Dusko Ivanovic's side are on a roll and continued their momentum on the road in Round 9.
Baskonia believed as Howard, Moneke shined at ASVEL
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Regular Season
Round 9 of 34
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Things did not look very promising for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz midway through the third quarter of its road game at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 9 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.
Down by 16 and missing five players, including the EuroLeague's leading rebounder so far this year, Tadas Sedekerskis, Baskonia had a long way to climb.
"Belief, just belief," said one of Baskonia's heroes on the night, Chima Moneke, as he tried to explain his team's comeback after winning 81-88 at the Astroballe.
"The whole time, I genuinely believed we will come back and win the game."
Chima Moneke, Markus Howard led the way
Moneke and Markus Howard were the first to start making shots and Baskonia, which was 3-of-12 on threes when it was down 41-25 in the second quarter, ended up hitting 16 triples on 36 attempts against ASVEL.
Howard was shooting the lights out, finishing with 8 made threes on 13 attempts, and netting a career-high 35 points. Moneke had a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, as well as 6 assists, as Baskonia secured its fourth victory from four games under head coach Dusko Ivanovic.
"It all starts with Dusko," Moneke said of his coach. "I will never forget, the first speech he gave to us was, 'Believe, have confidence.' Every day that he talks to us, he says, 'Believe and have confidence.'"
Baskonia really did play with belief, even though it could have easily folded with just nine players available at the Astroballe. In addition, Round 8 MVP Codi Miller-McIntyre was in foul trouble, eventually fouling out in the fourth quarter, and finished the night with just 2 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
However, when it came to Baskonia's backcourt on Friday night, Howard put in a superhero-level performance, let alone an MVP-level display.
At times, it seemed as if Howard could make shots with his eyes closed; some of his threes were off-balanced and from the toughest of spots. But Howard not only refused to take the credit, but he took the blame for his team not being in position to close the game out earlier in the fourth quarter.
"Going into the fourth quarter, we had an 8-point lead and I made two immature plays", Howard commented after the win. "I've got to get better. I have to learn to make better plays, especially when we have leads like that late in the games. Because I think that's what sparked their streak in the fourth quarter."
Such self-critique from a star player is a melody for any coach's ears, but it also hints at a chemistry building at Baskonia, which improved to 5-4 with its fourth straight win.
"I am really proud of the guys, how they finished and how we are stacking wins," Howard added.
Moneke feels the team has turned the corner and that already the entire European basketball community is taking notice.
"People are starting to see we have potential," he said. "A lot of people wrote us off after a bad start. I think the Barcelona game changed opinions about us."
Baskonia is now one of 10 teams with a winning record and one of seven teams with five victories. After starting the season with 1-4, Baskonia is now in a really good place and is determined to keep the good times rolling.