By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Šarūnas Jasikevičius admitted that leading Fenerbahçe past Žalgiris to the EuroLeague Final Four carried special emotions because of his deep connection with the Lithuanian club.
Jasikevicius both played for and coached Zalgiris in the past, leading the Kaunas powerhouse to a Final Four appearance as head coach in 2018. That history made this playoff victory bittersweet for the Lithuanian tactician.
“It’s actually worse because it’s Zalgiris, because I love this team so much. I love their head coach so much, he’s like family to me. But destiny brought us here and we had to do the job,” Jasikevicius said after the game.
The Fenerbahce head coach also emphasized how little separated the two sides during the series.
“I did the best job possible for my team and, in these kinds of games, anybody can win. The coin flipped our way.”