Kurtinaitis speaks on Barca's failure to win EuroLeague title and Saras' tremendous job / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

The 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season came to an end with Anadolu Efes Istanbul bringing home the back-to-back title.

FC Barcelona / Schedule

FC Barcelona Real Madrid83-86 FC Barcelona Olympiakos Piraeus84-74

Probably the biggest surprise of the Final Four occurred in the second semifinal, where Real Madrid edged out their archrivals FC Barcelona and got a ticket to the grand final.

Los Blancos interrupted this season's Barcelona curse, as Catalans were dominating over Real earlier in the 2021-22 campaign. Barca won twice in the EuroLeague, twice in the Spanish League, and once in the Spanish Cup final.

Lithuanian specialist Rimas Kurtinaitis expected another Barca victory in the semis to keep the streak alive.

"At the beginning of the season, I argued with my friends that Barcelona would be the champions. However, some thought otherwise. I've always been a supporter of Barca, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. Everything looked good, but this year, like the last one, showed that something might be missing.

We are coming back to the same thing again. You have the strongest team and the biggest budget, but you cannot be guaranteed to win the title in this format. It has not been only Barca's case.

Anyway, in theory, Real had a better chance of winning because they had lost five times before. The semifinal was good, but Real played better at the end of the match," the 62-year-old spoke to BasketNews.

Asked what was missing for Barca, Kurtinaitis drew attention to the individual talent.

"I think they lacked a player who could play one-on-one at the end of the match. Such as Larkin or Wilbekin. You need that kind of player in such big games. We saw how Micic decided the match against Olympiacos.

Free throws this season

81%14,1Points made:14,1Accuracy:80,9%Place in standings:3Record max:42Record min:4Most made FTs:Nikola MiroticTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Barca need an athlete who can do something extra individually. But clearly, Saras likes a systematic team basketball to keep everyone in their place. But sometimes, that individual mastery is needed.

I had Alexey Shved at Chimki Moscow, and Saras has said about us: 'They have a player who can win a match.' Of course, he [Shved] often drowned us as well, but having such a basketball player with a clear role is useful, as he can determine the outcome of the match alone.

Saras gained a very useful experience in the past two years. I think he will put together everything he needs next season. We see that everything is going in a good direction, but we would like to have the result sooner."

Rimas Kurtinaitis was on a hot seat while coaching Lietuvos Rytas or Khimki. Does he think that after two years without a EuroLeague title, Saras will get pressure from the management?

"I don't think he'll get any pressure," Kurtinaitis began. "Sure, these clubs want titles, but I would say Saras plays confidently in both EuroLeague and ACB League. Before Saras left Zalgiris for Barca, I thought he was doing well in the EuroLeague because the Lithuanian championship is easy, and you can fully concentrate on the European front with players resting in the LKL.

The ACB is the strongest league in Europe, and Saras has shown he can dominate both competitions by winning the regular season in the EuroLeague and the Spanish League. There's art here, and I don't think he sits on a hot seat.

Probably everyone understands that everything is good here - the suffered defeat was due to small details. I think next season Saras will definitely have what it takes to win the EuroLeague and will go all the way," the Lithuanian mastermind told BasketNews.

Last but not least, Kurtinaitis touched on the popular comment as if Saras is better at dealing with low-budget teams than with stars-filled ones.

"Saras has said very well: 'When you have a team like Barca, if you put the players into certain roles and lose, everyone will say that the coach has limited the talent and stars couldn't show what they capable of. If you let the athletes play free basketball and you lose, then everyone will say that the team was not in control. The only chance to answer all these questions is to win.'

I'm glad Saras managed to bring the team's stars together. There were thoughts that he would fail, but he handled the situation perfectly. All players have many titles, are rich, and with their own ambitions. Saras did a tremendous job. Whoever says otherwise speaks nonsense," Rimas Kurtinaitis concluded.

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