By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
They are on the top of the group A after four weeks of action and can be considered among the favorites of the competition. Well, not according to coach Zvezdan Mitrovic.
As he explains to Eurohoops: “I don’t think that our 4-0 run means anything. We are in the early beginning of the season and we have a long way to go. I always prefer to go step-by-step. We have a very solid, I would say even very strong group and nobody will grant us a ticket to the playoffs without a fight”.
This is the second season for AS Monaco in the Basketball Champions League after making it to the Final Four. “In general BCL became much stronger compared to last year. There are only 32 teams instead of 40. It’s really hard to predict which teams will be qualified to the next round”, said Mitrovic.
Defense
The main reason for Monaco’s early success is their outstanding defense. The French team allows just 61,25 points per game to the opponents and they steal the ball 14,25 times per game.
Mitrovic believes that his team can play even better: “Outstanding is too good of a name for our defense. Still, we need to improve especially on pick-and-roll defense. In this point, we miss a lot our center Bangaly Fofana who is injured. Last year he was our best blocker and with him, our defense could be much more versatile.
“It’s hard to build up a defensive model in the beginning of the season. And it’s twice harder when you have a completely new roster (from the previous season AS Monaco kept only Amara Sy, Bangaly Fofana and Sergii Gladyr)”.
“Last year we have used a lot of zone and match-up defense, few types of pressing but we started to execute well only in the second part of the season. The only one thing I can say is that I really appreciate the defensive effort of each of my players. They are really dedicated to their job and they don’t hesitate to work hard”.
The miracle
Since Mitrovic has become the head coach of Monaco team won two French Leaders Cups, made it to the BCL Final Four, but first of all they had to get promoted in the French ProA, the top division of the country.
And the coach admits that his team has exceeded expectations: “Monaco is probably the only place where miracles still happen. I’m glad that last season AS Monaco made a glorious debut in the Champions League. We have finished the group stage with the best record among all 40 participant teams; in the playoffs, we have eliminated much more experienced clubs like AEK and Dinamo Sassari. It was a fairytale! Of course, we always dream big and it’s never enough. This year our main goals will be fighting for French ProA title and a place in the BCL Final Four. ”
The population of Monaco is a just 38,499, but when AS Monaco plays the gym is always packed. “It’s achievement of the Club’s front office that invests a lot of time, energy, and effort for bringing creative and interesting marketing solutions. Also, we feel great Governmental support. For example, a brand new LED cube has been installed at the gym last summer. I can make a joke saying that I’m the only one who doesn’t work on the RocaTeam promotion as I prefer to give emphasis on defense instead of offense while fans prefer to watch open basketball with a lot of points”, joked Mitrovic.
What’s not a joke, however, is the idea of Monaco being a Basketball Champions League contender. Yes, a fairytale indeed.
Photo credit: AS Monaco