Zalgiris GM Motiejunas after EuroLeague season: 'Team was not pleasant to watch' / News - Basketnews.com

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Zalgiris Kaunas finished their performance in the EuroLeague last Sunday with a win against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. The up and down match marked the end of the illustrious career of Paulius Jankunas.

Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz Zalgiris Kaunas96-79 Zalgiris Kaunas Crvena Zvezda Belgrade103-98 Zenit Saint Petersburg Zalgiris KaunasFri17:00

Zalgiris general manager Paulius Motiejunas sat down with the Zalgiris Insider platform show's host Rytis Kazlauskas where he answered the questions from the platform's subscribers.

The first thing Motiejunas mentioned was that Jankunas is not leaving Zalgiris. The legendary forward is going to continue his work in the front office. Although the process is currently underway, Motiejunas let the viewers know that the most important thing now is to finish the season on a positive note.

"The main task is to finish this season. We've talked with the team that finishing the EuroLeague season doesn't mean we can take two months off," the GM explained. "We need to finish the LKL (Lithuanian Basketball League) regular season on a positive note, we need to secure first place in the standings which is currently not a guarantee. We have to win the LKL. Paulius knows this himself. Even when the game finished, I reminded him myself."

Zalgiris finished the EuroLeague Regular Season with 8 wins and 20 losses, and are currently last in the standings. The team can rise from the last spot if Panathinaikos OPAP Athens lose their two remaining games. Talking about the season, Motiejunas was certain that the year cannot be judged positively. He also noted that he missed the fighting spirit of his players.

"The season in the EuroLeague was bad. I wanted it to end sooner. The last win was a cherry not on top of the cake, but on top of all the pile we had made. I'm happy we finished the season in a successful way for Paulius. I said the same thing in Vitoria that we had to pull ourselves together for Paulius. I'm very pleased the fans felt that emotion that we can fight and win. It was not the team I liked watching play. That's not Zalgiris. I did not feel like the Zalgiris we want to see."

Points this season

45%73,0Points made:73,0Accuracy:44,9%Place in standings:17Record max:103Record min:51Best scorer:Lukas LekavičiusTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Looking for positive things, Motiejunas named several players' performances in the tournament and noted their increased level of play since the start of the year.

"Marek [Blazevic]andKarolis [Lukosiunas] performance can be evaluated more positively. They both had their chances and showed they can play. That's one plus. It's a plus when you see the parts that you can build the franchise around," Motiejunas explained.

"The improved Tyler CavanaughandJosh Neboare also a plus. At one time it looked like we signed bad players, but they kept on moving forward.Lukas [Lekavicius]had a great season, we managed to reviveUle [Edgaras Ulanovas]"

The general manager also commented on the news about Kazys Maksvytis becoming the new Zalgiris coach. He did not confirm the news so far.

"I know that there are a lot of questions about Kazys. As a club, we always have the same position. Jure Zdovc is the coach now, and we do not comment on negotiations. We did not publish the news. We'll be able to talk about it whenever we publish it," the general manager finished his statement.

Public part of the entire show (in Lithuanian):

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