We can’t stop Monaco anymore. Forty-eight hours after its success in Villeurbanne (100-75), the club of the principality won Thursday in Saint Petersburg (86-77), third in the standings before the match, during the 22nd day of the Euroleague.
It is the fourth victory in a row for Mike James’ teammates (21 points, 19 in the second half), the third on the road in a week, who continue their rise in the standings for the play-off ticket offered to the first eight.
The Monegasque metamorphosis, in 2022, is reflected in a collective mastery which has allowed Sasa Obradovic’s players to lead the whole match, with very brief exceptions. For its first European outing of the year after three postponements due to Covid, the defense of the Russian team, the best in the event so far, has never been able to muzzle the flagship trio of “Roca Team” already dominating in Villeurbanne and composed of Mike James, Dwayne Bacon (19 points) and Donatas Motiejunas (16 points, 8 rebounds).
A magic trio
The Monegasques added to their mastery of the tempo an implacable defense. The two US backs Jordan Loyd and Billy Baron, authors of 39 points in the first leg lost a month ago (74-85), foiled and accumulated an awful 2 of 14 on shots for nine points in total. “ This was the key to our victory. We had to slow down the pace and in attack we have talent. I was not very successful on shots at the start of the match but we didn’t really need it. Then I could find the openings “, explained Mike James (9 out of 18, 1 out of 4 at 6.75m) who averages 22 points and 6 assists in the three successes chained outside for eight days, in Munich, Villeurbanne and therefore in the Russian Far North.
While Motiejunas had scored ten of the first fifteen points by deploying his entire offensive arsenal as a pivot, the US point guard scored his first shot of the game on a lucky offensive rebound at the halftime buzzer. But then he multiplied the two-point banderillas. Bacon regularly took over by using his physical power and his nerve on shots that were sometimes out of collective.
Monaco, which was still precise at long distance (7 out of 16) was never behind in the second half and was up to thirteen points ahead and controlled the last minutes to stay safe. ASM sought to take the particular point-average – which could be useful in the event of a final tie in the standings with Zenit – on the last attack but Alpha Diallo, clearly distracted, did not give the ball to Mike James in time as commanded by Obradovic’s last timeout two seconds from the end. “ We controlled the game, we did what we wanted to do, without losing our confidence “Nevertheless appreciated Sasa Obradovic at the microphone of Euroleague TV.
This tenth success confirms the rise of a team which now has the means to fully participate in the fight for the Top 8. Reaching the play-offs is indeed the essential condition for Monegasques to play a second season in the Euroleague. They will measure their new stature on Friday January 28 for their home return to league leaders Real Madrid.
