After some unexpected losses to Wilburban and Olympiacos in early December, Barcelona coach Sharonas Jasikevicius disliked his players’ lack of commitment and lack of motivation to extend their seven-match Euroleague winning streak. “When the sequence is interrupted, you have no choice but to return to work to start one again,” the Lithuanian coach said.
Sharas goes from joy to disappointment at the beginning of his journey in Catalonia. His arrival at the club fulfilled the wishes of the fans who saw in him the ideal coach to start a successful project with a vision for the future.
And there really was a need for a coach like him after the big investment made last year in building the squad with the addition of stars like Nikola Mirotic, Alex Abrins, Corey Higgins, Brandon Davis and others. With them, and with the only reinforcement this season of Nick Claths, Sharas got an almost ready team and just need to apply his game philosophy, and his ambitious and charismatic personality to it.
Sharas brought with him his style which emphasizes first and foremost intense defense, certain forms of pressure on the whole pitch, substitutions on defense, playing dedication on offense and looking for the best shooting position, preferably under the baskets and not from a distance.
Like Zalgiris during the Sharas era, Barça is one of the leading teams in assists in the Euroleague, but also one of the last in the factory in three-point shots. A bit of a weird style in the modern game, completely sanctifying the shots off the arc.
However, Barça manage to lead the Euroleague for weeks and also in the Spanish league – after a few very close games – stay close to the unbeaten Real Madrid. Will that be enough to compete for both titles – the declared goal of the club? We’ll have to wait and see.
After a season without titles, which ended in great disappointment in the loss in the Spanish League final to Basconia, Barça urgently needed Sharas to return to its place among the top clubs of European basketball.
The game against Maccabi Tel Aviv tonight (Friday, 22:00) comes at a time when Barcelona are at a crossroads. Can the current streak of two Euroleague victories be able to continue and Sharas’ philosophy be updated or are doubts about the team’s ability to win titles this season still alive.
The battles against the Yellows are special to him because of his glorious past at the Tel Aviv club. The games between the teams in recent years reflect a fairly even distribution of victories between the teams, and this time too it is difficult to predict how it will end.
The author is the senior commentator of “Mundo Deportivo” and former editor of the basketball section of the Spanish newspaper // Brought to print: Yaakov Meir