BadalonaThe unexpected defeat in the quarter-finals has hurt Can Barça. After the disappointments of the League, the Euroleague and the Super Cup, the Cup is the fourth title in a row that has eluded a team built to fill the showcases of the club’s museum. All eyes are on Sarunas Jasikevicius. The coach, who changed the mood of the culer section, now receives most of the criticism. No one doubts his tactical knowledge, because his mind is privileged to read basketball, but the management of the group does not have the same consensus.
Last summer, Barça studied the possibility of including a figure to act as a bridge between Saras and the dressing room, a kind of Manel Estiarte adapted to the characteristics of basketball. The coach made self-criticism and tried to adjust his way of doing things, reducing the public booing and modifying the planning with the aim of the team reaching the second stage of the season well. The management of Cory Higgins and Nikola Mirotic, two key players coming off injury, was done very cautiously.
Although the classification in the Liga Endesa, where they share first place with Real Madrid, and the Euroleague, where they are third, one win behind the leaders, is good, the elimination against Unicaja de Málaga has accentuated the doubts about the lack of regularity of the team, which has let lose too many games that were well on track. The contractual situation of Saras does not help to have stability. The Blaugrana coach ends his contract in the summer, but a few days ago he explained to the What are you playing with! (SER Catalunya) that the club had not yet presented him with an offer to renew. “I don’t know, I can’t talk much, I’ll try to do my job as best as possible. It’s not all about me, you have to focus on basketball. If we sat down to negotiate? We haven’t talked. I’m not worried about the situation, I’m just thinking about the team and having a good season,” he said.
A few days later, the Lithuanian was asked al you will say (RAC1) for the same issue. “We have decided not to talk about it. Whatever happens, Barça and I will be fine. We need to know how and with whom we can work and then make decisions,” added Jasikevicius, who senses that the renewal offer will be linked to the sports results and it will be down. Neither Josep Cubells, nor Joan Carles Navarro nor Mario Fernández made statements after Thursday’s defeat.
Jasikevicius can’t find the key for Barça to compete regularly. “As a coach, the responsibility is all mine. I failed to make our players understand that this was a final. I failed to close the games. The word give a present I’m very tired, but we’re giving away a lot,” analyzed the Lithuanian coach, who regretted the personal fouls committed by his team when they were already in bonus. “We can’t make so many personal fouls in the last quarter,” he acknowledged.
“Speak and improve”
“I can’t tell you how to deal with the rest of the season. Now we have to pack our bags and go home. We will sit down with the coaching staff and the players to talk and improve. The worst thing is that my speech will be very similar today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. We fail to take the next step,” he summarized. With almost as many turnovers (12) as assists (15), Barça was not regular against Unicaja. Despite showing courage in the final stretch and not shirking responsibility when the ball was burning, Nico Laprovittola and Nikola Mirotic were far from their usual level. “I’m touched because we’ve lost an option to win a title. It’s a defeat that hurts. At Barça, it’s valued by how many titles it’s won. When you lose, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Now there’s a long time until that we can fight for a title again, but I’m optimistic. We are capable of turning the situation around. We must be more united than ever and fight for the remaining titles. I trust Barça,” assured Mirotic.
Despite increasing the income related to the ticketing, the Barça basketball section will also have to face a budget cut in the coming months. Some players, such as Kyle Kuric, who Real Madrid want to incorporate, already have offers from other clubs.