When in July 2020 the Barça announced that Sarunas Jasikevicius would be the new coach of the basketball team there were practically unanimity in opinions. Nobody from the club, or from the environment, put a but to the return of one of the great players of the Palau, capable not only of please to the viewer with his basketball, but above all of connect with the fans by their character. The Lithuanian came to Barça to return the team to the path of success, to regain his identity and to end to a decade marked by apathy, the abulia and the successes of Real Madrid. A ‘Pablo Laso’ for Barça, who had given tumbles since the departure of Xavi Pascual. Bartzokas, Sito Alonso and Pesic passed with more pain than glory, until the Lithuanian returned to the Palau.
Today Barça is a very different team from 2020, because today It is the Barça of Jasikevicius. A author team, which has combined the defensive rigor and the intensity physics with hits on the parquet. Euroleague League, Cup and Finalist in his first season, with an excellent balance in game and results, which led him to accumulate up to 28 victories in the highest continental competition. It could not be 29, Anadolu Efes prevented it, depriving Barça of the long-awaited Euroleague that he last won in 2010 with Ricky Rubio, Navarro or Pete Mickeal on the track. This season It is evident that it is the great objective and for the moment they are on an excellent path: 14 wins and only two defeats, being leaders of the competition. If they win today they will equal Fenerbahçe 15-2 in 2018 (they will surpass it by basketball average) becoming the best team of the first round since the last format change in Euroleague. To do this, they must win at Unics Kazan (follow the game live on AS.com).
The excellent track record of the team, which can be seen today initialed with a record win, has been based on a collective work in which Jasikevicius has known how to take advantage of all his pieces. With a stellar Mirotic in commandYes, but with numerous and very important losses that have not affected the overall performance. Without Abrines, Calathes and Higgins the team has lost so only one of the last nine games and, in the last victory at OAKA, neither were Nigel Hayes and Sergi Martínez. Nails absences important too against Unics Kazan, but those that Barça has managed to overcome perfectly.
Today in the Palau They face what are probably the two most fit teams in the Euroleague. The Barça arrives undefeated at home and with a streak of eight consecutive victories. Unics have three but have only lost one of the last eight games. Many focuses will logically be placed on Hezonja, who returns to what was his home since he returned to Europe. But also in Brown, leader of the competition in robberies. Defense, as always, will be a battlefield on which the party can choose: Unics is the best team of the competition denying the triple to his rivals.
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