Jasikevicius: “Meeting Anadolu Efes is a very nice challenge” – Basketball – ABC Color

“It is a new opportunity in front of our people, a very nice challenge. We are both very good teams and hopefully we can bring joy to our fans,” said the Lithuanian coach on Tuesday.

Asked about the growing rivalry between the Turks and the Catalans, who already met in the last final with an Ottoman victory, Jasikevicius looked to the present: “Right now we are not in a time to think about fighting for the competition. There are many teams that are trying to survive We hope to be able to arrive with options at the end of the season”.

The Lithuanian coach recognized that the outside duo formed by the Serbian Vasilije Micic and the American Shane Larkin forms “one of the most powerful perimeters in the Euroleague”.

“It is the perimeter that led them to win the Euroleague. Clearly it is a very difficult job for us, but we are two ‘Final Four’ teams, this cannot be easy, it has to be difficult and more so in the conditions in which we are”, valued the azulgrana coach.

Jasikevicius also referred to the support of the fans: “I think the Palau loves this team very much, the atmosphere seems to be getting better and better. I know that losing is awful for the Palau and this lowers the atmosphere a bit, it’s normal, but in general lines we should be very happy with how people are with the team”.

To finish, the Lithuanian coach was proud of “the spirit of war” that Barça showed in Tuesday’s defeat against AX Armani Exchange Milan (73-75) and said that “right now the priority is to regain freshness.

For his part, center Sertac Sanli, who this summer signed for Barça from Anadolu Efes, said he had not yet spoken to his former teammates, although he did not rule out doing so after the last training session this afternoon.

“Of course it’s special for me to play against Anadolu Efes. It always will be because it’s the team where I started and with them I won the Euroleague. I need to lower my feelings, be a professional and do my job”, declared the Turk.

Sanli acknowledged that he would like to repeat his personal performance in the first round victory in Istanbul (93-95), where he was the best player with 22 points, although he clarified that “the goal is victory and it will be difficult against the champions”. EFE.

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