Roca Team falls to ASVEL in match 1 of the Betclic Elite semi-final
Deprived of home-court advantage, and therefore forced to win at least once in the Rhône to participate in its fourth consecutive Betclic ÉLITE final, AS Monaco missed its first set point. Beaten 74-94 at the LDLC Arena, the Roca Team already finds itself in a difficult position.
Guilty of major slumps, Vassilis Spanoulis 's team can only blame itself. We think of this incredibly indolent start, with open doors operations in defense and faltering play (7 lost balls in 10 minutes), which quickly sent them into the ropes (18-31). We also think of this astonishing disconnection in the last 75 seconds of the first half, like Élie Okobo completely forgetting to defend on Villeurbanne's last possession, which cost them an unfortunate 0-7 when they had gone back in front (45-49 at the break). We think, above all, of this second period of a rather distressing level, where the Monegasques completely lost the thread of their basketball by dint of contesting all the decisions. A striking statistic: ASM committed far more fouls (16), including three technicals, than it scored baskets (10) after the break.
The argument of mental and physical fatigue, after such a string of events over the last two weeks , without a single day off since the Final Four, is entirely admissible, but if the Roca Team wants to secure a domestic treble, it will have to overcome this and show something else. See you tomorrow evening to prove that it was just an accident.
Vassilis Spanoulis (Monaco coach) : "Congratulations to ASVEL, who were better than us. We were worse than bad, I don't want to use other terms. It's like we didn't come here to play. I don't understand the LNB's schedule; we have to play every two days when other teams have three or four days. But that's no excuse. Tiredness concerns a father or mother who works all day to pay the rent. Being tired to play basketball, when you earn so much money, I don't understand that! It's not respectful to normal people who work more for an average salary."
Pierric Poupet (ASVEL coach): "It's not up to me to say whether Monaco is affected by the situation. They don't have Mike James, but ASM remains a great team, no matter who plays. We can be satisfied, but Monaco will adapt."
Nice Matin
