Sasa Obradovic responds to rumors about his relationship with Dwayne Bacon / News - Basketnews.com

Sasa Obradovic talked to BasketNews about the new version of AS Monaco, and commented on the rumors surrounding his supposedly bad relationship with Dwayne Bacon, Panathinaikos' latest addition.

Credit: AS Monaco- Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali Credit AS Monaco- Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

When Alpha Diallo scored an easy basket to put AS Monaco up by 17 (27-10) against hosts Panathinaikos Athens one minute before the end of the first quarter, the short-tempered fans at the OAKA arena couldn't hold on much longer.

Following an ugly 65-94 hammering at the hands of ALBA Berlin, the crowd sensed that another blowout was on the cards.

Without any further ado, they booed their struggling team. Dwayne Bacon's signing, who had been announced just a few minutes before tipoff, wasn't enough to appease the tension.

Eventually, Panathinaikos fought back, but didn't bounce back. Monaco got the better of the Greens and finished the job behind Mike James' 28 points. The team from the Principality wasted a 19-point lead (11-29) that came early in the game, and saw the Greens become real contenders from the second quarter onwards.

That's not a first for the squad coached by Sasa Obradovic. Monaco gave up on a lead just as big (19 points) last Tuesday against Maccabi in Tel Aviv. The difference lies in the outcome - in Israel, they lost; in Athens, they came out victorious.

Obradovic was all smiles after the game in the Greek capital, but he was also concerned about his squad coming close to losing an initially one-sided contest.

"This is hard. If you want to compete at this level, of course, you need to deliver a 40-minute game. You can't stop playing; you can't lack flow in your game," a relieved Serbian tactician told BasketNews near the Monegasques' locker room.

Game flow is precisely what Obradovic thinks his team is missing right now, and attributes the shortcoming to a lack of calmness. Although the sample isn't big enough, he does see a common pattern repeat itself: big margins going to waste.

"It's not simple, we have to adjust," he warns. "Teams play us really strong. Especially on the road, they're very tough and aggressive. We have to adjust as fast as possible and know what to do at certain moments."

Obradovic said he didn't want to make any excuses for the Athens game, but noted that "the last couple of days before the game vs. Maccabi were very hard."

"Even the trip was 14 hours, and the lack of energy became obvious in the second half," he continued. "But the good thing about losses is that you can learn from them too. It's good that we lost the way we did in Tel Aviv because that will help us in the next games."

Credit AS Monaco/Direction de la Communication

Monaco stand at 3-1 in the EuroLeague regular season, while PAO stand on the opposite side of the spectrum (1-3). The Greek powerhouse has lost both of their home outings, giving Real Madrid and Monaco their money's worth. "Panathinaikos isn't a team that's going to lose all of its home games. The same goes for other teams," Obradovic commented.

The experienced play-caller admits to being content with what Monaco have done so far in the season, but emphasizes that the tough part always lies ahead.

"The team's progressing but every game is still unpredictable. You can't be overexcited after a great win like the one we got tonight. We can't talk about big expectations and aspirations after only one win," he pointed out.

Obradovic acknowledged that Monaco did "a great job" against Virtus Bologna and Anadolu Efes, but also added that those wins don't put his team in a favorable position. Besides, after a historical last campaign that saw the EuroLeague rookie team reach the playoffs, taking one more step can't be a far-fetched goal.

"We have a competitive team who's supposed to be a playoff contender. If we achieve more than that, it's going to be amazing," the 53-year-old coach thinks. "But there's a lot of games like that in the EuroLeague season."

Monaco clearly got stronger in the off-season, picking up high-caliber free agents that can lend Mike James several helping hands. Moreover, the 2021 EuroCup winners and Sasa Obradovic himself could count on almost the entirety of their roster. Only Elie Okobo was unavailable in pre-season due to his EuroBasket obligations with France.

Obradovic remarked that Monaco's roster has become wider, and also 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. Even Jordan Loyd and Jaron Blossomgame are great additions and characters."

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."

Credit AS Monaco-Direction de la Communication

Conversely, what Panathinaikos seem to be lacking this season was to be found on last year's Monaco roster. Dwayne Bacon was one of their go-to guys, along with Mike James, and played an important part in his side making a strong playoff push.

The 27-year-old swingman had been a favorite among PAO fans as a free agent, many weeks before the Greens decided to sign him. It was roughly the same time (October 27, 2021) last year when he was announced by the Roca Team. On both occasions, Bacon had tried in vain to test the NBA waters for a potential return.

Obradovic has no doubt that PAO's latest addition "is a great player" and that "he will help his team."

However, not long ago, Panathinaikos' head coach Dejan Radonjic told the media that Bacon has a different profile than what the Greek team needs. But he also implied that there's a shadow hanging over the talented former NBAer. One that has a lot to do with his attitude and off-the-court behavior.

"At the same time, I don't know why he's still a free agent," the Montenegrin coach continued. "For us, it's important to consider everything for each player. We have to think about everything all the time."

The general impression was that despite the player himself being willing to sign with PAO, and despite the team showing signs of offensive malfunction, the club wasn't going to proceed any further.

It seems that the loss to ALBA Berlin made Radonjic and GM Argyris Pedoulakis reconsider the case. After owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos vouched to give the squad an extra financial boost total worth €5 million, it was a matter of time for the deal to be finalized.

According to club sources, a special clause has been included in Bacon's contract that allows for the deal to be unilaterally terminated, or for fines to be imposed, in case the player misbehaves or shows any signs of indiscipline.

One can presume that what Radonjic said in the presser confirmed certain rumors about Bacon's alleged bad reputation. In fact, one of those rumors came in the form of a report that went as far as to claim that Bacon almost hit Obradovic when the Serbian coach called the player into his office and made some observations about his game.

That doesn't look like the player who spoke highly of his coach at some point last season.

"With Sasa, I'm playing more," Bacon told BasketNews last February. "Coach Sasa believes in me, and that's all you need. That's why I'm still here. There's someone who actually believes in me, and wants to see me do things that can help the team win."

After all, since the Serb took over Monaco, the team went from a frail 5-9 record to becoming a real Final Four contender. Bacon, on the other hand, increased his numbers and contribution whilst taking on a bigger role and more responsibilities.

When asked about his impressions from working with Bacon, Obradovic provided a response that leaves no room for any misinterpretation.

"We had a good collaboration," he clarified before going into more detail.

"I've heard some stupid stories that he beat me up, or that he attacked me. It's unbelievable!" he exclaimed.

"When I first saw it, I said 'no comment'. Who can be smart enough and believe that one player can beat his coach up, and then stay with the team?" Obradovic wondered.

The tactician, who had been one of Serbia's most prominent guards in his heyday as a player in the 1990s, argued that the two had "a great relationship, although we didn't agree all the time - for various reasons."

"But this is such a big nonsense! And I'm going to repeat it one more time: if someone asked me, I would never talk bad nor say bad things about him," he went on to say.

Obradovic confirmed that he did receive a call from PAO's front office asking him about Bacon. Nevertheless, as he said, that's the only part of the story that bears some resemblance to the truth.

"It happened, but I also said that he's not a bad guy. People have to be smarter than this," he concluded.

Rarely has the background of any EuroLeague team's signing ever been as intriguing as this one.

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