Donatas Motiejunas: 'We didn't take many teams seriously, it's karma' / News - Basketnews.com

Motiejunas expressed his disappointment after not having reached a single season goal so far and declared it might be karma for not taking all of their opponents seriously.

Credit: Stefanos Kyriazis/ZUMA Press Wire Credit Stefanos Kyriazis/ZUMA Press Wire

AS Monaco lost the ultimate Game 5 at home against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, becoming the first team to do it in modern EuroLeague history. After the match, Monaco's center, Donatas Motiejunas, was honest about the outcome.

Donatas Motiejūnas

Team:AS MonacoPosition:CAge:33Height:213 cmWeight:120 kgBirth place:Kaunas, LithuaniaProfileNewsStatistics

With MVP frontrunner Mike James struggling, Motiejunas was the highest scorer on Monaco's roster in the playoffs, he also averaged the most rebounds and PIR per game on the roster.

"It's part of basketball. Last year, we were happy and now we are sad," Motiejunas told Alexandre Lacoste from BeBasket. "Big respect for Fenerbahce, who played an incredible game. They were calmer at the end, they found the open players in crunch time. That's the reason why they won. They were better than us."

Monaco remain trophyless this season. First, they lost to Paris Basketball in the semifinal of the French Leaders Cup in the middle of the season. Then, they got eliminated in the Coupe de France competition in the semifinal against Strasbourg. Now, they are left without the EuroLeague Final Four.

"We didn't manage to win any titles. We didn't take many teams seriously and I have the impression that it's karma: it's coming back to [haunt] us," Motiejunas proclaimed. "We didn't even win one of the two cups in France, we do not qualify for the Final Four there. We haven't achieved a single objective so far this season. It's disappointing."

"I hope that we will remobilize, that the guys will refocus, and that we will understand that there is only one trophy left to take. If we don't put all our concentration on it, we won't succeed," he concluded.

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