“an internal problem which will be solved privately” by AS Monaco
If Zvezdan Mitrovic dodged the subject at a press conference by playing the surprise, perhaps rightly since he was turning his back on him, there was indeed a first public incident on Friday night in Istanbul with Mike James. Without the tone really rising between the two men during their explanation, the former leader of the Brooklyn Nets directly took the direction of the locker room in the 33rd minute, after being released by his coach, before reappearing on the bench at the very end of the match, in a warm-up t-shirt and tap dancing on the feet.
Mike James went to the locker room after an argument with coach Zvezdan Mitrovic. pic.twitter.com/EUM8iY6qa4
– Dionysis Aravantinos (@AravantinosDA) November 19, 2021
“No comments” from the club
Contacted today, AS Monaco said unsurprisingly that they had “no comment to make”. The club adds that it is an “internal problem which will be solved in private”.
Mike James’ misunderstanding of Zvezdan Mitrovic’s decision to kick him out of the game
Two sluggish first months on the Rock
Arrived in mid-September in the Principality with the status of the biggest salary in the history of the French championship, by far, Mike James has struggled to convince since his first steps on the Rock. Without obviously being dishonorable (13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists), his statistics in EuroLeague are far from at the level of his standards of his last seasons with Milan and CSKA Moscow, all buckled around 20 points and 6 assists. Above all, its offensive efficiency is subject to questioning: 35% on shots, which has always been between 40 and 49% before.
Frequently used at post 2, which tended to frustrate him sequentially, to the point that he had already opened up to Zvezdan Mitrovic (especially during the reception of the Red Star in Belgrade), Mike James n ” also played only three matches of Betclic ELITE, including two slaps (-27 in Levallois, -25 in Bourg-en-Bresse) where a certain nonchalance emanated from his attitude. In the wake of the defeat in Ain, he had also tweeted that “this shit would not happen again”.
Enough is enough. This shit won’t happen again
– Mike James (@ TheNatural_05) November 8, 2021
Only once have we really been able to see the immense talent of Mike James in action in the Monegasque jersey: it was in Madrid where his incredible festival (24 points to 7/14 and 10 assists) had almost overthrown Real. Otherwise, Roca Team obviously had to deal with a good player (still 18 points in 25 minutes last week against Bayern Munich) but not the best player they thought they had hired. Which does not mean that it is devoid of all impact. Evidenced by this astonishing statistic noted by Antoine Lessard yesterday: released after his second basket of the evening, confined to a “triple-four” (4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists), Mike James nevertheless allowed Monaco to be at +12 against Efes when he was on the floor. During the 22 minutes without him, the Roca Team was at -33 …
Monaco tonight in Istanbul: +12 with Mike James on the pitch. -33 without him. https://t.co/jGiqyUrySI
– Antoine Lessard (@AntoineLessard) November 19, 2021