Jasikevicius critiques his players: 'We came to play like any other game' / News - Basketnews.com

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After losing Game 3 of the Spanish Liga Endesa finals against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona are on the verge of losing the series.

Following the match, Barcelona's head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius wanted to draw attention to certain numbers in the boxscore.

"Once again we have come to play like any other game. It is not just any party. I am sorry," Saras talked during the press conference.

"Madrid has shot the basketball 19 more times," the coach stressed his team's 19 turnovers in the game. "With this, the press conference can be finished. It is very difficult to win."

Barcelona made 19 turnovers in the game while the home team turned the ball over 12 times. Real Madrid grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to Barca's 6 and won the overall rebounding battle 33 to 26.

"They are better physically. They were again rebounding over our heads, dominating the paint in some situations. I think losses punish us a lot, and in the game we won, we only lost 4 balls in the last 3 quarters," Saras remembered the match several days ago. "We didn't play great in the second game but we didn't give the ball away."

"We are giving the ball away too much and when two teams play at this level usually the one that gives the ball away the most loses. Offensive rebounds, counterattacks. Our players will then score points, but the key is not to turn the ball over," Jasikevicius explained.

Only two Barca players scored 10 or more points, both usually unlikely options in Kyle Kuric and Nick Calathes with both being the only ones to have recorded 10 or more PIR points.

"Every detail is important. You have to start the game thinking about the first possession. There are no 40 minutes ahead," Barca's coach continued. "European basketball at the highest level is that the next possession is the most important, no thinking about the third quarter or whatever. We start now and we build from there. It is the only way to play European basketball."

"Everything that happens is a new story. In the second game, we were solid and if we had scored we would have been better. You could talk for an hour about why, but it's time to show character and understand that the series is about rebounds, turnovers, and the little things. We have to go fight for our lives, this is what it is.

Game 4 of the series is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 18:00 CET in WiZink Center in Madrid with a possibly championship-deciding outcome.

"It's like a boxing match, we know that in 48 hours we risk our lives. No need to talk about it," Jasikevicius finished his answer.

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