Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius voiced his frustration after his team’s lopsided loss to Real Madrid, calling it one of the toughest nights of his coaching tenure in the EuroLeague.
Speaking calmly but candidly in the postgame press conference, Jasikevicius admitted that his team completely fell short of expectations on both ends of the floor.
“We didn’t do anything we wanted to do on the court today. We were terrible in the first half,” he said, reflecting on the team’s lackluster effort in Madrid.
However, Jasikevicius emphasized that his concern extends beyond tactics or strategy.
“Frankly, I don’t care about the basketball we played because we weren’t performing well on the court. We weren’t good on the court, like professional athletes,” he explained. “This worries me a lot because we’ve been talking about motivation all the time since the season started. It’s as if we can’t handle the success we’ve achieved so far. We look terrible on the court right now. Our performance will probably improve as the games progress, but our current state doesn’t look good at all.”
The coach noted that the season is a long one and urged his players to approach it with more humility and consistency.
“This is not one of the worst losses. Of course, it’s bad, but it’s not a final or something,” he said. “I think we need to be more humble as a team. I believe that if you want to be a champion, you have to act like one every day. When things go wrong in some matches, we suddenly stop playing; a championship team shouldn’t do that. Of course, we still have many matches left, and we’ll get better at some points as the season goes on, but right now, things aren’t going our way.”
When asked whether Fenerbahce might look to strengthen the roster through signings, Jasikevicius downplayed that idea, suggesting that internal improvement is more important than new additions.
“Many EuroLeague teams are currently looking for transfers. In such an environment, how much better can transfers improve the team? I have some doubts about that,” he said.
“We can’t handle the success we’ve achieved so far. We look terrible on the court” – Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius after two losses in EuroLeague’s double-game weekhttps://t.co/4AIhOu5I8P
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) October 31, 2025
