After Copa del Rey's fiasco, questions on Jasikevicius' future are mounting / News - Basketnews.com

After the early exit from the Spanish Cup, more questions have been raised about the future of coach Sarunas Jasikevicius in Barcelona. With his contract set to expire in a few months, Jasikevicius' future is starting to become an enigma.

Credit: IMAGO/kolbert-press-Scanpix Credit IMAGO/kolbert-press-Scanpix

After last week's loss against Unicaja Malaga in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal, all sorts of questions have emerged about the future of Sarunas Jasikevicius on Barcelona's bench.

The Lithuanian head coach joined the Catalan side in 2020 to replace veteran coach Svetislav Pesic and take Barcelona to the next level.

Hiring the Lithuanian head coach was an idea that Barcelona had in mind for a while, and it was a natural one too.

Jasikevicius had two different experiences as a player in Barcelona, and both were extremely successful. He knew the environment like a few others.

In addition to that, Jasikevicius came from a very good tenure with Zalgiris Kaunas. Despite having one of the smallest budgets in the EuroLeague, in his last two seasons as head coach of the Lithuanian team, Jasikevicius took the team to the Final Four once and to the playoffs in the other one, a huge accomplishment for a team like Zalgiris.

When Jasikevicius took over, there was a lot of excitement surrounding him. There was a genuine feeling he was the right man for the job.

In his first two seasons in Barcelona, Jasikevicius reached the EuroLeague Final Four twice. In 2021 he lost in the final against Anadolu Efes, and in 2022 he was defeated by Real Madrid in the semifinal.

He won the ACB title in his first year, while last year, he lost in the final against Real Madrid. Overall, since becoming Barcelona's head coach, Jasikevicius has won one ACB title and two Copa del Rey.

It's not a bad outlook, and his team has always been in the mix for every single major title since he became the head coach, but every single defeat in a club like Barcelona gets massive exposure, and every single title that the team doesn't win could become the one that gets you fired from your job.

But after the defeat in the Copa del Rey against Malaga, that noise is becoming louder and louder. Jasikevicius' contract with Barcelona will expire at the end of the season, and so far, there hasn't been a lot of traction on a potential contract extension.

Recently, the Lithuanian head coach stated that he hasn't spoken with the club yet and that he's only focused on the current season.

"We have not spoken yet, I have had so many situations in my career in which my contract was about to expire," Jasikevicius stated.

"I'll try to do my job in the best possible way. You have to focus on the next training and next game. Whatever happens will happen. I'm not worried about this situation at all".

With just a few months before the end of the contract, the uncertainty is increasing. Barcelona has already failed to secure two potential titles this season, the Supercopa at the beginning of the season and now the Copa del Rey.

Now, the Catalan team must focus on the EuroLeague and the ACB. Currently, Barcelona is right behind the two leaders of the standings in the EuroLeague (Real Madrid and Olympiacos) with a record of 16 wins and 8 losses.

Meanwhile, in the ACB, they share the top of the table with Real Madrid, with a record of 17 wins and 3 defeats. They're on track to compete for both titles until the end.

But the feeling is that the EuroLeague title will hold much more weight in the evaluations that will be made at the end of the season. According to a report from AS, Jasikevicius' contract will be automatically extended for another season if Barcelona win the EuroLeague title.

The last time Barcelona won the EuroLeague title was back in 2010, so now it's been more than ten years without the major European title in Barca's showcase.

So it's easy to understand how strong the desire is for Barcelona's management to bring back that title to their city. The current GM of the team, Juan Carlos Navarro, was part of the squad that won the last EuroLeague title for Barca.

Even for him, the EuroLeague title means the world, and he wants to bring back that trophy to Barcelona. Navarro wasn't the one who hired Jasikevicius, he inherited him from the previous management.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the former Spanish champion doesn't appreciate the work of Jasikevicius, but this is another aspect that might influence the final decision on Barca's coaching job.

It's not a coincidence that Xavi Pascual, Navarro's head coach in that 2010 EuroLeague title run, has been linked to Barcelona's job multiple times in the past few weeks.

Pascual is still under contract with Zenit and has a lucrative contract in Russia. Luring him away from St.Petersburg, despite the lack of EuroLeague basketball, won't be easy.

At the same time, the connection between Navarro and Pascual could play a pivotal role in any potential negotiation.

One of the main issues during Jasikevicius' tenure so far has been the mental aspect. After the defeat against Malaga in the Copa del Rey, the Lithuanian head coach took full responsibility for his inability to give his players the urge to kill the game.

"I take full responsibility as a coach. I could not make our players understand that this game was a final. It is clear that we are not doing something right," Jasikevicius explained.

"This hurts a lot because we already lost the Super Cup due to fouls at crucial moments, and now we have lost the Cup. You have to kill the games."

This lack of killer instinct of the team and their inability to understand the importance of some situations is a point Jasikevicius touched multiple times during his time with Barcelona.

Now in his third season with the Catalan side, you can't help but think that maybe there's something wrong with how that message is passed to the players.

Jasikevicius is hands down one of the best coaches in Europe, but his coaching style has often been described as 'very controlling', and some players have complained about his methods.

Nick Calathes, who played under Jasikevicius in Barcelona and moved to Fenerbahce this summer, said that he didn't have enough freedom in Barcelona and that Jasikevicius' system was too strict.

"As a player, you want to have some freedom. Especially since I'm not 20 years old, I know how to play," Calathes said.

"I think over there, it was more of a system, Saras controlled it more. I think here coach Itoudis gives players freedom, gives players things to do on the court, but he also has a lot of confidence in you, he believes in you, he lets you control the game."

All these elements of concern are there and will be evaluated in the coming months. Maybe, if Barcelona win the EuroLeague, all these issues will be simply put aside, and the organization will move on, with coach Jasikevicius firmly in place.

But with the contract of the Lithuanian coach expiring in a few months, the clock is ticking for Barcelona.

At the end of the season, if the results aren't satisfying, many things could change, and the first one to pay the price could be Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.