Fenerbahce head tactician Sarunas Jasikevicius apologized to fans and pleaded for an end to the chants after a home loss with a score of 93-69 against Dubai.
It was already the team’s third loss and the second consecutive at home.
The head coach credited Dubai and their coaching staff for dominating on defense, which led to the need for offensive adjustments to prevent receiving a blowout loss at home.
“I’d like to congratulate Dubai and coach Golemac on their win. I also want to apologize once again to our fans — this is not the image of Fenerbahce we want to show. A performance like this at home is unacceptable. I keep repeating myself, but we’re struggling to find the right solutions on offense, and our motivation isn’t where it should be. The only positive is that we have another game in 48 hours where we can react,” Jasikevicius said.
Jasikevicius noted that the systematic plays within the players have been the problem ever since, and they have not yet found a solution, as they have only two days to practice to resolve their slump.
“I don’t know if you remember, but this was also a problem under the previous coach. When that happens, you look at the stats to understand what’s going on. Nearly two years have passed, and we still haven’t found a clear solution. This has been an issue for a long time, and the reality is that last season we were one of the worst teams in the league in first quarters. We are aware of the problem, we talk about it with the players constantly, but a solution hasn’t been found yet.”
He also urged fans to stop the chant “EuroLeague Mafia” as the coach believes no one deserves it, despite unfair referee calls.
“I also want to make a request to our fans: please stop chanting ‘EuroLeague Mafia’ during games. It’s not appropriate, especially considering we are the reigning EuroLeague champions. When we played well and won the championship last year, no one was calling ‘mafia.’ So I won’t comment on the referees today because our opponent simply outplayed us.“
Fenerbahce will look forward to some adjustments over the next two days before traveling to face Bayern Munich.
