ZALGIRIS KAUNAS (LITHUANIA)

Founded in 1944
Team colors: green and white
Honors: Euroleague (1999), Saporta Cup (1998), Intercontinental Cup (1986), NEBL (1999), Lithuanian National League (1946, 1950, 1952-1955, 1957, 1958, 1991-1999, 2001, 2003-2005, 2007, 2008, 2011-2017), Lithuanian National Cup (1990, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), Lithuanian Supercup (2012), Baltic Basketball League (2005, 2008, 2010-2012), Baltic Basketball League Cup (2009), USSR championship (1947, 1951, 1985-1987), USSR Cup (1953)
Arena: Zalgirio Arena (capacity – 15552)
President: Paulius Motiejunas
Official website: zalgiris.lt

Where to watch

LIVE: Match TV (19:40), Match! Nash Sport (19:55), Match! Igra (replay — 22:30; October 21 at 10:30, 02:55), EuroLeague TV, Sportbox.ru
Text online: EuroLeague website

GAME NOTES

BC Khimki and Zalgiris have only met four times in the EuroLeague over the years. Zalgiris won their first ever duel, but Khimki has won the last three and is 2-0 vs. Zalgiris at home.

James Anderson made his EuroLeague debut with Zalgiris in the 2014/2015 season. He helped the team win the Lithuanian League and Cup double. Paulius Jankunas, Arturas Milaknis and Edgaras Ulanovas are the only players on the current Zalgiris roster from Anderson’s tenure with the club.

Paulius Jankunas has played his entire senior career with Zalgiris spare the 2009/2010 campaign, which he spent with BC Khimki.

Khimki center Marko Todorovic was a teammate of Zalgiris head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius at FC Barcelona in the 2012/2013 season. They helped Barcelona reach the EuroLeague Final Four.

Khimki guard Stefan Markovic and Zalgiris forward Aaron White were teammates last season at Zenit St. Petersburg.

Markovic and his Zalgirs counterpart Vasilije Micic have played together on the Serbian national team.

Khimki set club records for scoring (111 points), free throws made (27) and performance index rating (150) in EuroLeague play against Zalgiris on January 29, 2016.

Charles Jenkins has made at least 1 steal in seven straight and 23 of his last 24 EuroLeague games.

Stefan Markovic has made 9 straight free throws in EuroLeague games.

Sergey Monia needs 4 more steals to reach the century mark for his EuroLeague career.

James Anderson is 6 three-pointers short of the 100-mark in his EuroLeague career.

Paulius Jankunas has had a performance index rating in double figures in 20 of his last 21 EuroLeague games.

Jankunas has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 EuroLeague appearances.

Paulius Jankunas ranked fourth among qualified EuroLeague players last season in defensive rebounds with 4.7 per game. Also, Jankunas is in sixth place on the all-time list with 263 EuroLeague appearances. He is ranked second on the EuroLeague all-time charts with 442 offensive boards; third in the all-time rebounding rankings with 1,516 boards, and 10th on the all-time scoring list with 2,480 points. Ninth place belongs to Dimitris Diamantidis (2,495).

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Georgios Bartzokas, BC Khimki head coach:

“Nothing but a difficult game. They have a bunch of players who have been together for many years; they have chemistry. Their coach knows exactly how to handle them. As I said, I expect a tough matchup, like every EuroLeague game. We need to approach this game and get ready of hustle type of Zalgiris playing, I mean they play with a lot of energy. In this forty-minutes game every possession will be important. They add some athleticism to their team and their plays fit excellent to their system. We played a friendly game [in preseason] and know they are a very strong team. They had a tight game with Crvena Zvezda but basically we don’t analyze specific games but generally the philosophy of the opponents”.

James Anderson, BC Khimki forward:

“It will be a hard-fought and competitive game. Zalgiris is a team that always competes till the end trying to give their best. They added some pieces to the roster that will help them this year. I know Brandon Davies as we played together in Philly. I think they are going to be a sneaky team in the EuroLeague this year. As always, playing against the guys that I played with is something special. Competing against them and trying to get a win is always fun. We had a tough game last week at new arena but our fans were great, as well as the overall atmosphere. We just gonna continue to take care of home court”.