Jasikevicius: 'Our reaction was incredible; this tournament is amazing' / News - Basketnews.com

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FC Barcelona advanced to the Spanish Copa del Rey semifinals after beating down BAXI Manresa with a spectacular second half. The Blaugranas increased their physicality, and Manresa could not match it up.

FC Barcelona / Schedule

FC Barcelona BAXI Manresa107-70 UCAM Murcia FC BarcelonaSat20:30

Sarunas Jasikevicius showed his happiness after the game, recognizing his players' effort since the second quarter.

"Nothing has gone our way in the first quarter. We had no discipline. We were -12 because we wanted to fix it on our own," Jasikevicius said.

"Our reaction afterward was unbelievable. We were more physical than them, and that's very difficult against Manresa. They are used to doing exactly the same against their opponents.

I didn't like the first half, but the guys calmed down, moved the ball better, and got a lot more physical. We won rebounds. It's not easy to dominate against them in this area. They average 15 offensive rebounds, and they only got 6," Jasikevicius continued.

In all four quarterfinals games, we have seen important advantages and impressive comebacks. However, neither Joventut, Breogan, nor Valencia didn't succeed.

"We are very happy to be in the next round of this competition. The beginning of the match in the Cup is very important. We are seeing big advantages. Then teams come back into the game with tremendous comebacks. This tournament is incredible," added Saras.

The third quarter ended with an insurmountable 88-53 lead for the Blaugranas, who used the last minutes to make rotations.

"It is very important to let players rest a bit," Jasikevicius explained. "We will need everyone. In the Cup, everything happens fast. Now it's time to do treatments, sleep a bit, and prepare for the game with not much time... We know what the Spanish Cup is like."

On the other hand, Pedro Martinez admitted his team could not keep the rhythm.

"They changed the game with their changing defense. We could not score, and we stopped playing well. We lost our focus. They had elite defensive players. We were ready, but we could not match their physicality," said the Spanish coach.

Manresa will compete for the Basketball Champions League and a spot for the ACB League Playoffs.

"I think it will be easy to forget this loss. Obviously, we would have loved to compete better. We lacked consistency," concluded Martinez.

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