The Barça coach Sarunas Jasikevicius stated that the Barça team needed a victory like the one this Thursday against Panathinaikos, which allowed to give rest to the starters and confidence to the less usual players.
“Today has been a very good match. We needed this game. Being our fourth in seven days, we arrived just with strength. A lot of people who needed to play well have done so and have kept up with the pace of the team. They go home happy and more confident“, explained the Lithuanian coach.
Asked about the status of the injured Cory Higgins, Jasikevicius said that the American “you are evaluating your options” and rules out surgery due to discomfort in the plantar fascia in the left foot. “Cory (Higgins) is evaluating his options, to see what happens. He is listening to two or three expert opinions right now and soon you have to decide if you are going to follow a conservative treatment or perhaps you will have to operate“, he explained.
On whether Higgins’ possible long-term loss gives point guard Dante Exum more options to continue at Barça beyond February 28, when his current contract expires, Jasikevicius said the club will decide at the end of February.
The Barça coach, a former Panathinaikos player, acknowledged that “it’s a bit sad” Y “very hard” see the current level of a club that, in his opinion, “with so much history and tradition, vaa return to the top very quickly and I want it because it is a very special club for me“.
“Me and Nick (Calathes) love this club very much. It is impossible to be all these years above. After the departure of Zeljko Obradovic he has taken a step back and after that of Xavi Pascual, anotherJasikevicius reflected.
For his part, forward Sergi Martínez valued that Barça was “solid“and executed”perfectly what the coach had asked us“, which allowed “to enjoy“on the track to a team that will arrive”in a very good timeto the King’s Cup.
