Žalgiris
Kaunas Žalgiris will start this season significantly changed. The team's lucky charm, Šaras, left the team to join Barcelona, and he was replaced by the little-known Austrian Martin Schiller, who has not yet coached in Europe. The team also lost one of its leaders, Edgaras Ulanovas (Fenerbahce Ulker), Zach LeDay (Emporio Armani), Jock Landale, and K.C Rivers (St. Petersburg Zenit). Although many basketball experts worldwide speculated on how the COVID pandemic would change the basketball market, how club budgets would change, and countless other questions, Žalgiris' offseason work looks quite good. The team retained Thomas Walkup, Nigel Hayes, Marius Grigonis, Artūras Milaknis, and other rotation players, while also attracting high-level and well-known players in Europe: Patricio Garino, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Augustine Rubit. You can find the full team roster here.
It would be difficult to predict how the team will look in the first Euroleague games, but from what we saw in friendly matches and Lithuanian Basketball League games, it is clear that a lot of work will be needed to achieve at least similar results compared to previous years. The team's offense, which looked good at the beginning of the season, seemed toothless in the last LKL match against Lietkabelis, where Žalgiris sensationally lost to the Panevėžys team by a double-digit margin, even though the game was played at home.
Martin Schiller promotes a completely different game philosophy compared to Šaras, so it is natural that both the team's veterans and newcomers are not yet fully adapted to the Austrian's promoted game. The most worrying issue is the team's poor and uncoordinated defense. Coaches of teams that played against Žalgiris emphasized after the games that Žalgiris' defense is considered the team's weak point, and Schiller himself admits that this is the area where the most work will be needed.
Olympiacos
Piraeus Olympiacos, similar to Kaunas Žalgiris, had changes in their roster this offseason. The team lost Serbian Nikola Milutinov (CSKA), Dwight Buycks, Wade Baldwin IV, Taylor Rochestie, and Brandon Paul. Last season was a disappointment for Olympiacos, as the results demonstrated were far from the competitive and fighting Piraeus team we are used to seeing. Probably the most important change in the roster compared to the previous season is the addition of Kostas Sloukas to the team. The guard, who left Fenerbahce Ulker, will try to bring Olympiacos back to the winning path along with other new additions: Aaron Harrison, Hassan Martin, Charles Jenkins, and Livio Jean-Charles. The team's core also remains: Georgios Printezis, Vassilis Spanoulis, and Kostas Papanikolaou. You can find the full team roster here.
In the cycle of friendly matches, Olympiacos lost 69-75 to Alba Berlin, 57-74 to Lyon Villeurbanne-Asvel, and achieved a victory against Bayern Munich with a score of 82-68. Since the team did not use all players in friendly matches and plays with a second lineup in the Greek league, it is difficult to say how this team will look in the first serious match. The team has potential, but it would be hard to expect that the team will start showing good results early on.
Prediction
Both Kaunas Žalgiris and Olympiacos changed several key players in the offseason, so it would be naive to expect high-quality basketball in the first Euroleague match from these teams. Overall, Olympiacos has not yet played a single official match with a full roster, so this Euroleague match will be the first. Meanwhile, Žalgiris had much more practice playing LKL matches, and the cold shower after the loss to Lietkabelis is probably more of a plus than a minus in this case. Of course, Olympiacos is considered the favorite in their home arena, but Žalgiris seems to be underestimated given the circumstances, and the match should be quite even.
Žalgiris +7.5, 1.9 odds betsafe
