The Parisians, at home, won the Franco-French clash during the 5th day of the Euroleague, this Thursday.
The Franco-French duel for Paris. After a failed first half, Monaco never managed to overtake Paris Basketball, led by an excellent TJ Shorts and author of an exploit in the Gaston-Médecin room (87-80), during the 5th day of the ‘Euroleague.
Shorts, the American leader from Paris, was untenable (28 points, 10 assists and 39 rating). “He’s a monster,” said his trainer Tiago Splitter at the end of the match. He has a lot of character, a leader on and off the field. He was very strong.”
His team had a great end to the match, notably with five consecutive points from the Finn Mikael Jantunen, author of two baskets and five decisive points to win (82-79, 38th), when Monaco led 79-77. “It was a very complicated match,” Splitter said. But, even when they overtook us, we continued to run, to believe in it because basketball is a sport of +runs+.
Monaco pulls together, leads, then collapses
This defeat is a setback for the Roca Team, which with three victories and two defeats, falls into line before making three complicated trips: in Belgrade against Partizan, on October 30, in Kaunas, on November 1, and in Istanbul against Efes, on the 7th.
“Our character has been a big question mark, worried Monegasque coach Sacha Obradovic. We can have ups and downs. But you can’t stop running when you’re not feeling well. This is what bothers me the most. We always plan to win at home. From now on, the road will be more complicated. But we have already had strong reactions after such disappointments in the past.
Paris, for its part, continues its express learning of competition. This second victory for three defeats allows them to hope to return to equality during the next trip to Berlin against Alba, on October 29.
The start of the match was nightmarish for the Roca Team, trailing 9-0 after two minutes. However, despite a basket from Donatas Motiejunas (2-9, 3rd), the gap continued to increase (2-14, 4th). If Elie Okobo, eight points in the first quarter, allowed Monaco to get back on track after a nice long-range shot (15-16, 8th), opposite, TJ Shorts showed insolent skill.
With Shorts, Ty Ward (15 points) and Collin Malcom (13 points) were excellent, allowing Paris to be logically in front at halftime (49-43). With experience, and with a newfound defense, Monaco reversed the trend in the third quarter, winning 21-14. In the 27th minute, Mam Jaiteh gave the advantage to the Roca Team (57-56), who took a six-unit lead (73-67, 34th). Before collapsing in an incomprehensible way.
