Kevin Pangos to Zalgiris - Welcome to Euroleague

**OZZY** · 07-17-2016, 07:51 PM

Was reading the EuroLeague site and noticed that a very promising young German (mentioned a few times on the GU boards) Isaiah Hartenstein is also part of the Zalgiris system and will most likely play this year with Kevin.

Hartenstien's Father played for Oregon with Luke Ridenour. Isaiah had looked at GU and had said that of all the College teams (he decided to go down the professional route) the Zags played closest to what he liked.

**Mojo13** · 07-18-2016, 10:36 AM

I think this is a great move for KP.
I believe he is slated as the top PG on Zalgiris...I don't think much of their other PGs, and that was an area they struggled with last season. Much better choice than Panthiakos in Greece (who KP was also offered by) as I think he would have been the 3rd PG after Nick Calthas and Mike James..

He is going to get major minutes at Zalgiris and can learn from one of the all time greats as no other than legendary Sarunas Jasikevicius is the coach.

Also a better choice than being the 4th PG and 15th man for Atlanta going up and down to the D-league, which is what he would have been looking at if he stuck with ATL.

**Mojo13** · 09-15-2016, 08:38 AM

Here is a run down on the Zalgiris roster with some attention on Pangos.

EuroLeague | Euroleague Basketball

http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/79nsvus6mx57ygyp/roster-rundown-zalgiris-kaunas

The official site of Euroleague Basketball. Check out live matches, stats, standings, teams, players, interviews, fantasy challenge and much more.

He has already had a couple good games in their pre-season so far.

**ZagNative** · 09-16-2016, 10:12 AM

Thanks, Mojo! Appreciate the heads up!

**OZZY** · 09-25-2016, 05:51 PM

The Lithuanian to league (LKL) kicked off last weekend with Zalgiris playing it's fist two league games.

Looking at the first one it appears that perhaps Kevin might have been injured as he only played 11 minutes with 2 assist and a steel and missing his only shot. The team went down to Eurocup team Lietkabelis 90-86.

In the second game on Sunday Kevin exploded for 22 points, 3 assists and a steal to lead them in an emphatic win over Juventus 90-70.

Eurobasket

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Lithuania/2016/0924_183_9212.asp

With so many new players and new coaches it may take some time for the team to gel and sort out combinations, it looks like Leo Westermann and KP didn't play that much together, but from a rankings perspective they where the two best Zalgiris players.

The first Euroleague game is roughly in two weeks, Zalgiris will have 3 more league games before meeting Panathinaikos in Athens.

Once the next three league games are completed (two against strong Lithuanian teams Siauliai and Lietuvos rytas) it will get hectic as they will be playing both LKL and an additional 7 games per month in the EuroLeague.

From what I have seen in the past, The EuroLeague starters get limited minutes in most of the LKL games.

**Mojo13** · 09-26-2016, 10:30 AM

Originally posted by OZZY View Post

The Lithuanian to league (LKL) kicked off last weekend with Zalgiris playing it's fist two league games.

Looking at the first one it appears that perhaps Kevin might have been injured as he only played 11 minutes with 2 assist and a steel and missing his only shot. The team went down to Eurocup team Lietkabelis 90-86.

In the second game on Sunday Kevin exploded for 22 points, 3 assists and a steal to lead them in an emphatic win over Juventus 90-70.

Eurobasket

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Lithuania/2016/0924_183_9212.asp

With so many new players and new coaches it may take some time for the team to gel and sort out combinations, it looks like Leo Westermann and KP didn't play that much together, but from a rankings perspective they where the two best Zalgiris players.

The first Euroleague game is roughly in two weeks, Zalgiris will have 3 more league games before meeting Panathinaikos in Athens.

Once the next three league games are completed (two against strong Lithuanian teams Siauliai and Lietuvos rytas) it will get hectic as they will be playing both LKL and an additional 7 games per month in the EuroLeague.

From what I have seen in the past, The EuroLeague starters get limited minutes in most of the LKL games.

I have heard that allot too. There seems to be so much disparity in the domestic leagues that the better teams will outright sit their star players against crappy domestic league teams to rest them or to get younger guys developmental time.

I have also heard Europe can be very different in "starter" vs "bench" philosophy and that the best players can often come off the bench to to balance the team better or take advantage of match ups. European teams can be much more balanced in that manner. You need to look at minutes played more than who starts or not.

**OZZY** · 10-09-2016, 10:29 PM

6 games in, Kevin has had a reasonable lead up to his first EuroLeague game.

Zalgiris played the other Lithuanian powerhouse (and Eurocup team) Lietuvos Rita's at home on the weekend and won 74-66 paced by Kevin's 16 points (in 18 minutes).

