“I loved my team”

Barça beat BAXI Manresa this Friday in the last Copa del Rey quarter-final match (107-70) with three sensational last quarters in which he has not given options to one of the teams that currently plays the best and that had come to command by 12 points in the middle of the first quarter (6-18).

For once, Sarunas Jasikevicius forgot his traditional demanding message to recognize the excellent work done by their players. “After the break we went as we talked. We had a very good reaction and I loved my team. We beat one of the best teams in Spain by more than 30 points. Now we have to enjoy an hour and forget about it right away” he explained.

The Lithuanian congratulated himself on the excellent performance of Àlex Abrines on his return to the slopes five months later going through the operating room. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t expect this from him. He hadn’t shown this yet in training. He’s stolen a couple of balls, made free throws and picked up some pace. I’m delighted,” acknowledged the Barça coach.

Saras knows that it has only been one step of the three that are needed to revalidate the title and already thinking about the semifinals this Saturday. “Another super tough team awaits us on a physical level and also very strong mentally like UCAM Murcia. We have to prepare very well. We respect them to the fullest. Look what they have done (with Valencia) after all the problems they have had. We We have to rest and recover,” he added.

The wide victory allowed the coach to reserve a lot for his key pieces, with special mention for Nikola Mirotic. “First of all congratulations to Manresa for his great seasonto. Her fans have been incredible and ours too. I thank them and hopefully more to come. It has been a tough game. They have been very successful at the beginning. We did not start well, but we have recovered and we played a very solid match”, indicated the one from Podgorica.

“This is the Cup and every game is a final. We’ve been dealt a great rival like Manresa in the quarterfinals and now we will face another great team such as UCAM Murcia. We have to recover. We have seen their match against Valencia and they have played very well. There are no excuses, we have to go our own way and be up to the task again,” said the Hispanic-Montenegrin.

“We are very happy for Àlex (Abrines). The whole team really wanted to see him on the track. We have seen him training a lot lately and the truth is that he has been much better than we expected. He has given us good minutes, he is the Àlex we want. We have a large squad again despite the loss of Cory (Higgins), who we miss him a lot and we will try to win the title for him,” Mirotic concluded.

For its part, Pedro Martínez could not hide his disappointment for saying goodbye to the tournament in such a sad way in the historic return to the Copa del Rey of BAXI Manresa 18 years after his last presence. This defeat should not erase the excellent work of the Catalan coach, his players and the entire club.

“They have been superior. It has been hard, but well… it is what it is. Let’s continue on our way and think about the next thing. I feel bad for our fans, because it costs a lot to get here and it will cost us a lot to return. Now, to pass this and to be happy with the players, who have done what they could and I insist, to think about the next goal”, commented the BAXI Manresa coach.