Of peace and friendship the lair of Olympiacos bears only the name. An inviolable room, where only Red Star Belgrade has won 21 EuroLeague matches this season, Olympiakos’ lair also celebrated Vassilis Spanoulis, the ‘legend’ of the EuroLeague before the inter-two, to the cheers of an already red-hot crowd …
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It was in this volcanic atmosphere that AS Monaco played the first game of the EuroLeague play-offs in its history. With the intimate ambition to achieve what none of the little thumbs in C1 managed to do: qualifying for the Final Four, in Belgrade from 28 to 30 May.
Peace and Friendship Stadium pic.twitter.com/VvzKpUUznq
— AS Monaco Basket (@ASMonaco_Basket) Apr 20, 2022
Solid first ten minutes
Defensively, the Roca Team initially played to perfection. On all the passing lines, touching the balls of each of the opposing systems, the Monegasques have long disrupted the good offensive performance of the Greeks. Agile on the periphery, everything under control, however, the Roca Team lost their shine from the start of the 2nd quarter. With a lead of seven lengths (8-15, 10′), the princely formation faced the abusive Greeks (33-22, 18′), with Yorgos Printezis and Shaquielle McKissic off the bench.
Helpless Monegasques
Not aggressive enough in the racket (no halftime free throws!), Sasa Obradovic’s protégés struggled to find the loophole to stop the Greek machine. Like a transparent Dwayne Bacon, almost startled by the Greek atmosphere, the Roca Team was simply without an offensive solution (46-32, 27′).
“Our defense was very solid, Olympiakos coach Georgios Bartokas confirms to the EuroLeague TV microphone. Everyone did the job, we protected the basket well, we avoided the baskets in the transition. It is only the first game of the series, we will have to limit the lost balls in game 2, be more patient and remember our first quarter. †
Lowest points total this season
Other than a few ridiculous Mike James, Roca Teams fans didn’t have much to sink their teeth into. Offensively, the best offense in the EuroLeague scored just 10 points in the 2nd quarter, 11 in the 3rd, before returning to ten points at the start of the money time (54-44, 34′), but ASM was never able to take the lead. switch.
AS Monaco were only defeated outside once in 2022 (88-83 at Barça, March 3), but AS Monaco failed to sublimate and lost 71-54. After scoring 65 points in the first leg in Piraeus (86-65), AS Monaco had not scored that few points throughout the regular phase. Mandatory reaction from Friday (6 pm), still at Olympiakos, on pain of having to win next Wednesday at Gaston-Médecin.
