Monaco: The “Cinderella” of the Final Four wants to succeed with the first

She is the… sophomore of the organization, but that doesn’t matter.

THE Monacowhich impressed last year and came a breath away from the Final Four before being blocked manually Olympiakouwill have her chance for “revenge” this year, after she managed to reach Kaunas and will face Piraeus for a place in the grand final of the Euroleague.

Everyone expected before the start of the season that his team Princely would have been improved, however she showed incredible consistency, was a top four for almost the entire regular season, and now travels to Lithuania with an inexperienced set but also… ignorant of danger.

How did he get to the Final Four?

From the start of the regular season, the Monegasques showed that they were ready to capitalize on last year’s good run with an even better one. THE Monaco she was in the top four for most of the tournament, and eventually finished with a 21-13 record, which placed her in 4th place, one win ahead of Maccabi and two less than Real and Barcelona. At home they were excellent with 13 wins in 17 matches, while away from France they had 8 wins in 17 matches.

In the playoffs, he faced the Maccabi, which was even presented as terribly in-form and favorites to qualify despite the home disadvantage. This seemed to be confirmed when the Israelis comfortably defeated Monte Carlo in the first match of the series. Nevertheless, the “pioneer” Monaco showed great composure, responded with a break of her own Israel and closed the series at home with a total score of 3-2.

Most Valuable Player: Some hate him and some love him, but there is no doubt that the heart and soul of Monaco is the Mike James. THE American now veteran guard “carried” the team last year and this year he was decisive again, being the leading scorer with 16.3 points and sharing 4.6 assists per game. Even though, in fact, he almost caused “chaos” in the ranks of the Monegasques when he was punished for some “night walks”, he returned completely serious and in the playoffs he was a leader. James is the main driving force in his team’s game Sasha Obradovicand Monaco’s counterpart largely depends on his own performance.

Unseen hero: She is certainly not invisible, but among her many “prima donnas”. Monacothe one who managed to stand out this year is Alpha Dialo. The 25-year-old forward who lost through his hands in the summer of 2021 the Panathinaikos he made leaps and bounds this season, and developed into a “hidden card” of a team with many frontmen but few “tools”. Diallo scores fairly consistently (11 points per game) and is probably the Monegasque’s top defender. This is also evident from the fact that their defense is 5 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the floor.

Advantages: Monaco is the most talented team in the region from the Final Four. THE Sasha Obradovic he has at his disposal a trio of players (James, Okobo, Lloyd) who on their good day can each score 20 points. Something like this might play a key role in these types of closed games, where systems are often abolished and personalities have the first say. In addition, the Monegasques is the best team in offensive rebounds in the EuroLeague (12.1 per game), while having very skilled operators and falling to the fewest mistakes in the tournament (just 10.6 per match). In the psychological part, too, they are the only team with nothing to lose, since their season is already successful and they only got there.

Disadvantages: The last advantage can also be read as a… disadvantage. THE Monaco is a group that reaches for first time in the Final Four, so it definitely lags behind in terms of specific weight against huge brands like Olympiacos, Barcelona and Real Madrid. This can be seen in its roster, which contains just one player with experience of such condition (Mike James, played with Baskonia in 2016-17). This lack of experience may be seen in matches against such “gunpowder-smoked” teams. In the competitive part, Monaco she has the fewest solutions of the four in the front line, which can limit her too much on the perimeter shot and the “appetites” of her guards.

The Monaco roster

0. Eli Okobo (1.91m, 25 years old) Guard

00. John Brown (2.03m, 31h) Forward

1. Chima Moneke (1.96m, 27 years) Forward/Center

3. Jordan Lloyd (1.93m, 29 years old) Guard

4. Jaron Blossomgame (1.95m, 29yrs) Forward

5. Yoan Makudu (2.07m, 22 years) Forward/Center

11. Alfa Diallo (2.01m, 25yrs) Forward

20. Donatas Motiegiounas (2.13m, 32 years) Forward/Center

24. Yakouba Ouattara (1.92m, 31 years old) Guard/Forward

32. Mathieu Strazel (1.82m, 20 years old) Guard

45. Donda Hall (2.08m, 25 years old) Center

55. Mike James (1.85 m, 32 years) Guard