Barcelona Basketball fires coach João Peñaloya after team’s free fall | Basketball | Sports

FC Barcelona announced this afternoon that Joao Peñaloya will be appointed as the basketball coach in the summer of 2024, after failing to win any titles or reach the finals. He will be replaced by assistant coach Oscar Orellana on an interim basis. Barça’s decision was taken after the Barça team lost to Girona in the ACB League this Sunday (96-78) and on Friday at home to Real Madrid in the Euroleague (92-101). This is a nine-game losing streak in the Classic. Barça fans, whose president Joan Laporta was also present in the Palau Blaugrana box, responded by chanting for the president of the club, Josep Kubels, to resign. The result was the last straw, but what is most worrying is the anti-competitive image the team has given and its drift. This season, Barcelona have two wins and four losses (11th place) in the ACB League, and are currently out of the standings for the Copa del Rey, and have five wins and four losses (9th place) in the Euroleague.

“It’s a day to take responsibility, grit our teeth and lean in closer than anyone else. It’s a difficult day because we are definitely not playing. I ask the team to be more united than ever. We still have a lot of season left, but what happened on Friday and today does not lead us in a positive direction. We should not look for excuses,” Peñalroya said at the press conference after the game against Girona. A post-match meeting between Kubels, the section’s general director Juan Carlos Navarro, and his right-hand man, sporting director Mario Bruno Fernandes, was witnessed in the Fontajo hallways. And in the locker room with the players. He told reporters: “I’m going to keep working as I’ve always done. I feel strong and have a good relationship with the staff. The players feel messed up, but I can help them.” When asked about his future, he said, “I don’t make a decision.”

“I have to apologize and make a very strong self-criticism. Today is disappointing. The coach is trying a lot, but the players are not responding. We are all to blame. We doubt everything, many match situations, and those doubts do not give us the energy we should have,” explained Nico Laprovittola at Fontahau after the defeat against Girona. “Do you understand that the club together with the coach decided to change course?” a journalist asked him after the player assured him that the team supported the coach. “Yes, I don’t know if it’s ideal, I don’t know, but if that’s the answer, I understand. In a club like Barça, we are in the highest demands and anything can happen.”

Barcelona basketball has experienced a desert state for years, with two blank seasons in the showcase, something that hasn’t happened since 1993. The team’s tendencies go back a long way, and this section bleeds financially every year, with a difference of about 20 million between Barcelona’s budget and Real Madrid’s. fair play Club finances. “Our budget, in terms of net salary, is below the middle of the EuroLeague table,” Peñaroya told Cadena SER just a few days ago. In the summer of 2023, it has been decided that Sarunas Jasikevicius will not be renewed on the bench due to his high contract. Franchise player Nikola Mirotic also left after failing to meet the club’s financial needs. Roger Grimaud was chosen to lead the bench. However, in June 2024, the club released him after a one-year hiatus.

The following season, without a title, already under Peñaloya’s direction, was marked above all by the number of injuries that plagued the team, the controversy over the failed contract of Thomas Heurtel, and defeat. Barça were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the cup and in the same round of the league. play off Although they were runners-up in the Endesa League, they did not qualify for the Euroleague Final 4. This section is limited by economic conditions, has no star players under contract, and has not been successful. And within the team, there seems to be a disconnect. With Palau fans.

Peñaloya leaves the club with a record of 51 wins and 41 losses. This week, Barça face a double matchday in the Euroleague and will face Bayern on Wednesday without him leading the bench.