Monaco: 7 games in 17 days, starting with the one against Olympiakos on Friday
Tomorrow, Friday, AS Monaco will face Olympiakos in the Peace and Friendship Stadium with nearly 15,000 seats. The Greek team have one more victory than Roca Team since the start of the season.
* 7 matches in 17 days. In the wake of its perfectly completed marathon week – 3 wins in as many home games against Belgrade (70-62), Moscow (97-80) and Paris (100-75) – AS Monaco Basket was able to benefit from a few days of respite. What to breathe and recharge the bodies already strained since the start of the season. La Roca Team is tackling a new series of matches with 7 games scheduled in just 17 days and trips planned in particular to Greece, Israel and Turkey.
* Two months to the day after having already faced Olympiakos on its floor at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, AS Monaco Basket is back on Greek soil. On September 5, Zvezdan Mitrovic’s men narrowly bowed in the final of the “Bwin Tournament against Covid-19” against the Hellenes (98-93) after a hung match. Since then, the Roca Team has grown stronger with the arrival of Will Thomas, Mike James and Dwayne Bacon. For its part, Olympiakos, triple winner of Turkish Airlines Euroleague, successfully entered the competition with a record of 5 wins for 2 losses. The Greeks are undefeated at home and remain on 2 successes in a row on their floor: against ALBA Berlin (87-83) and against Fenerbahce (67-65).
* This meeting against Olympiakos will be the opportunity to see a former player of the Roca Team, Moustapha Fall, at work. The French international hub, recent silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, wore the Red and White jersey in 2014-2015 while the club was playing in Pro B (the season during which Zvezdan Mitrovic set down in the Principality for the first time). times). Passed by Antibes and Chalon-sur-Saône, he then went into exile in Turkey (Sakarya Buyuksehir Basketball and Turk Telekom Ankara) and in Russia (Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar) before returning to France in 2020 at ASVEL. Since the start of the 2021-2022 season, he has been enjoying the heyday of Olympiakos and represents one of the basic elements of coach Georgios Bartzokas. He also has the best evaluation of the Greek team with 13.4 points.
“Olympiacos is one of the best teams in Turkish Airlines Euroleague. The atmosphere in Greece is spectacular. We expect a delicate game. It’s a team sized for the Final Four. They are strong in all compartments. We hope to recover Will Thomas for this match, he resumed collective training on Tuesday ”, said coach Zvezdan Mitrovic.
Photo: Moustapha Fall (Euroleague)