Jasikevicius takes all the blame for Copa del Rey loss vs Unicaja / News - Basketnews.com

Sarunas Jasikevicius admitted that his team once again did not manage to close out the game and took all the blame for it.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

The European basketball world was waiting to witness the El Clasico in the Spanish Copa del Rey this week but Unicaja Malaga eliminated FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals.

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

Kendrick Perry made the game-deciding shot in overtime. Nicolas Laprovittola had a chance to tie the game with under a second left but missed both free throws and Barca had to leave the arena with their heads down.

Talking after the game, Barcelona's head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius took all the blame for the loss.

"I'd like to congratulate Unicaja and [coach] Ibon [Navarro] for the victory. I take full responsibility as a coach. I could not make our players understand that this game was a final," the Lithuanian specialist admitted.

"We did not close the game. There have been moments when we were very good, I don't know if we were dominating the game, but we were in control. It is clear that we are not doing something right," he said.

The issue of not being able to close the games has come up multiple times this season for Barcelona. Jasikevicius admitted that it has to change in order to win the biggest matches.

"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," Saras told the media in the post-game press conference.

"I can't tell you how to deal with the remainder of the season. We now have to pack our bags and go home. We will sit down with the staff and the guys to talk and improve. The worst thing is that my speech is going to be very similar today, tomorrow, and the day after," Jasikevicius admitted. "We are not able to take the next step."

Kendrick Perry's game-deciding shot:

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.