'We suck right now': Monaco players reflect on the Roca Team's true potential / News - Basketnews.com

Alpha Diallo, Donatas Motiejunas, and Yakuba Ouattara talk to BasketNews about AS Monaco's big win in Piraeus against Olympiacos and the team's biggest differences from last season.

Credit: Direction de la Communication / Michael Alesi Credit Direction de la Communication / Michael Alesi

It was April 22 when AS Monaco became the first team in the 2021-22 season to beat Olympiacos Piraeus at the Peace and Friendship Stadium with normal attendance. Crvena Zvezda had done it last January, but back then, not more than 1.000 fans were allowed in the stands due to COVID restrictions.

Player of the Game EFF 28 Elie Okobo Points 23 Accuracy 7-10 Rebounds 3 Assists 4

It was October 27 when the squad from the Principality forced the Greek side to its very first loss in the 2022-23 campaign.

One could have made a good case of Monaco being Olympiacos' nemesis if it hadn't been for the outcome of last year's exciting playoff series.

In one of the most dramatic and hard-fought sequence of games, some of which went down to the wire while others were rather one-sided, the Reds prevailed by 3-2, winning the decisive Game 5 on their home court.

With Olympiacos' qualification for the Final Four being a foregone conclusion, some fans invaded the court to celebrate. Those who preferred to stay close to their seats lit up flares and firecrackers, turning night into day, as Emma Stone and Kevin Durant were trying to figure out what was happening.

Eventually, the 3-time EuroLeague champs received a fine worth 53.001 euros and were forced to play their first home outing in the current season without fans.

This development paved the way for a couple of others. First, Olympiacos would face Zalgiris Kaunas behind closed doors, and secondly, the Greeks would host Vasilis Spanoulis' Peristeri and the team they beat last year with fans' support.

In the end, two-thirds of the mission was accomplished. Zalgiris succumbed after putting up a fight, while Spanoulis received a warm welcome as the Reds cruised to victory.

When the time came for Olympiacos to play their first EuroLeague game of the season in front of their own fans, the squad coached by 2021-22 Coach of the Year, Giorgos Bartzokas, was 4-0 in EuroLeague and 9-0 across all competitions.

2-pointers this season

53%22,6Points made:22,6Accuracy:53,1%Place in standings:2Record max:29Record min:16Most made 2FGs:Mike JamesTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Ironically, before the game, Bartzokas had clarified that it would be a mistake if his players believed they were the best team in Europe.

Monaco's overall performance and the commanding way in which they handled a very demanding game proved the Greek tactician right.

If the Roca Team were last year's EuroLeague newcomers and a team with a lot of rookies, this time around, a more mature and experienced version appeared on the court of the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Apart from veterans like Mike James and Donatas Motiejunas, a handful of first-rate scorers and role players stepped up.

Elie Okobo, Jordan Loyd, John Brown, and Adrien Moerman helped Monaco rack up their third road win of the season and second on Greek soil in less than a week. Under coach Sasa Obradovic, the 2021 EuroCup winners have turned into real road warriors, despite coming up short in both of their playoff series last year, in the EuroLeague and the French LNB.

But now, the scene was all too familiar. Guard Yakuba Ouattara remembers every second of last year's Game 5.

"It was a crazy atmosphere. We were only two minutes away from making the Final Four. So, we knew that we had to make a 40-minute game if we wanted to win," he told BasketNews after Monaco had completed an 81-76 takeover against the Reds.

Ouattara pointed out that last May's tie-breaker became the beacon for Monaco to beat their opponents once again.

"[Losing] Game 5 was one of the things we were looking at all week long before coming here. So, it showed us the way to approach this game," the 30-year-old Ghanaian-born player said.

"The feeling's great," Ouattara went on to say. "It's a big win. Playing here is never easy, especially against a team that was in very good shape. The fact that this was Olympiacos' first EuroLeague game with fans in the stands makes our win even greater."

Forward Alpha Diallo wants to stay grounded and prefers to curb any expression of excessive enthusiasm.

"It's still early in the season, but it's still a good confidence-builder to win in this building, in this atmosphere," he told BasketNews.

"I'm proud of our guys; we played a 40-minute game, and it showed out there. We didn't take our foot off the gas. They played a really good game and kept it close. We had to fight and crawl for the win," Diallo, 25, commented.

On the other hand, center Donatas Motiejunas observed that the guests "shared the ball pretty well."

"Defensively, we did a great job," he added.

The Lithuanian big man observed that Monaco's only misfire was against Maccabi in Tel Aviv and attributed the outcome to a lack of team spirit.

"We weren't playing together," he noted.

