Jasikevicius shared unusual locker room speech: 'We're not killers' / News - Basketnews.com

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FC Barcelona head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius didn't hide his disappointment after the Final Four loss to Real Madrid 83-86.

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He said that even though Barcelona was up by 11 points in the first half (45-34), he shared his concerns about the quality of the game in the locker room.

It turned out he was right because Real bounced back and stole the victory despite a double-digit deficit.

"It's very difficult to understand the Final Four coach going into halftime being up by eleven points and saying to players that we're not doing good. This is exactly was my speech at halftime. I thought we weren't doing good," Jasikevicius said.

"I didn't like how we were playing. We hit some shots, and Madrid missed a lot of shots. Usually, in basketball, over the course of 40 minutes, these situations will equal out," Jasikevicius explained.

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"Congratulations to Madrid. I thought on our part clearly was a huge lack of attention to details. A lot of things we said out to do we didn't do."

"We weren't ready to sacrifice. We didn't make fouls on the situations of the shots. In the end, Madrid did make shots. If you want to play a championship game and you give up 52 points in the second half, I don't know... I missed a lot of extra professionalism and just sacrificing," Saras continued.

"Huge disappointment for us. There's no question. I think we were the better team, but we're not going to play in the final. That's a reality," Jasikevicius concluded.

He also took the responsibility for the loss.

"Those things usually come back at you. In the second half, we continued with the same idea, and Madrid hit the shots. So over the course of 40 minutes, I didn't manage to prepare my team for what was coming. Like we always say, the coach is always the most responsible, there's no question," he added.

Player of the Game EFF 24 Guerschon Yabusele Points 18 Accuracy 6-9 Rebounds 8 Assists 1

Barcelona had a great record against Real Madrid this year, winning 5 of 6 matchups in EuroLeague and domestic competitions.

But by losing the semifinal after five straight wins, Jasikevicius was focused more on his team than Real Madrid.

"They played with fewer big lineups than in Copa and Palau last game. But we scored 83 points. You have to defend and sacrifice. 52 points in one half… What we're talking about?" Saras couldn't accept it.

Jasikevicius pointed out that Barcelona faced the same problem they were dealing with in the last two seasons. They couldn't close the game or series when it was needed.

"We're always talking with this team about the killer instinct. In the last two years I've been with the team, we're not able to finish out any series, except from 2-0 against Madrid last year," Jasikevicius said.

"But we lost a lot of deciding games. We lost the game against Badalona, Tenerife. We went to five games with Zenit. We're not killers. Guys, there's some press from Barcelona here. They've already heard this song I've been singing for a year and a half. It's more of the same. It's difficult to accept it for me, there's no question," Jasikevicius concluded.

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