By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Interviewed by Spanish news agency EFE, Sarunas Jasikevicius discussed several topics, from the EuroLeague Playoffs against his beloved Zalgiris Kaunas to his opinion about the type of basketball being played in the NBA.
“First, you have to understand who this team is because it seems that they are not respected as much as others. If Efes, Milan, Fenerbahce, Valencia, and Baskonia seem like very good rivals, Zalgiris has been above them in a season in which they have lost their best player (Keenan Evans), having a new coach and team. I know them all. I know the coach very well, the fans. For me, it is not difficult to value them, but we are going to see them for Barça fans and, most importantly, for the boys. They are the ones who have to be mentally prepared to face a team that is like Bayern in recent years, which does not give you anything, where everyone is willing to die for the shirt. “It seems like they don’t have superstars, but statistically they are the EuroLeague team that plays the best in the last five minutes”, he said on this year’s Zalgiris Kaunas.
Talking about the near future, Saras made no secret about winning the EuroLeague being the goal of the whole club. “Clearly it is the illusion of all, but you have to know how to manage it and go game by game. For me, it is easier. I always go step by step, whether they are training sessions or games. I try to react to what happens and thus build from every quarter of every game. Going little by little is the mentality. That this year the Final Four is played in Kaunas doesn’t matter. Even in Dubai, I would be delighted to win”, he stated.
He also talked about the NBA potentially being a model for the EuroLeague. “The NBA is a basketball where only the owners should be happy, because the value of the franchises is skyrocketing and money comes from all over the world, especially from China and India. But I am a basketball person and for me, basketball is unbearable there. The playoffs are something else, but you can’t watch the regular season. You can’t go with the mentality they have. They don’t train, it’s another world. It seems they do little to improve. It’s a business in its purest form. There are 22 franchises that always have problems getting into the playoffs, that are constantly improvising. And eight who do know what they are doing, who follow a plan and an idea together with the players and coaches”, commented on the way basketball has been played and perceived recently in the US.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague