The club from the principality will now chase its second straight Final Four appearance
Monaco clinches playoff berth for third year in a row
AS Monaco confirmed its place among the top teams on the continent as it clinched a berth in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs for the third year running. The club has reached the playoffs in each of its seasons in Europe’s premier competition.
The Monegasques clinched their playoff ticket by defeating French League rival LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Thursday night…. In doing so, Monaco’s improved its record to 21-11 and is poised to improve on its record – and standing – for the third straight season.
Monaco reached the playoffs in 2022 from seventh place with a 15-13 mark and took Olympiacos Piraeus the distance before falling in an epic Game 5. Last season, Monaco was fourth at 21-13 and edged Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in another five-game thriller to reach the Final Four for the first time.
With both of its remaining regular season games at home, the road is paved for Monaco to not only clinch home-court advantage for the next stage, but to potentially finish as high as second in the standings.
A slow start
A spot high in the standings was not a given based on how the season started for Monaco. Head coach Sasa Obradovic’s team slumped out of the gate, dropping its first two games, at Valencia Basket and home to Virtus Segafredo Bologna. A five-game winning streak got the team back on track and as high as fourth in the standings.
However, a mid-season slump saw Monaco tumble again. Consecutive defeats at Maccabi and Olympiacos, against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens left Monaco with an 11-10 record and in eighth place at the end of Round 21. The club responded by reeling off eight consecutive wins, slowly turning from a team in the Play-In Showdown mix to a surefire playoff participant that is fighting for home-court advantage and more.
The eight-game winning streak was the longest in Monaco history and included several highlights, but none bigger than the 98-80 victory over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 28, in which Mike James became the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer, a record he adds to with every basket.
What comes next?
Monaco cannot take its foot off the gas yet as it looks at first to clinch a top-four finish and potentially even second place. After that, Coach Obradovic’s men can take a deep breath and prepare for the playoffs, a stage that the vast majority of its players are comfortable with.
The team’s top nine players in terms of both scoring and PIR are all returnees from last season’s squad, which reached the EuroLeague Semifinals. Among the newcomers are players who are familiar with bright lights. Kemba Walker is a former NCAA champion, Petr Cornelie became a EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid last season, Mam Jaiteh won the EuroCup in 2022 as the competition MVP with Virtus, and Terry Tarpey owns a EuroBasket silver medal with the French national team.
That roster has the experience and winning spirit in its DNA to make this season even more special than previous ones. And it has already accomplished the first main goal of the season, to clinch a berth in the playoffs.