For its first match since the ouster of Serbian coach Sasa Obradovic on Monday, Monaco, with an excellent Élie Okobo, beat Asvel (103-92) on Thursday evening during the 11th day of the Euroleague.
This victory allows the Roca Team, now led by the Georgian Manuchar Markoishvili, former assistant to Obradovic, to remain in 7th place, in contact with the first six, directly qualified for the playoffs.
With a gala Élie Okobo (27 points, 34 evaluation), the Monaco team therefore resumed its march forward in its room, where it remained on two consecutive defeats in the Euroleague (against Paris and Belgrade) and a defeat in the championship (against Le Mans).
From now on, he will have to continue his convalescence in Athens, against Panathinaikos, on November 29. Asvel, for its part, will host Efes Istanbul, beaten at home by Paris, during this 11th day.
Under the eyes of their president Tony Parker and led by a very good Théo Maledon (24 points, 30 evaluation), the Villeurbannais quickly took the lead and, even, led by eleven points (8-19, 7th), a meeting where the players of the Roca Team had a lot of pressure.
James comes out of his box
During the first quarter, ten points from Maledon, the in-form Asvel man, were answered by ten more from Monegasque Élie Okobo, coming off the bench. But that was not enough for Mike James and his team to take the first step in the lead (20-25, 10th).
If Monaco tightened its defense before the break, its chronic deficit in rebounding (19 to 12 for Asvel at half-time), allowed Charles Kahudi’s partners to take the lead halfway through (38-40, 20th).
It was after the break that James (17 points, 7 assists), not in good spirits until then, came out of his box. His seven consecutive points during a nice 10-0 gave Monaco an eight-point lead (48-40, 23rd), a lead that even rose to eleven points with a new basket from its captain (64 -53, 27th). Matthew Strazel (12 points, 4 assists), essential in defense and altruistic, was also important for the Monegasques, who managed to exceed 100 points.
