AS Monaco received 40 minutes of elite center play from the duo of Donta Hall and Donatas Motiejunas to defeat UNICS Kazan on Tuesday.
40 elite minutes at center propelled Monaco over UNICS
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Once upon a time, top teams sought out elite players who would play all 40 minutes – or as close to 40 as possible – in big games. Over the past decade or so, the trend has been to lean on longer rotations, with very few players still averaging more than 30 minutes per game.
In Tuesday’s Round 20 makeup game between Monaco and UNICS, three players on each team played at least 30 minutes. Among them were each team’s top scorer. Mike James scored 25 points and dished 7 assists in 33:30 for the winners and Mario Hezonja tallied 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while playing 36:39 for UNICS.
UNICS’s other two big-minute players in this game were defensive ace John Brown, who also contributed 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals, and center Tonye Jekiri. The latter played his second-most minutes of the season (34:49), but had a PIR of 8, which was one of his lowest. Jekiri totaled 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. He also committed 4 fouls.
Though Jekiri’s numbers were not bad, when compared to the contributions that Monaco got from its centers, Hall and Motiejunas, it is clear that the hosts won the positional battle by a knockout. Hall (20:18) and Motiejunas (19:42) combined for all 40 minutes at the ‘five’ position for Monaco. Together they were worth 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting, 17 rebounds – including 9 on the offensive end – 2 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 blocks. Motiejunas had a PIR of 22 and Hall 21.
The Monaco duo will be tough for other teams to handle for 40 minutes, especially when they are as productive as they were against UNICS. Such strong play, alongside the team’s biggest star, James, could be the ticket for a historic run to the playoffs in the club’s first season in the EuroLeague.