Sarunas Jasikevicius: “This is exactly how championships are won”

By Bugra Uzar/ [email protected]

ABU DHABI—Sarunas Jasikevicius is a four-time EuroLeague winner as a participant. He has executed it with Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Panathinaikos.

He additionally performed for Fenerbahce, however he didn’t give the membership a EuroLeague trophy.

So he did it as a coach, turning into the primary one that gained the trophy each as a participant and as a coach within the fashionable period of the competitors.

“I congratulate our players, our fans, and our club for winning the championship”, he mentioned within the press convention after his triumph. “This is exactly how championships are won. To become a champion, you first need to know how to suffer. There was a burden on my shoulders.”

Jasikevicius had already 4 Ultimate Fours below his belt as a coach, however couldn’t win the trophy regardless of the help system of his household and particularly his spouse Anna: “I have been to the Final Four many times before, but I could not become a champion. It was very difficult for me to cope with this. That is why I want to dedicate this trophy to my family, especially my wife. My wife is the rock of our family. She has coped with me and some of my crazy friends for years. She has come to every Final Four with me for years. Of course, being a champion is not easy, there are some difficulties in this job. It was a very difficult process, but my wife has always stood by me very firmly. She coped with my friends, with the tickets. She dealt with things that are not visible. That is why I want to dedicate the trophy to my wife”.

He did it on the fifth strive, whereas expectations have been all the time excessive from the primary day.

As he defined, “I think there was a very unfair situation for me. When it came to my coaching, people never asked, ‘Will Saras become a champion one day?’ They always asked, ‘When will Saras become a champion?’ Some people don’t realise how difficult it is to become a champion. It is really very difficult. Of course, you need the performance of your players. When the players don’t perform as expected, the first person to blame is the coach. So I think the attitude towards me was not very fair. They kept asking, ‘When will Saras become a champion?’ Everyone took it for granted that I would become a champion one day. I think it was not fair, so many coaches are doing great things. So it was not easy”.

Giving credit score to the MVP, Melli, and GM Derya Yannier

Coach Saras additionally needed to speak about different pillars of Fenerbahce‘s success, ranging from the Ultimate 4 MVP Nigel Hayes-Davis: “What people don’t know is that Nigel didn’t come to this Final Four at his full potential. He had a bad time in some of the practices, he didn’t give his full potential. I especially admire his performance in the semi-finals because he played patiently. He didn’t force anything, he waited for the game to come to him. That’s a huge sign of maturity. Of course, he’s a player we want to have the ball in his hands at critical moments. It’s not easy for a power forward, it’s much easier for a short player. But we did everything we could to get him involved in the game. I’m very happy for him because he has a very high work ethic. He’s one of the biggest stars in Europe, and most importantly, he’s a champion now”.

Subsequent in line was one other ahead, Italian Nicolo Melli, who performed up to now for Fenerbahce, went to the NBA, returned to Milan, and final summer time determined to return again to Istanbul to win the EuroLeague for the primary time in his profession.

For Jasikevicius, he was the important thing: “I wanted to have a player who could play both the 4 and 5 position in our squad in the summer. Nico was exactly the player we were looking for. We had a very nice phone conversation with him before his transfer. He said to me, ‘I don’t care about the coach, the system, or my role in the team. I know you will play me, all I want is to be a champion. He said to me, ‘I want to go back to Fenerbahçe to win the EuroLeague.’ I told him after the game today, ‘That’s why you came here, congratulations.’”

Final however not least, Sarunas Jasikevicius talked about his GM, Derya Yannier: “I am very happy to be a part of Fenerbahçe. When I talked to Derya before coming here, he explained everything to me in detail. He explained how the division of duties would be, and everything turned out as he said. I am definitely here thanks to Derya. Whatever he told me before signing the contract happened. Everything went as we talked and planned. It is an honor to work with the best GM in Europe.”