Donatas Motiejunas backs 3rd place game, expresses support for Olympiacos in final / News - Basketnews.com

Donatas Motiejunas believes 3rd place game in the EuroLeague Final Four could give a useful experience for Monaco. He also revealed why he's going to support Olympiacos in the upcoming final against Real Madrid.

Credit: Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS Credit Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS

After a historically bad third quarter against Olympiacos Piraeus, AS Monaco forward Donatas Motiejunas believes his team still has a lot to play for.

Donatas Motiejūnas

MIN:17.85PTS:8.63 (57.57%)REB:3.73As:0.83ST:0.3BL:0.08TO:0.88GM:40ProfileEuroLeague2022/2023

The Lithuanian forward disagreed with a popular opinion that the 3rd place game isn't needed, arguing that the teams can still take something out of it.

"In my opinion, 3rd place game is needed," Motiejunas said after the practice on Saturday. "An experience in such a tournament for such a young team like ours is invaluable. We need to try to win this last game, so we could know the feeling of winning in such tournaments."

"It [3rd place game] doesn't bother me. Maybe for some, it looks like a useless thing, but I disagree with that. You still gain experience, especially for younger players who have never been in such situations before. I don't think this game is a bad thing," he added.

The 32-year-old Lithuanian also reminded everyone that it took only two seasons for Monaco to reach the Final Four.

"To be in the Final Four is a big achievement, knowing that we are playing only for the second year," D-Mo argued. "On top of that, there's a French championship left, and we will start playing playoffs three days after we come back home."

"So, there's that question of how you want to end the season? It was a long, exhausting season, and you want to end it with the French league title," Motiejunas continued.

Nevertheless, the loss against Olympiacos was rather painful. Monaco were in a pole position after the first half, having a 12-point lead.

However, the Monegasque club lost the 3rd quarter 2-27, and after completely losing momentum, had to surrender to the Greek powerhouse.

Motiejunas admitted that it's difficult to explain such an outcome.

Donatas Motiejūnas

Team:AS MonacoPosition:CAge:32Height:213 cmWeight:120 kgBirth place:Kaunas, LithuaniaProfileNewsStatistics

"It's difficult to draw some kind of conclusions after such a collapse," D-Mo admitted. "We looked at a little bit of film, but again, we lost the game. It wasn't the first time when we collapsed in such a manner. It happened against Maccabi in Game 3. The whole team must take responsibility. We managed to win together, and we have to lose together."

The Lithuanian center also revealed he barely slept after Friday's loss.

"I didn't sleep, basically. I've slept for only two hours, so today, I feel kind of sluggish. I will get to bed earlier today, so I'd have more energy for tomorrow. You can lose [the game], but when you lose in this way, you just lie in bed and think about the reasons behind it," Motiejunas said.

Finally, Motiejunas was asked to make a prediction for the upcoming final between Olympiacos and Real Madrid.

Even though Monaco lost against Olympiacos, Motiejunas found his reasons why he would support the Greek club.

"I don't know [who's going to win]. I have plenty of friends in Olympiacos, including Isaiah Canaan, Tarick Black, and [Kostas] Papanikolaou. I also played against [Kostas] Sloukas since I've been a 16-year-old. I will support them and wish them the best of luck. There's that human factor, so I will support them," Motiejunas concluded.

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