By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
After congratulating Anadolu Efes for winning the 2021 EuroLeague championship against his team, Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius hinted at having complaints with the game’s officiating without directly mentioning the refereeing.
“I don’t want to get myself in trouble too much. I’m unhappy about some things. Euroleague will hear from us for sure. We cannot leave it like that,” Saras said in the post-game presser.
He later became a bit more specific when he implied that there was difference in the referees’ criteria for fouls on Cory Higgins and Efes players. “I got a fine this year for asking respect for Cory Higgins. Obviously there’s more respect on the other side. If I get another fine, I don’t care. Like I said, they will hear from us.”
Barcelona started the game by putting on the court some tremendous defense that nullified the lethal duo of Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin. The Blaugrana went up 25 – 15 in the mid of the second period but Efes struck back and found some offensive solutions with Larkin using his speed and slashing abilities to go to the line more. The Turkish team got a 36 – 39 lead at halftime.
“For the big part of the game we didn’t follow the game plan. We put them on the line too many times,” Saras said. Efes shot 35 free throws against Barca’s 29. “In general, when we got back in the game in the fourth quarter we made two crucial mistakes that cost us six points.”
Barcelona trailed ever since until tying the game at 69 in the mid of the fourth quarter. With the score 72 – 72, Micic and Larkin led Efes to a 4 – 11 run and the Serbian guard drained a pair of free throws in the final seconds to ice his team’s win before being crowned Final Four MVP.
“I’m very proud of my team, proud of how we came this year and we’d like to keep improving our details. This is what we talked about the whole year. For me, I have it pretty clear. Details win the titles,” Saras mentioned.
Jasikevicius also praised his starting point guard Nick Calathes for playing in the game despite hurting his ankle two days ago in the semifinal.
“Nick Calathes is a warrior. He had no doubt that he will do whatever it will takes to be on the court. He was there. I don’t think he had a great night as far as being disciplined and running the team but let’s not forget what kind of game he had in the semifinal. We need more people like Nick Calathes, with his type of sacrifice going into the final. His mentality was that as long as he could walk he’d be on the court and gives us what he can. But i know him and it wasn’t surprising for me that he was on the court.”