Eurobasket

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Lithuania/2016/1008_683_183.asp

Kevin shares the team lead in scoring (10.2 in 18 mpg) and is shooting 38% from the 3. His apg (2.5) and assist/TO rate (1.5) are a bit lower than typical KP numbers so it will be interesting to see how he fares against EuroLeague teams.

Westermann and Pangos are finding their feet with the team and having 6 (they are 5-1) games under their belt in the domestic competition should really prove beneficial entering the hectic EuroLeague period.

October 14th is the teams first EuroLeague game for 2016/2017 against Panathinaikos.

Panathinaikos is a step up and features 8 players with US nationality including the Calathes brothers and K.C. Rivers. The experienced Greek centres Fotsis and Bourousis are synonymous with hard-nosed basketball and it will be interesting to see if Kevin will drive to the basket or play more of a distributor / shooting guard when he is out there.

6'6" starting PG Nick Calathes has NBA experience and might be a better match up for Westermann when he is on the floor. As Panathinaikos back up PG Mike James is out for 2 months due to injury, KP might matchup better with their less experienced guards.

The only real advantage they have right now is the 6 games they have played while their opponents have played only once in their domestic competition.

**ZagNative** · 10-09-2016, 11:37 PM

Ozzy, thank you so much for the excellent heads up!

**Mojo13** · 10-12-2016, 01:26 PM

As mentioned the playing time is suspect early on as the Euro League teams will sit their better players or play them limited minutes against the bad domestic league teams (sortof like preseason NBA games). Pangos should be judged on his games against top competition in the EL or the domestic league best teams like Lietuvos Rita. He played really well in that game with heavy praise from his coach.

Panathinaikos will likely smoke Zalgiris but it will be an excellent test for KP. Zalgiris is one of the bottom feeders of the EL. A likely bottom two team (of 16).

**Mojo13** · 10-14-2016, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by Mojo13 View Post

As mentioned the playing time is suspect early on as the Euro League teams will sit their better players or play them limited minutes against the bad domestic league teams (sortof like preseason NBA games). Pangos should be judged on his games against top competition in the EL or the domestic league best teams like Lietuvos Rita. He played really well in that game with heavy praise from his coach.

Panathinaikos will likely smoke Zalgiris but it will be an excellent test for KP. Zalgiris is one of the bottom feeders of the EL. A likely bottom two team (of 16).

Not a good first EuroLeague game by KP. 3 points (1/7), 3 assists, 3 TOs in 18 minutes as a starter. Didn't watch the game but the the opposing guards seem to lead their team in scoring.

**OZZY** · 10-14-2016, 04:51 PM

Both Kevin and Westermann struggled in the first EuroLeague game (away against Panathinaikos).

EuroLeague | Euroleague Basketball

http://www.euroleague.net/main/results/showgame?gamecode=7&seasoncode=E2016#!boxscore

The official site of Euroleague Basketball. Check out live matches, stats, standings, teams, players, interviews, fantasy challenge and much more.

Looks like Westermann started and was up against Nick Calathes.

KP hit only 1/5 from the deep and both guards had 3 TO. If it wasn't for Lekavicius the guards would been a complete flop.

A bit of work to do for Zalgiris coming up, it is not going to get any easier....

**ZagNative** · 10-21-2016, 04:08 AM

Okay, I'm finally starting to get up to speed on what's up with Kevin and Zalgris. Bear with me while I collect my wits and please forgive any repetition of info you have posted above. (Ozzy and Mojo have to be two of the smartest basketball guys on guboards!)

Kevin's team plays its second Euroleague game today at 10:00 am PST, so I took the time to refresh my memory.

Euroleague: Zalgris plays in Euroleague, and game stats can be found here: http://www.euroleague.net/.

Zagris' team page on the Euroleague site is here: http://www.euroleague.net/competitio...asoncode=E2016.

The team's Euroleague photo gallery can be found here: http://www.euroleague.net/competitio...=E2016#!photos.

the team's Euroleague game higlight videos can be viewed here: http://www.euroleague.net/competitio...=E2016#!videos

[Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL]: Zalgris plays in the Lithuanian Basketball League, whose site can be found here: http://www.lkl.lt/

The team's LKL schedule can be found here. http://www.lkl.lt/komanda/10923/#mbt:73-200$t&0=2

Kevin's profile page, including his stats, can be found here: http://www.lkl.lt/zaidejas/2405809/

As of today, before today's game, it looks like this:

Zalgris Home Site: Pretty cool and user-friendly site: http://zalgiris.lt/

**ZagNative** · 10-21-2016, 04:22 AM

Consolidated schedule

Euroleague: http://www.euroleague.net/

LKL: http://www.lkl.lt/

**ZagNative** · 10-21-2016, 11:42 AM

Zalgris beats Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz 78-73. Kevin had 6 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Box Score

Kevin is #3:

Kevin Pangos to Zalgiris - Welcome to Euroleague

Kevin Pangos to Zalgiris - Welcome to Euroleague

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment