For the second year in a row, Monaco scored a valuable road win at Olympiacos
Mike James, ‘everyday guy’ Alpha Diallo starred for Monaco in Piraeus
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 7 of 38
Regular Season
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
8792
AS MonacoASM
Overview
l
w
w
l
w
w
l
w
l
w
It might still be too early in the season, but it feels as though AS Monaco made a statement on Wednesday night.
Of course, it can be argued that being the reigning EuroLeague runner-up does free a team from needing to make statements in the first place, but Monaco made one nevertheless, going on the road and edging Olympiacos Piraeus 87-92 in a hard-fought affair.
“I think we played a really good game,” Monaco star guard and the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer Mike James said with a smile in a EuroLeague TV interview after the win.
James orchestrated things on the floor at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, playing 32 minutes and posting a double-double of 23 points and 10 assists. He shot 3 of 6 from long range, made 5 of 7 twos, and also had 4 rebounds.
It was his best performance of this young campaign, and he now sits in second place in the league in assists this season with 6.6 per game.
His performance, and the game’s outcome, came as a bit of déjà vu.
This was a rematch of last season’s Final Four semifinals, in which James starred in Monaco’s win over the Reds in Abu Dhabi. But just like in that historic semifinal win, in this Round 7 affair in Piraeus, James had a sidekick – and just like in Abu Dhabi, there was that same other protagonist, Alpha Diallo, who pushed and pulled Monaco to victory once again.
Diallo played 35 minutes and 17 seconds in this Round 7 clash, scoring a career-high 27 points. He made 8 of 9 twos and 3 of 4 threes, and chipped in 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to his all-round effort.
Both players earned great praise from their head coach, Vassilis Spanoulis.
“[Mike James] had 10 assists, but could have had more, we missed some open threes,” Spanoulis said. “Everybody knows he can score. He was very concentrated, he always made the right play.
“Alpha played incredible,” Spanoulis continued. “You cannot judge Alpha from the points he scored. He plays incredible defense and in all the aspects of the game, that you cannot see on the stat sheet.”
Diallo, playing in his fifth EuroLeague season, all with Monaco, is an all-out effort player who reads the game so well on both ends of the floor that he simply makes the team better.
In addition to his defensive prowess, after this 27-point performance, Diallo is now also averaging 14.3 points on 43.5% three-point shooting, turning himself in a nightmare for opposing defenses, too.
“I just go out there and hoop every night, just to be an every-day guy,” Diallo tried to explain his approach on EuroLeague TV. “I try to come in, do the little stuff and just whatever it takes to win. I am happy I keep improving, it shows the work I’ve put in, and it is showing off.”
The win improved Monaco's record to 4-3, working like a charm after the team lost in its two previous road games, in Bologna against Virtus and in Sofia against Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv.
The next stop in just 48 hours is a home tilt against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
