When Sarunas Jasikevicius publicly turns on his own team, things are serious. After Fenerbahce's loss to Zalgiris by 78:81 in Game 3 of the EuroLeague playoff, the Turkish side's coach didn't pull punches.

„Maybe we didn't understand our defensive philosophy. Yesterday at the airport I was already annoyed by questions about whether we let them shoot threes - because we don't. Today we really looked like an amateur team", Jasikevicius said at the post-game press conference. „As if Zalgiris came to Jonava (a Lithuanian town) and were allowed to shoot threes there."

The tone is sharp, but the logic is clear: Fenerbahce didn't lose because Zalgiris was better - they lost because Fenerbahce looked like they didn't know what they were doing. „We started well, especially in attack. Later we couldn't sustain the level, and in defence we weren't good for a single minute."

The loss cuts Fenerbahce's series lead to 2:1. Zalgiris, taking advantage of home court, kept themselves in the tie. The Istanbul giants now have to travel back to Kaunas for Game 4 on Friday.

For the Balkans this is a story with several layers: Zalgiris and Lithuania are eternal rivals to regional sides in the EuroLeague, and Fenerbahce is a traditional favourite. If Zalgiris ties the series at 2:2, Game 5 becomes inevitable - and then anything is possible. The Final Four starts to look further away for Jasikevicius.