Sarunas Jasikevicius on Barcelona exit: 'The process was very ugly' / News - Basketnews.com

Sarunas Jasikevicius summarizes a three-year stint in Barcelona with mixed emotions, expressing satisfaction with achievements but keeping details of the "ugly" separation process brief.

Credit: Rokas Snarskis Credit Rokas Snarskis

In a recent appearance on Turkish sports television S Sport, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul's current head coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius, reflected on his time at FC Barcelona.

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Having concluded his three-year tenure with the Spanish team last summer, Jasikevicius expressed satisfaction with the job done, including three EuroLeague Final Four appearances, two ACB League titles, and two Copa del Rey trophies.

Despite these successes, the departure from Barcelona wasn't without its challenges.

"Great, extremely happy with the job done," Jasikevicius summed up his tenure in Barca. "Extremely sad that we fell short in the Final Fours, and those were very painful losses. Overall, I think we put Barca where it needs to be -- constantly No. 1-2 in the EuroLeague, constantly No. 1-2 in the ACB, playing all the finals everywhere.

"Getting the team to the biggest stage, improving the players, improving the young guys in [Rokas] Jokubaitis, [Oscar] Da Silva, [James] Nnaji, and making a lot of opportunities for academy players to make a debut in the big gym for Barca. Overall, extremely happy about three years in Barcelona."

When discussing the separation process, Jasikevicius chose to keep it brief, describing it as "ugly" without delving into further details.

"The process was very ugly, and I will keep it like that," Saras stressed. "I will not talk about more. It was ugly at the end with them."

Having coached Barcelona in a total of 268 games across various competitions, Jasikevicius emerged victorious in 204 of those matches.

He now has transitioned to lead Fenerbahce seamlessly, enjoying an undefeated streak with six consecutive wins in both domestic and EuroLeague competitions.

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Full interview on S Sport:

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