Coach Ettore Messina wanted to see a different attitude, the right amount of cohesion and found both. Unfortunately, he didn’t find the win. AS Monaco grew throughout the game and rode Mike James’ talent in the second half on its way to a 72-66 win. “But it is a step forward- Messina explained – I think we paid for the game played two nights earlier and that showed in some individual games, think about Johannes Voigtmann. But we played hard and competed. At the end Mike James with a couple of plays won the game for them.”
Olimpia hit the ground running leading 8-0 and staying ahead for the entire first half. In the second, Monaco took control but Olimpia never gave up, trailing by one into the last 44 seconds. Then, James made a huge step back three that essentially closed the game out.
“Kevin Pangos was left off for basketball reasons. Obviously during this first part of the season we haven’t been helped by Billy Baron’s absence and the general struggles we had at creating plays. We are on the market, we always are, but it is a difficult scenario. A couple of players signed over the last few days, some are struggling with their current teams but since they play in the EuroLeague are not movable for a while. So, our job right now is to make sure Maodo Lo fits the bill and Flaccadori gains more confidence. Then we will see what happens,” Messina explained.
Olimpia clearly had some fatigue issues at the end. While Monaco rested, Olimpia was on the court just two days earlier. Voigtmann had 18 points against Maccabi and zero against Monaco. Even Nikola Mirotic who is playing at a very high level struggled to get buckets consistently. “I expected Voigtmann to struggle so that is one reason we decided to go with a smaller line-up. This and Monaco’s configuration. We are going to use both options,” Messina added. Devon Hall and Stefano Tonut combined for six threes and 24 points. That was a good sign moving forward “toward the Valencia game. We intend to improve and work harder and find a way to win,” Messina said.
