Jasikevicius after Hapoel loss: “We’ll see if we can come through this period collectively”

Fenerbahce Beko coach Sarunas Jasikevicius reacted with clear concern after the loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv, pointing above all to his team’s poor start and defensive struggles.
In his postgame comments, the Lithuanian coach described a difficult stretch that will require better physical condition and a stronger collective response.

Jasikevicius acknowledged the work of Hapoel and Dimitris Itoudis, explaining that Fenerbahce never opened the game with the right energy. He also returned to the issue of too many points allowed in the first half, identifying it as one of the most serious problems for the team right now.

“I congratulate Hapoel and Itoudis on the win. They were the better team today,” Jasikevicius said. He then added: “We did not start the game with the right energy, and Hapoel began to open the gap from the very beginning”. He also said: “We could have started the game better, with a stronger sense of urgency”.

The Fenerbahce coach continued: “Of course we are aware of the points we are conceding in first halves, and we have talked about it with the players. Naturally, talking about it is one thing, being able to change it collectively is another. This is a very big problem”. His strongest message came when he addressed the team’s current situation: “We are going through a difficult period right now, and we are waiting for the players to get back into good physical condition. We’ll see if we can come through this difficult stretch collectively”. He closed with another sharp assessment of the defensive performance: “On a day when the opponent scores 95 points, we cannot talk about our own shooting. Yes, we missed shots, but we could not stop Hapoel”.