallinEurope is previewing all 18 Euroleague Basketball teams ahead of the start of the season. Today it’s the turn of Andrea Trinchieri and Zalgiris Kaunas as they aim to make the postseason.
Kaunas is one of those must-visit cities for all fans of basketball. Zalgiris bring fire to every game but will it be enough for Andrea Trinchieri to bring them to the business end of the Euroleague campaign?
Last season
Euroleague record: 14-20
Regular season position: 14th
Playoffs: NA
LKL record: 26-4
Regular season position: 1st
Playoffs: Lost finals vs Rytas Vilnius (3-1)
Other: Won King Mindaugas cup (Lietkabelis)
Who’s gone?
Kevarrious Hayes (Paris Basketball), Demetre Rivers (Brescia), Karolis Lukosiunas (Juventus), Nevas Montvila (Nevesis), Rolands Smits (Anadolu Efes), Danelius Lavrovicius (Lietkabelis), Keenan Evans (Olympiacos), Edmond Sumner (Sichuan).
Who is new?
Tyrone Wallace (Turk Telecom), Bryant Dunston (Virtus Bologna), Sylvain Francisco (FC Bayern Munich), Alen Smailagic (Partizan), Matt Mitchell (Besiktas), Deividas Sirvydis (Lietkabelis), Ignas Brazdeikis (Olympiacos)
Who stayed?
Tomas Dimsa, Edgaras Ulanovas, Laurynas Birutis, Lukas Lekavicius, Brady Manek, Dovydas Giedraitis, Arnas Butkevicius
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Need to know
Andrea Trinchieri was an in-season change as coach last campaign. With a full off-season to prepare, a lot will be expected of him from Zalgiris Kaunas fans. Last season’s finishing position somewhat masked how long this team stayed in the post-season race in Euroleague Basketball. While they finished three games out of the play-ins, they looked full in contention until quite late in the campaign. The season-ending injury to Keenan Evans, now departed, played a big role in their charge running out of steam.
What the bookies think
While Zalgiris Kaunas are understandably far back from the favourites to win it all, the sportsbooks still seem overly long on them. Andrea Trinchieri’s men are available at 100/1 on most markets in Euroleague Basketball betting. That’s closer to Alba Berlin, who I’ve placed at dead last, than the top contenders. Something shorter feels more appropriate.
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What we think
Gelling is going to matter an awful lot with this level of roster turnover. Andrea Trinchieri has set the top 10 as a target for Zalgiris Kaunas this season. That seems realistic, if not somewhat conservative from the head coach. The teams from 6th to around 13th feel very bunched in quality. There’s an opportunity for this roster to make it to the playoffs proper. Anything short of the play-ins should be considered a disappointment.
Fearless prediction
This feels like a moneyball style roster. There are underrated gems (Francisco), guys who didn’t work out elsewhere (Brazdeikis), and an old guy who still has something to give (Dunston). Put that all together with the mad genius of European basketball’s favourite polyglot in Andrea Trinchieri and there is a recipe for something special. Looking at the middle class of Euroleague Basketball, this looks one of the more likely sides to get it all together.
Pick: 10th in the regular season (play-ins)
