Jasikevicius after the comeback win against Olympiacos: “I didn’t expect it to be so ugly”

By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net

Fenerbahce defeated Olympiacos 64-61 in a rematch of last year’s EuroLeague Semifinals in Athens.

In a game that wasn’t particularly beautiful to watch, Fener had only 14 points after 18 minutes of the match and was down by as much as 16, but eventually found a way to win.

After the game, Sarunas Jasikevicius gave a flash interview, clearly stating that sometimes victories don’t have to be achieved in a beautiful way.

“We won this game with our character and belief. Everything was going very badly for us. Olympiacos punished every mistake we made. When they made mistakes, we missed the shots. However, we never stopped believing. Of course, the game could have gone either way in the last part, but we won. I think we were the much better side in the remaining 25 minutes, excluding the disaster in the first 15 minutes.

Sometimes, even when things aren’t going well, you have to find a way to win. That’s the truth. Some days you play beautiful, some days you play ‘ugly.’ I just didn’t expect it to be so ugly.”

Fenerbahce is now tied for first place in the Euroleague with a 6-1 record, and in the next round, they will visit Valencia. On the other hand, Olympiacos has a 5-2 record and will play against Besiktas in Istanbul in the upcoming round.

Jasikevicius about scandal in Greece

Saras Jasikevicius was asked about the scandal that broke out in Greek basketball, after the arrest of members of the EEC and the KED, but also the pre-trial detention of one of the six who were brought to justice, the former referee, Petros Papapetrou.

With the Lithuanian coach, who knows the Greek reality inside out, explaining: “There are three sides: The coaches, the players, the referees. Everyone is doing an incredibly difficult job, with a lot of stress.

No decisions should be made in offices. I hope that the authorities will find the edge, because we love the game of basketball so much and we want it to be clean. It’s a sacred thing for us, we’re nothing without basketball.

So we have to assess these situations, work hard and be honest. I hope the authorities find the edge and punish those responsible. It’s one of the keys to democracy.”