"It's a test, both physical and mental": without a day off, the Roca Team will face ASVEL on Tuesday evening in the Betclic Elite semi-final

It's over. Not without a few scares in the first half, when Le Mans took the lead (13-19, on a T3 from Buchanan). It took two big T3s from Diallo and Strazel (on the buzzer) for ASM to take the lead at the break. A significant bonus in the minds. ASM then led the way with mastery and authority: the Roca Team thus avoided the precipice, this elimination in the quarterfinals which would have been the talk of the Euroleague finalist. Having beaten Le Mans in the Leaders Cup (final) and then in the Coupe de France (semi-final), Le Mans dreamed of a third straight, but Vassilis Spanoulis's senior players upheld the champion's rule. Still without Mike James (arm hematoma), who was not seen in the gym, which raises some questions, nor Daniel Theis (muscle problem), the men from the Principality knew that the matter was in the bag thanks to three free throws from Okobo after a whistle against David DiLeo with 39 seconds left on the buzzer.

Exactly one week after his failed Euroleague final (0 points), the French guard-guard was the spearhead of the Roca Team (23 points, 5 assists). Helped by Alpha Diallo (16 points, 6 rebounds), Matthew Strazel (11 points) and Mam Jaiteh (8 points, 9 rebounds), "Okoboss" launched the Monaco run after the locker room (56-43, 26th). Monaco defended hard, the two made-in-USA MSB triggers, Hudgins and Buchanan, being generally well contained. Delaunay (6 points) was unable to repeat his festival of Game 2. This tenacious but slightly blunted MSB still found resources (Di Leo, Narace) to come back to two possessions (80-74) on a dunk from Noah Penda with 90 seconds left. But in the process, the MSB nugget committed his 5th foul on Okobo (unsportsmanlike), which broke the last Le Mans momentum.

This calendar is a problem

So, the Roca Team will face their most loyal enemy, ASVEL, in the semifinals, in a best-of-five match, with the first leg scheduled for tomorrow (9 p.m.) at the Astroballe. Tomorrow. The schedule is a matter of debate, as if nothing should be spared for the Euroleague finalist, who has already had to draw on his resources to directly follow this series against MSB. At the same time, Paris will benefit from four days of rest, and ASVEL three, plus the fact that they don't have to travel. A strange way for the LNB to highlight the historic European run for Spanoulis' men's French basketball. Behind the scenes, it's said that Paris couldn't play Tuesday and Thursday because the Adidas Arena is booked Thursday night for the John Legend concert. Still, it's Monaco who's suffering. "I don't know what the problem is, whether it's with the league or the schedule, but we haven't had a single day off since returning from Abu Dhabi. It's a test, both physically and mentally," noted Monaco pivot Mam Jaiteh.