Jasikevicius explained his technical foul and the main problem that's killing Barca / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: R.Molina/EuroLeague Basketball via GettyImages Credit R.Molina/EuroLeague Basketball via GettyImages

"Enough!" Sarunas Jasikevicius was shouting at the referee Ilija Belosevic in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Player of the Game EFF 29 Deshaun Thomas Points 25 Accuracy 9-13 Rebounds 7 Assists 2

Barcelona were on the last run to save the home-court advantage (67-74) when Belosevic called a foul on Brandon Davies, who tried to stop Ognjen Jaramaz on the drive.

The American center pulled Jaramaz's hand a moment before the shot, and Belosevic blew the whistle.

But Sarunas Jasikevicius didn’t buy it.

He stormed out of the sidelines. The referees quickly stopped him with the technical foul, although outraged Barca's coach got very close to being ejected.

Moments later, Bayern recovered a double-digit lead and never turned back. The German club sensationally stole the home-court advantage from the EuroLeague regular season leaders 90-75.

"I didn't like and didn't understand some decisions of one of the referees," Jasikevicius explained to BasketNews after the game.

"Maybe it's not worth going deeper. But maybe there's an unconscious feeling of respect for those who fight more," Saras said. "I think Bayern was more prepared to fight and die. The details kill this team. In a year and a half, I should have done a better job of explaining these details. But believe me, I try."

Things went wrong from the beginning.

"They scored 19 cheap points, and 19 cheap points is life in the playoffs," Saras said in a half-time interview on EuroLeague TV.

His players lost the focus of his well-known details from the jump and couldn't match Bayern's intensity. The guests build a solid second-quarter lead of 47-31.

"I thought we couldn't play our basketball in certain situations. I thought we played differently than in Game 1, especially in the post-ups," Saras said. "Niko (Mirotic) and Davies read those situations excellent in the first game. But today was a different story."

Free throws this season

80%13,3Points made:13,3Accuracy:79,6%Place in standings:5Record max:24Record min:2Most made FTs:Vladimir LucicTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Davies, who had 19 points in Game 1, finished with 8 points on 2 of 6 field goals. Mirotic went for 16 but turned the ball over four times. Sixteen turnovers by Barcelona converted into 26 points for Bayern. Munich added another 16 in second-chance situations.

"Turnovers changed the game. It gave Bayern a lot of possessions," Jasikevicius explained. "In the first game, their possessions were in the low 70s, and today was 90. It's a big change."

"In general, when you give up 19 points at home in a playoff game, something is not right. Most likely, the preparation by the coach is not right. Most likely, the mentality of the players is not right. It’s been for a long time that details are killings us. Details are simple turnovers," Jasikevicius continued.

"For sure, one situation where Bayern is much better than us is making fouls before bonus. We’ve been emphasizing this with our team for the three weeks before we knew that Bayern is our opponent. They will just not give you anything for free. Unfortunately, we gave so much stuff for free," Saras couldn't let it go.

"I can't say it’s time for us to react because I wanted a reaction before the playoff series. But again, we lost a home court, and now it’s up to us to have a good game against Tenerife to play better basketball. And then go from there," he concluded before a road trip to Germany, with games scheduled to play in Munich on Wednesday and Friday.

Jasikevicius didn't see any concerning signals before Game 2.

Players were focused. There were no jokes in the team's hotel. But the first five minutes were horrible.

Saras tried to wake his players up on the sidelines, but the beginning set the tone for the rest of the night.

Inspired by DeShaun Thomas (25 PTS, 6/7 3FG) and Andreas Obst (15 PTS, 4/7 3FG) shooting fiesta, Bayern went off for an impressive night and their first-ever away victory in the EuroLeague playoffs.

"The first five minutes scared me a lot," Jasikevicius revealed. "Our first post-up options were Mirotic and Davies. But they played with their heads down, even though they were told that nobody would let them play one-on-one. They were told they would have to pass the ball out, and these decisions will be the key. But they played with their heads down."

"They were told that our ball movement from one side to another works perfectly. But we ended up taking quick shots," the coach continued. "I'm not even talking about defense. The first 16 points scored by Bayern... All 50/50 balls... You could clearly see that Bayern players were diving for them like into the pool while we just tried to grab them. The first five minutes scared me a lot."

"Congratulations to Bayern and Andrea Trinchieri," Jasikevicius praised their opponents. "They deserved this win. I think they had an excellent game."

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