The Wolves have scored many victories on and off the court. The Lithuanian club may secure its first silverware next week.
Gilas Pilipinas connection
Alytus and Manila are 9000 kilometers apart but both places share the love for basketball.
The Wolves added a 22 years old Filipino guard Juan Gomez de Liano.
Liano became the first homegrown made player from the Philippines to join a European basketball club according to Randolph B. Leongson from spin.ph.
He made his debut on October 26, 2022 and Wolves got a fast growing fan base in Western Pacific.
Alytus team has 122 000 followers on Facebook, as of April 5, 2023.
The Lithuanian giant – Žalgiris Kaunas – has 236 000 followers, while Rytas Vilnius – 42 000 followers.
Liano`s arrival is a win-win situation for everyone.
Juan Gomez de Liano averages 10.3 minutes and 4.1 points in the ENBL.
LKL trouble makers
The LKL regular season will end on May 8 and every team has eight more games to play.
Alytus face 10 games in 30 days, including the ENBL Final Four.
Kēstutis Kemzūra`s team are in the third place with a 17-8 record, behind only Žalgiris (21-4) and Rytas Vilnius (20-5).
The Wolves have the third best defense in the league with 79.8 points allowed after Žalgiris (72.4) and Cbet Jonava (79.4).
Alytus average 85.7 points – good enough for the fifth place on the scoring list behind Rytas (92.0), Žalgiris (87.6), Lietkabelis Panevezys (86.1) and Juventus Utena (85.8).
The Wolves have defeated both perennial favorites – Žalgiris and Rytas, but haven`t avoided setbacks against lower placed teams like Gargždai.
Player statistics
Four players – Adas Juškevičius, Eigirdas Žukauskas, Kristupas Žemaitis and Arnas Beručka – have stepped on the floor in all nine ENBL games.
Juan Gomez de Liano has seven games under his belt, just like American center Eric Buckner.
They are followed by Ahmad Caver, Mindaugas Lukauskis and Marcos Delia with six games each.
Caver averages 20.2 points and 4.5 assists per game.
Adas Juškevičius has 12.7 points and 43.2% accuracy from the three point line.
Eric Buckner averages 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds.
Two more players have averaged double figures in scoring – Eigirdas Žukauskas with 11.2 points and Kristupas Žemaitis with 10.0 points.
A 2018 Euroleague champion Jeffery Taylor is not far behind with 8.6 points, followed by a 2019 FIBA World Cup finalist Marcos Delia (8.3 points in 16.6 minutes of playing time).
Team statistics
The Wolves have averaged 82.1 points, trailing behind BM Stal (84.8), Polski Cukier Start Lublin (84.8 points in eight games).
They are infront of King Szczecin (81.4 points).
Alytus team averages 35.0 rebounds for the third best result among Final Four teams.
They are third in assists per game (18.0) and first in steals per game (8.4).