Even in hell, you are received less brutally. This Wednesday, May 4, as part of the last Euroleague quarter-final, AS Monaco traveled to Piraeus to face Olympiakos. A decisive match 5 placed under a mountain of stakes, which made us vibrate from start to finish, as if we were there. Debrief.
For the game sheet, it’s HERE!
That sport can be beautiful. Between Rafael Nadal’s win over Miomir Kecmanović and Real Madrid’s feat against Manchester City, all eyes were on Piraeus. Sasa Obradovic’s Roca Team went there for a mission of the utmost importance: qualify for the first Final Four in its history. More generally, it has been since 1997 that no team in the French championship has reached the last four of the most prestigious of European competitions. The latest? The ASVEL of Jim Bilba, Rudd Delaney and Brian Howard. This team is a big bomb. Good after, Jim Bilba was hitting backpack dunks and it was calling him Air Bilba, but the codes of the time were not those of today. In short, 25 years later, has the Roca Team saved the honor of our beautiful championship?
That sport can be cruel. In 35 of the 40 minutes of this 1/4 final, AS Monaco are ahead. But thanks to a clutch Kostas Sloukas – and because of a nasty problem of fouls – the Greeks win their ticket to the Final Four. What are the good surprises of this meeting on the Monegasque side? It’s a pair, made up of Paris Lee and Yakuba Ouattara. The first named raises his level of play at the most important moment of his career. Revealed last season in the colors of Orleans, he landed in Monaco with the title of best passer in the championship in the hold. Facing Olympiakos, he feasts with three big award-winning shots triggered under a tide of whistles. And then Yakuba Ouattara, what audacity. Signed a two-way contract with the Nets in 2017, he probably did not think – five years later – of performing in front of Kevin Durant in Greece. He will end the game with 15 points at 5/7 from afar. Sheathed as he is, a pity to have disappeared in the second half without trying more to attack the circle. One thing is certain, the show pleased KD.
The apocalypse pic.twitter.com/uYdeAS24Mw
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) May 4, 2022
But overall, what a crazy match for the image of French basketball. It had been so long since we had been so thrilled in front of a French championship team. So some – like Bruno Le Maire – will support the term “French team”, but unfortunately this is not the case. Should we leave our pride on the low side? Clearly not. In the eyes of Europe, the squad led by Mike James and Dwayne Bacon released a Euroleague XXL campaign. An express progression for the whole institution of AS Monaco, like its rise in the French divisions. It is the first team in the history of French basketball to have moved from the fourth division (NM2) to the first division (Pro A) in four years. A rise to the next level per season, realize. The Roca Team even won the title of French Pro B champion in 2015! This setback against Olympiakos allows at least to keep a few goals under the elbow, just to not grab everything too quickly. We leave you on a slightly more fun note: Kevin Durant and Mike James – his former teammates in Brooklyn – in a nightclub.
After a crazy game in Piraeus, Kevin Durant and Mike James went clubbing together in Athens ????
???? Instagram/blast.nightclub pic.twitter.com/VN5vK4ax6r
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) May 5, 2022
It is rare that we uncap the pen to speak French basketball, but it happens. Hoping to meet again in a year for a paper of the same type, with a different outcome.