"But we knew that this game [vs. Olympiacos] was going to be a big challenge for us. It's tough to play here because of the fans. Olympiacos are such a great team at home. We were mentally ready and executed the game plan that coach had prepared for us," Motiejunas continued.

Yakuba Ouattara has no doubt that the win was a statement on Monaco's part to other EuroLeague contenders.

"Everybody knows how difficult it is to come and win here. So, it's good that we made a big statement," he argued.

Credit Olympiacos BC

Conversely, Donatas Motiejunas thinks snapping Olympiacos' unbeaten streak was just an indication of the team's overall progress.

"I don't want to call it a statement. For us, it's another game. We have an entire season ahead of us," he calmly stressed.

"This isn't the playoffs, and so far, they've had more important wins against us, like Game 5 here in the playoffs. I'm pretty sure that further on, Olympiacos are going to be playing way better than they are right now; I hope we're going to do the same," Motiejunas uttered.

The 32-year-old former NBA player maintains that euphoria after a big win can only last for some hours. "We're happy for a moment, but we have our mind set on next week. There's a lot of work to be done before we can actually be happy."

Alpha Diallo takes a step further whilst making clear that Monaco have a long way to go until they get to where they should be.

"We suck right now, but I think we'll get a lot better," he said with a tone of exaggeration. "We got a lot of things to work on, taking it day by game. The first thing we need to work on is our free-throw shooting."

Not the quotes one would expect from a player who shoots 80% from the line this year, slightly above his team's 77.2%.

Undoubtedly, Diallo is having another terrific season so far, as the New Yorker has turned into one of the biggest 'steals' in the EuroLeague. Something that very few would expect last summer when the Monegasques signed him right after he had been released from Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Motiejunas is certain that this version of Monaco has more weapons offensively but also more defensive-minded players.

"We split the job. With Elie [Okobo] and Jordan [Loyd] coming in, some of the pressure from Mike [James] comes off because those guys can create their shots at any point. So, I think we've become a way more dangerous team than last year," he explained.

Ouattara is clearly more high-spirited than most of his teammates. He wears a constant smile on his face after coming out victorious from a gym where he had recorded two career highs in Game 5 last May.

Alas, his 15 points and five 3-point shots made weren't enough to do the job for Monaco back then.

With the Roca Team now standing at 4-1, Ouattara thinks his team is the one to beat in the EuroLeague.

"Sky's the limit for us. We have the potential to beat any team in the league," he firmly said, conveying confidence and self-assurance. "It only depends on us; on how we approach the game, the way we defend, and the way we play with each other."

Ouattara also assured that Monaco "will try to have a better season than last year and reach the Final Four."

"I think we have all we need to make it work," he contends.

In a recent interview with BasketNews, coach Sasa Obradovic remarked that Monaco's roster has become deeper and stressed that the squad has the luxury of hosting better domestic players than last year.

"I'm talking about guys like Elie Okobo and Adrien Moerman," he clarified. "They can do a big difference with their experience, not only in the French league but also in the EuroLeague."

Obradovic thinks that what his side lacked last season was being able to rely on players with some titles under their belt.

Moerman is a two-time EuroLeague champ with Anadolu Efes, Okobo won the French league with LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, and Jordan Loyd was one of Zenit Saint Peterburg's cornerstones in their VTB title run.

"That's what we probably lacked last year," Monaco's bench boss observed. "We missed players who had won something in their career. If we had some more guys like that, we could have caused more upsets - and maybe we could have made the Final Four."

Okobo put up 23 points against Olympiacos after helping France NT win silver at the EuroBasket. His former team, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, tried to keep him, but his agreement with Monaco had taken place long before the past campaign was officially over.

"Elie's an important player for us," Motiejunas holds.

"The way he's playing and the spirit he brings to the team, I think he's an amazing pickup. He's only 25 years old, so he's going to get better and better. To have this type of young player that has already won championships is big for us."

Ouattara confirmed that the championship pedigree injected into the roster by players like Okobo and Moerman "makes a big difference because they have the experience, and they try to share it with everyone."

"For us, it's very important to have them," he stressed.

Credit AS Monaco/Direction de la Communication

As Monaco prepare for their next challenges, Motiejunas reminds everyone that themost important games are won by teams, not individuals.

"Last year, that happened with our series," he recalled.

"Olympiacos have kept the same core throughout the years, which means that they know how to overcome difficult situations and times.

For us, the core's still young, still building. There's a lot of things we've got to go through: wins, losses, ups and downs, to actually reach our potential and the level that we want to play at."

In Alpha Diallo's words, if what Monaco have shown so far is the image of a team that "sucks," one can only wonder what else this team might have in store down the road.

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