For this 11th day of the EuroLeague, the Roca Team continued its tour in Serbia. After their defeat against Partizan, Monaco needed to bounce back on the court of Red Star Belgradeโฆ
Two teams very close in the standings. AS Monaco Basket and Red Star Belgrade faced off tonight in the buzzing ล tark Arena. With six and seven wins respectively, it was a great opportunity for the Roca Team to advance in the standings. Especially as the Serbians have several injured players.
Despite a good start to the game, Monaco lacked aggressiveness and found themselves trailing (11-7). In a slow pace, the Roca Team was getting pushed around in the paint. It wasn’t until the 5th minute that Mike James caught fire and brought the team from Monaco within one point. The point guard made a difference. Having struggled with his shooting on Tuesday on Partizan Belgrade’s court, Elie Okobo found his aim with his first attempt. The players from the Principality ended the first quarter on top (23-25).
The start of the second quarter was more focused defensively. Nikola Mirotic and Alpha Diallo formed a solid bloc and enabled the Roca Team to take a seven-point lead. Despite this, not everything was perfect: Monaco was getting intercepted too often and putting themselves in trouble. Red Star slowly got back into the game as Monaco lost its touch. Codi Miller-McIntyre started distributing the ball (eight assists in the first half, ten in total) and brought the locals to a tie at 40-40. Despite Belgrade’s improved performance, Vassilis Spanoulis’s men remained consistent with their free throws and regained a lead by halftime (42-46).
The Roca Team loses the match in the last quarter
The Monaco players were aware of Red Star’s impressive offensive weapons, such as Codi Miller-McIntyre (already at nine points) and Semi Ojeleye (twelve points and a smooth shooting style). The ball movement on offense was good for Monaco, but it came at the expense of some defensive lapses. Just like earlier in the week, the Roca Team found themselves in trouble. Already in the penalty after three minutes, the Monaco team saw their lead diminish once more (56-57). In an intensifying atmosphere, Red Star made their visitors doubt. The Serbian international Ognjen Dobric, shooting 100% from three-point range, gave his team the chance to take the lead. Through a series of turnovers (twelve by the end of the 3rd quarter), Monaco fell behind by four points, the largest lead for Belgrade since the start of the game. Fortunately, Matthew Strazel, coming off the bench, improved his three-point stats to narrow the gap (65-64).
Everything was still to play for in the final quarter. Monaco hung on thanks to a significant drop-off from the Serbians at the free-throw line (55%). But the success from beyond the arc eventually paid off and ignited the 20,000 spectators supporting the locals. Especially since nothing was going in for the Roca Team and Jared Butler made his contribution. On the other hand, Mike James was no longer able to score and proved less decisive. Fortunately, the connection between Matthew Strazel and Elie Okobo allowed the Monaco team to dream of securing a result.
With two minutes remaining: Monaco faltered and found themselves seven points behind. The local defense tightened, along with the hopes of the Principality’s players. A final foul by Daniel Theis, struggling in the second half, sealed the fate of the game.
In the end, the Roca Team lost once again within 48 hours (91-79), in a match that will not be remembered fondly in the annals of the EuroLeague. With this result, AS Monaco Basket dropped to eighth place in the standings, while Red Star moved up to second.
We will see the Monaco players in Betclic รlite this Sunday on the court of Le Mans (19:00) to try to salvage the week.
