By Alex Molina/ info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco head coach Vassilis Spanoulis did not hide his frustration after his team’s defeat against Virtus Bologna, a game that slipped away despite a promising start. Monaco led by double digits early on, but a lack of intensity and physicality proved costly as the Italian side took control.
“I think we started good, we were ten points up. After that, we stopped to play, very slow, not physichal. We didn’t play good… and happened what happened,” Spanoulis said in his post-game comments.
The Greek coach pointed to a decisive stretch late in the game, suggesting that Monaco’s performance fell well below its usual standards.
“It’s 39 minutes before that… If we play normal basketball we would be 8-10 points up, everything can happen in the last possesion,” he added.
However, the defeat against Virtus was only part of a much bigger concern for Spanoulis. For the first time since taking charge, the Monaco coach spoke openly about the off-the-field issues surrounding the club, making it clear that the ongoing situation is weighing heavily on his players.
“We have to react, but the problem is that all the things are happening in Monaco, for sure all the players are reading. Everybody now is on social media, everybody reads and for me isn’t easy to explain all the time what is going on,” he explained. “There is a situation here that they need to solve, whoever needs to solve it, this is not normal, to have 12 players. There are teams with 17-18 players, we cannot practice the same players they play,” he said.
Despite the circumstances, Spanoulis was careful to stress his pride in his squad, while admitting he could no longer stay silent on the issue.
“I never spoke until now and I don’t speak because we lost, but it’s not easy. I am proud of my team and my players, but I cannot stay out of this. We have to have a solution, to not have things other than basketball bothering our mind. Because it’s obvious that, for sure, they bother our mind.”
The Monaco coach also referenced specific cases that have added to the uncertainty, including the unexplained departure of Corey Joseph and the long-term absence of Yoan Makoundou.
“My job is not to speak about this, my job is to prepare the team for the games. But for sure, players read everything. Its not normal, we had Corey Joseph and nobody knows what happened, he left. We wanted to be at least 14 but we are not even 13, because Makoundou has been out for two months and he cannot practice. The same players play the French league, where do you see this? Where do we see this around Europe? Nowhere. Nowhere. It’s not easy for these guys to play for nine months and be consistend and focused. ” Spanoulis stated.