Vassilis Spanoulis’s team delivered an outstanding collective display for a big road win
Kevarrius Hayes the headline act as impressive Monaco dismantles Barcelona
Spielbericht
3 Lesezeit
Regular Season
Round 19 of 38
Regular Season
FC BarcelonaBAR
7490
AS MonacoASM
Overview
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AS Monaco cruised to a statement win at rival FC Barcelona on Tuesday night, dominating practically the entire game to underline its title credentials with a 74-90 triumph.
Barcelona’s only lead came with the first basket of the night, which was immediately followed by a 0-7 run as Monaco went ahead for good. The margin remained in double digits from the start of the second quarter for the rest of the game, and Barca’s frustration at its inability to narrow the gap spilled over when coach Xaxi Pascual was ejected after consecutive technical fouls early in the third quarter.
It was a rematch of last season’s very closely contested playoff series, which was eventually won by Monaco in the final possession of Game 5, but there was nothing close about this mismatch as Vassilis Spanoulis’s men were superior all over the floor.
Although superstar scorer Mike James characteristically led the way with 19 points, the most impressive aspect of Monaco’s performance was that it was a true collective effort rather than relying on the undoubted individual talent at its disposal.
The stats sheet amply shows how a variety of players contributed in different ways: Kevarrius Hayes made 6-of-7 two-pointers in a season-high 15 points, blocked 2 shots and had 2 steals; Elie Okobo and James dished 5 assists; Jaron Blossomgame and Hayes grabbed 5 rebounds; Alpha Diallo snared 3 steals; James, Okobo, Nemanja Nedovic and Nikola Mirotic made multiple three-pointers… and the whole team succeeded in slowing down Barca star Kevin Punter, whose MVP of the month award for December – announced earlier in the day – turned into a cold wet blanket as he was held to 8 points on 2-of-12 field-goal shooting along with 3 turnovers.
The team’s top statistical performer was Hayes with a season-high PIR of 24, just 2 short of his personal best, and he offered an eloquent assessment of the triumph when he spoke to EuroLeague TV after the action, pointing to his team’s tally of 19 assists as an indicator of its strength.
“We stayed together. Even when they were making a run coming back, we did a good job of keeping our composure, being focused, making plays and playing as a team,” he said.
“I feel like we’re finding our rhythm, we’re figuring things out, getting used to one another and it’s really showing in the way we share the ball. We’re really trusting each other, knowing what we can do.”
Hayes also found room for some humour as he mysteriously concluded: “As long as we can keep up this energy and this effort, we definitely can define it as [some unintelligible noises doubtless intended as an in-joke for the benefit of the locker room].”
Victorious coach Vassilis Spanoulis was in a more serious frame of mind – just like his players throughout the game – as he paid tribute to the performance. “We played amazing defense, we stuck to our game plan for 40 minutes,” he enthused. “The guys were very concentrated. They executed great, so congratulations.”
We have now reached the exact midway point of the regular season, with the ultra-competitive nature of the EuroLeague clearly illustrated by the fact that five different teams are currently placed within one win of first place – Barca and Monaco among them as they share a 12-7 record.
Monaco is one of the competition’s hottest teams after grabbing three consecutive victories, but Spanoulis is taking nothing for granted as he reflected on the opening 19 rounds.
“A lot of up and downs from a lot of teams, a huge season that we’ve never faced before with so many games,” he reasoned. “We try to learn from this and we have to be consistent in the second round.”
Tuesday’s performance made one thing clear: when Monaco plays to its potential over the full 40 minutes, the Roca Team takes some stopping.
