Jasikevicius: 'Until a man made a gesture, the team, coach and fans were dead' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

FC Barcelona (15-2) ended the first part of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season with a spectacular comeback at home, beating UNICS Kazan (10-7) after thrilling overtime (111-109).

Player of the Game EFF 26 Nikola Mirotic Points 28 Accuracy 6-13 Rebounds 3 Assists 1

The Blaugrana remain on the top in the standings, extending their winning streak to nine in a row. Only two losses in 17 games, both consecutive in Milan and Tel Aviv, respectively.

Sarunas Jasikevicius could not hide his satisfaction in the press conference after the game.

"Every Christmas is good, but this will be better after this win. We will remember this game for a long time", began the Lithuanian coach.

Jasikevicius tried to analyze an intense game that had different parts, ups&downs and crucial moments.

"It's a little bit logical what happened at the beginning. Even though we tried to prepare our guys, we could not show it on the floor.

It was pretty ugly for us in the third quarter. It is not easy to play under ten points for many minutes. They were winning us not just in the score but also in energy. But we managed to pull it out at the end. You saw it", he mentioned.

"The team was dead, the coach was dead, and also the fans were quiet. Until a man made a gesture, and the crowd reacted. We have seen that he has done this before. In Tel Aviv and Moscow. It's normal when you are destroying Barcelona at Palau. NBA style", Jasikevicius added, referring to Canaan's gesture.

Scouting has become common in professional basketball, but sometimes studying the opponent is not enough. That's what Jasikevicius wanted to expose.

"We showed videos to our players about John Brown III. He is an amazing defender. But when you face him, it is hard to beat him. During the game, I just told my guys that we need to understand what they were doing," Jasikevicius explained.

FC Barcelona / Schedule

Panathinaikos Athens FC Barcelona82-85 FC Barcelona UNIKS Kazan111-109

The 45-year-old mastermind also had nice words for UNICS Kazan.

"They are a really good team. They beat CSKA by 20 in Moscow, they have won against Madrid, Efes... We saw it today here, they played well, with energy. I think they had only doubts in the last three minutes."

Jokubaitis was once again a key factor for FC Barcelona. He ended the game with 15 points, including 4 in the overtime. The youngster guard was praised by his coach after his last performances in the previous weeks.

"I knew him. It is not the first time he helped us in a tied game. He did in Istanbul, against CSKA... He is just 21 years old but really consistent. I am not surprised, but it is remarkable," admitted Jasikevicius.

Last Barcelona's signing Dante Exum had his momentum during the game, leading the start of the comeback with some aggressive lay-ups.

"He is not in his best shape yet, but his defense is really important for us. I liked the way he attacked the rim today," described Saras.

On the other hand, Velimir Perasovic admitted Barcelona deserved to win.

"I want to congratulate them. Their effort in the last quarter is worth the praise. We had the game in our hands but could not finish it well. It is a bittersweet feeling", confessed the Croatian coach.

Asked about Isaiah Canaan's gesture with his finger, Perasovic was pretty honest.

"Honestly, I did not see what he did. But if you said it was like this, that was unnecessary. The crowd gets on top and the opposing team has another motivation," he concluded.

Full game highlights:

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