2023-10-05 14:04:31
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 5 minutes ago, Updated now
Here against Edwin Jackson’s Asvel, Mike James’ Roca Team sets off again to attack Europe. Frédéric Chambert / Frederic Chambert / Panoramic
The 2023-24 campaign begins this Thursday for Lyon-Villeurbanne and Friday for ASM.
The Rocher club wants to continue to climb. Present at the Final Four in the spring for the first time in its history, Monaco is attacking with greater ambition, fueled by high-level recruitment, the Euroleague basketball season which opens on Thursday. Invited to the most prestigious European competition, the ASM wants to continue to plow the furrow opened two seasons ago, in which it has seeded a quarter-finalist place from 2022 then, the following year, a third place.
Going higher therefore requires passing through the door to the last square, but “there will be no surprises this season» warns captain Yakuba Ouattara, whose team “start from scratch». «We must forget as quickly as possible what we did last season in order to start again as strong as possible. Each meeting will be even more complicated than last season“said coach Sasa Obradovic. “You have to understand how complicated it is to repeat qualification for a Final 4 from one season to the next. This is built gradually, on a daily basis, with discipline, will and a lot of work.», added the Serbian technician.
Also read Euroleague: “Whether we are a target or not, let’s just play our basketball,” insists Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic
Pression
Obradovic is at the head of a squad reinforced by former Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker, selected four times for the NBA All-Star Game between 2017 and 2020 and 781 matches in the North American league under his belt. If doubt surrounds the state of form of the 33-year-old leader who, due in particular to an ailing left knee, only played nine matches last season, Monaco has also recruited two interior players with knowledge of the Euroleague (Petr Cornelie and Mouhammadou Jaiteh) and retained its strong forces (Mike James, Donatas Motiejunas, John Brown III, Donta Hall). To build a workforce where all positions have been tripled and who weighs “increasing pressure”, according to general director Oleksiy Efimov.
Its competitor in France, Asvel, also seems to have strengthened itself (Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, former NBA players Frank Jackson and Mike Scott) in order not to relive last season, where it finished in last place by finishing by 13 defeats. Especially since it will inaugurate its new hall (12,000 seats) at the end of November, seen as a lever for economic growth and whose floor will be trodden by most of the big names, starting with Real Madrid, title holders.
Read alsoEuroleague: “You have to dream big”, says Tony Parker
The “Pana” gets a makeover
In a season where play-ins are introduced, giving the 9th and 10th the opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals, we will still have to count on the Merengue club: the record holder of titles (11) added to his stable squad, Argentinian leader Facundo Campazzo.
Knocked down to the wire in the final (79-78), Olympiacos lost the MVP of the season Sasha Vezenkov, who left for the NBA (Sacramento), and his totem Kostas Sloukas, who went to rival Panathinaikos. Six times winners of the competition, the Athenians have put in the means to return to the play-offs (last appearance in 2019), also attracting the interior Mathias Lessort, the leader-back Luca Vildoza and especially the technician Ergin Ataman, double champion of Europe (2021 and 2022) with Efes Istanbul. The Istanbul club, absent from the quarter-finals last season, is therefore beginning a new era also without its playing master Vasilije Micic (Oklahoma City).
This is also the case for FC Barcelona, semi-finalist in the spring forced to reduce its budget by around 25% and which parted ways with its biggest salary, Nikola Mirotic (Milan), and its coach Sarunas Jasikevicius. In the opposite direction, they repatriated Willy Hernangomez (New Orleans) and attracted former NBA player and No. 2 in the 2014 draft, Jabari Parker, without a club since January 2022.
”
data-script=”
>
#Monaco #aims #higher #Asvel #search #redemption