Mirotic begs for unity, trusts in Barca to win titles / News - Basketnews.com

Nikola Mirotic thinks there are still titles to win this season and trusts the process.

Credit: AFP-Scanpix Credit AFP-Scanpix

FC Barcelona will not make the three-peat at the Spanish Copa del Rey. The Blaugranas suffered a tough loss against Unicaja Malaga in what was a historical upset. Unicaja defeated Barca in a knockout game for the first time in 29 years.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Kendrick Perry Points 22 Accuracy 9-15 Rebounds 6 Assists 4

"I can't get us to close the games," head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius admitted in the post-game press conference. The Lithuanian head coach was asked if this problem can be solved in the upcoming months.

"I don't know what to say to you, honestly. I do not get it," Saras added.

If Jasikevicius looked dejected after a huge failure, Nikola Mirotic sent a more optimistic message to Barca's fans.

"We are capable of turning this situation around. We must be more united than ever. There are still titles to win. I trust in Barca. I'm optimistic," the power forward said in the mixed zone.

Mirotic faced the consequences as Barcelona's captain. He could not hide his disappointment, especially for the way it happened.

"Once again, we were not able to kill the game. I think we played a good game, we had confidence, but we lost. Barca's season depends on titles, nothing else matters," the team's star began

"We were up by 10 points in different parts of the game but we allowed them to bounce back several times. They played great, I'm not underestimating them but we lacked accuracy at the end. We must think about everything [in our game]," Mirotic added.

Mirotic was the top scorer against Unicaja with 15 points, but just 2 of them came in the last quarter and 4 in overtime.

"It hurts a lot. We have lost the title. We were the champions for two years in a row. It feels bad. We were playing well recently, we were starting to be more consistent. In the end, we missed our chance," he concluded.

FC Barcelona will face off against AS Monaco at Palau Blaugrana in the EuroLeague next Friday, January 245h at 20:45 CET.

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