LKL Preview

Short view into the league

LEAGUES' PREVIEWS

9/17/20263 min read

Year after year, LKL has been the biggest profit league for me. It starts today!

I've prepared a couple of sentences about each team after looking through the squads. I've also included most of the preseason games, but I wouldn't take those results too seriously for a lot of reasons — some teams didn't have their full squads, some games featured mostly young players, and in some cases different lineups were used for entire quarters.

However, here's a short preview:

Gargždai

The coach is calling the team "hungry for wins", but it might happen that they will still be hungry after the first round. This is a team that should be somewhere near the bottom of the table, but as usual, they might give us some surprises when playing in their own arena.

  • 88-97 loss to LKS Coolpack (+17 in the 3rd Q, then the bench was used)

  • 77-82 loss to Lietkabelis (-20 after 3 Q)

  • 112-70 win over Šilutė (2nd Lithuanian division)

  • 71-89 loss to Rīgas Zelli

  • 107-67 win over Ventspils

Tauragė

A very interesting team with some old faces and new Americans, along with a questionable coach. Despite calling him questionable, they won all their preseason games. Looking ahead to the season, I rate them higher than Gargždai.

  • 67-65 win over Liepāja

  • 88-85 win over LKS Coolpack

  • 116-86 win over Ogre

  • 90-69 win over Liepāja

  • 77-68 win over Neptūnas

Nevėžis

A combination of new and young Lithuanians, along with four Americans and one French import. There are a lot of questions about how they will look, but the first games will give us a better idea.

  • 85-90 loss to Ogre

  • 101-76 win over Tartu

  • 76-84 loss to VEF

  • ?? Rīgas Zelli (playing tomorrow)

Jonava

You can't be competitive with such players at the center position, but at the same time, there are a few interesting faces, with Lambrecht back along with Mesidor, Johnson and Harrison. They should remain near the bottom, and coach/player changes will sooner or later come, as usual.

  • 89-77 win over LKS Coolpack

  • 84-73 win over Pärnu

  • 67-103 loss to Ventspils

  • 76-80 loss to Valmiera

  • 69-93 loss to Juventus


Juventus

A coach who became a hero last season after several big games and a strong run of momentum, but I really doubt him. However, they've got a promising team this season, so I'd expect them to stay somewhere around 3rd–5th place during the season.

  • 87-81 win over Lietkabelis

  • 107-96 win over Valmiera

  • 59-83 loss to London Lions

  • 77-82 loss to Žalgiris

  • 93-69 win over Jonava

  • 89-84 win over Sabah


Rytas

A weak guard line with Cassius Winston as their main player — no defensive ability — while Marčiulionis is the opposite: good defensively, but limited offensively. A lot should depend on their imports, especially when you sign a such random coach. Fighting for 2nd or even 3rd place might once again be a big headache for them despite their good results in preparation.

  • 104-95 win over Hapoel

  • 104-87 win over Erokspor

  • 86-78 win over VEF

  • 103-84 win over Lietkabelis


Neptūnas

One more season with the same coach and a team that fits perfectly into a run-and-gun style of basketball. 200-point games were often seen last season, and it should remain the same this year with additions such as Fridriksson and Franke. Their director is talking about their improvement defensively, but will we see it on the court?

  • 87-78 win over Rīgas Zelli

  • 86-85 win over Sabah

  • 64-77 loss to Rīgas Zelli

  • 68-77 loss to Tauragė


Lietkabelis

Pretty much a completely new-look team with the same coach year after year. There are a lot of questions, but I expect another difficult season for them, as I have doubts that they've got a better team than the opponents fighting for 2nd–3rd place.

  • 81-87 loss to Juventus

  • 100-78 win over Tartu

  • 82-77 win over Gargždai

  • 84-103 loss to Rytas

  • 89-83 win over London Lions


Šiauliai

This one looks interesting. With all the additions they've made and some great local players, I think they might give the main teams a hard time. Fighting for 2nd–3rd place might be an option if they all fit together well, which I believe they will. I wouldn't look at the friendly results too seriously where the results were bad.

  • 61-89 loss to Rīgas Zelli

  • 88-85 win over VEF

  • 109-99 win over Tartu

  • 80-92 loss to Sabah

  • 119-99 win over Valmiera

Žalgiris

Not much to write here. A EuroLeague top-10 team where everyone is talking about Valančiūnas, which I think is a mistake in general. Edwards is questionable as well, but I might be wrong. The main priority was keeping Tubelis, who should be a game changer here.

There are a lot of questions about how the team will come together, as they haven't looked particularly good so far, but of course they should have no problems here in LKL. Players are the most solid during the last seasons, but it will all depend how they stick together.

First game - today!