Sarunas Jasikevicius on Barcelona: It’s not serious, not for a big club

Fenerbahçe coach Sarunas Jasikevicus spoke to Piti Hurtado on the Movistar+ Zona Euro programme, where he touched on a number of topics.

ON BARCELONA

“My personal record is very good. I already had friends, I met others, my family were very happy. On a sporting level, I think we’ve had three wonderful years, apart from the fact that we didn’t win the EuroLeague, which is everyone’s dream. But I think we can be very proud of those three years. We won titles, we were always first or second in the EuroLeague and the ACB, we played in almost all the finals. …. I am very proud.

“There are defeats that hurt. Last year was one of the worst, in the semifinals in Kaunas. I think we clearly had a better team than Madrid, but we didn’t show it, they have very experienced players and they blow you away. I also like the way the boys bounced back after the Final Four, because it was a tough blow. In the ACB playoffs we played very good basketball, especially in the last five games, the two in Malaga and the three against Madrid.

ON THE BLAUGRANA

“Like any big club, it is a complicated club. I was very disappointed with my managers, the people at the club, the way they treated me in the last three years. I suffered a lot. Sometimes it felt like we were not all on the same page. To do what they did with Mirotic is not serious, not for a big club. One of the things that hurt me the most was that the people I worked with for years were taking a lot of things out of the press, there were meetings behind the scenes with journalists to say things. It was very clear to me that on a project level they didn’t like things anymore. I wanted different things, I turned down the first offer and they didn’t give me the second one. I think they understood that. Thank you and see you in better times.