Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius spoke to the media after his team’s dramatic EuroLeague Round 28 victory over Panathinaikos.
In a raucous OAKA Arena, game was decided by a buzzer-beater from Wade Baldwin and followed by a heated post-game incident between Baldwin and Mathias Lessort.
Claim Now Jasikevicius began by praising both his players and the atmosphere, while also acknowledging the challenges of playing in Athens:
“I congratulate our players and our fans. I thank the people from Panathinaikos for the great welcome; those were the 20 best seconds of this season for me, while I was walking to the visiting team’s bench. Thank you very much. It’s not easy to play in Oaka Arena. Our guards didn’t play well, we made childish mistakes. Still, the players kept fighting.
Tarik Biberovic played a fantastic game, Baldwin was great in the second half while he was pretty poor in the first. It’s incredible how he changed the rhythm. In the end both teams could have won, but we did. We are happy. We could have finished the game better, but that’s how it is. It’s always hard to play in OAKA.”
On questions about the team’s future direction, Jasikevicius was adamant that progress matters more than optimism over results alone:
“We always say about players like Nando De Colo and Nigel Hayes-Davis that they understand everything. De Colo has played 500 games like this, nothing can surprise him. He expects these kinds of games and atmospheres like in OAKA Arena.
Hayes-Davis is similar. It’s important to have veterans and veterans have to show their experience on the court. We have a lot of experienced players, but sometimes we don’t use that in the best way. What can I say about Hayes-Davis? He’s one of the best players in the EuroLeague. He’s a player who changes the flow of the game and I congratulate Panathinaikos.”
When asked about Panathinaikos’ veterans and the nature of tight EuroLeague games, Jasikevicius also highlighted the importance of experience on both sides:
“I don’t care about the future. The most important thing is that we progress. I’m not satisfied with how we played and I try to be honest with the players, but it’s hard to convince them that we can be better because we’re winning. I feel that relaxation is our biggest enemy. After the game I said they scored 25 to 30 points off our mistakes.
There will always be mistakes, but there shouldn’t be big mistakes, and we are making big mistakes. It’s a big struggle between the coach and the players. We’re winning, so players think we’re doing well. But I don’t judge by wins and losses, but by analysing video and whether we follow the plan. I believe that in the end the details will make the difference. We progress, we win, but we must keep progressing.”
He finished by reiterating that development, not simply winning, is the true measure of the team’s season:
“The most important thing is that we keep progressing. Wins give us peace. Everyone is happy. The biggest question is whether we are progressing, because we have to play exceptionally if we want to achieve something in the playoffs, if we qualify.”
With the win, Fenerbahce improved to 19-7 and now prepare to host Partizan in their next EuroLeague matchup.
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