The first Final Four in Monegasque history ended under the fiery chants of Olympiakos fans as a prelude to their final against Real Madrid. AS Monaco feared a decompression after the disappointment of the defeat in the semi-finals (62-76 against Olympiakos). We did observe a dropout, but it came… from Barcelona, still stunned after its disappointment against the eternal rival of Madrid.
Sarunas Jasikevicius’s men, whose only reason to live on the European scene is the coronation, never existed or let people think that they could recover from the first gap dug by the Roca Team in the first quarter (24-13 ). Not concerned, apathetic in defensive challenges, without motivation, aggressiveness or intensity (0 free throws attempted at the break!), They had already, after ten minutes, lost seven balls and sprayed without finding the target (5/14).
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Monaco is only the second club in the French Championship to finish at least third in the Euroleague, with Limoges, winners in 1993 and 3rd in 1990.
Monaco only had to present a decent face and more in keeping with its status to find the way to a first victory in its history (0-4 so far) over the Catalans. Serious and diligent, the ASM did it (78-66), and ended its European campaign on an excellent note, climbing on the third step of the podium of the queen event.
“A choice of the coach”
Mike James on his little playing time against Barcelona
Sasa Obradovic has quite logically and largely rotated his workforce. He didn’t even need Mike James (3 points), who made a small turn at the start (6 minutes) then went away definitively on the bench – “coach’s choice”said the mixed zone player afterwards – , nor of Donatas Motiejunas (2 points).
In a game where Monaco largely dominated the rebound battle (37-29), six players scored 9 points or more, with a peak of 14 units (5/7) for Matthew Strazel, widely used against the Catalan team where only Nikola Mirotic had his head above water (15 points, 4 steals). We saw Yoan Makoundou (4 points on two dunks) or Jaron Blossomgame (9 points), while Jordan Loyd played distributors (9 points, 6 ists).
Make way for the Betclic Elite play-offs
At the break, the gap had further swelled (44-28). It will rise to nineteen units, before reducing somewhat at the end. With 66 points scored, Barcelona delivered their worst attacking game of the Euroleague season.
His contract completed, the Rock club must “switch” in Betclic Elite play-off mode. On the road to a first league title, his most important objective of the season, stands Strasbourg, which he will host on Wednesday for an electric first round.