Newsletter

Is there a Will Thomas problem at AS Monaco?

+39 for Yakuba Ouattara, +47 for Donta Hall and even +53 for the duo Paris Lee – Brock Motum … In the Marseille walk of AS Monaco on Sunday against Fos-Provence (94-56), some players present a +/- impressive. What to strengthen the contrast with those of two men: -9 for Ibrahima Fall Faye and -11 for Will Thomas. This is not really problematic or revealing for the Senegalese pivot, not especially expected as a major player and even spontaneously cited by his coach in the afternoon’s satisfactions (6 points at 2/4 and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes ). It becomes much more so for his American counterpart, a real disappointment in the summer recruitment of AS Monaco (6.2 points at 50% and 3.6 rebounds in EuroLeague, 4.3 points at 28% and 3 rebounds in Betclic ELITE) .

Very committed to Kaunas two weeks ago for the first of Sasa Obradovic (12 points at 5/7 and 4 rebounds), Will Thomas (2.03 m, 35 years old) quickly relapsed into lethargy. His Christmas week was thus abysmally weak: 4 points and only 1 small rebound in Berlin in 26 minutes, 0 point at 0/3, 1 rebound and 2 stray balls for -3 evaluation in 6 minutes in Marseille. Beyond the numbers, the visual impression is striking: a player sometimes lost on the field, who slows down the systems in attack, and lacks the intensity to go to battle under the circle, he who was precisely renowned for his power and his hardness. Sunday, his presence on the floor coincided with the worst passage of the Roca Team: launched at the end of the first quarter when the score was 20-6 for Monaco, he came out at 25-22, not without having conceded a 16-0 in passing. Enough to vaccinate Sasa Obradovic who did not want to give him his chance when he returned from the locker room. And also to make his response a little more surprising when we specifically asked him if the Baltimore native’s repeated underperformance is going to end up becoming a problem.

” I do not agree with you. Will Thomas is a very important player for us. Honestly, he had a lot of problems, so much so that he was completely out of shape for a while. He needs to exceed the aerobic threshold, that time when he gets tired on the court. Even today, I played it on purpose. But in my eyes, it is very important to be able to rely on such a player, he who knows what it takes to win with his experience or how to behave in a locker room. I have no doubt that it will be good. “

“Of course we expect better from him”

For good reason, the CV of Will Thomas had something to dream of when he arrived in mid-September. Professional since 2008, the American-Georgian has seen it all, known it all. Figure of Valencia with whom he won the Spanish championship (2017) and EuroCup (2019), with the trophy for best player of the final as a bonus, the MVP of the Belgian championship … 2010 had landed with solid references in EuroLeague: five successful seasons under the colors of Malaga, Valencia and Saint Petersburg, he who belonged to the elite of the best interiors on the continent last year with the Zenith (9.3 points at 54% and 4.9 rebounds for 12 , 6 evaluation). Not at all what AS Monaco has recovered, which obviously expects a lot more from its player, even though GM Oleksiy Yefimov advances some mitigating circumstances.

“Like Mike James, Will Thomas didn’t do the preseason with us. He arrived just before the start of the season and we went straight to 12 games in October. So he didn’t really have time to get in shape. I don’t want to find an excuse for him because of course we expect better from him. We want to have the Will Thomas of last season, the one we saw against Barcelona (15 points and 9 rebounds on October 15, editor’s note). But the team is more important than the individuals. “

24 evaluation in October against Mirotic and Barça: rare coup for Thomas with ASM
(photo: Sébastien Grasset)

While his last match against Milan had marked a break with Zvezdan Mitrovic (0 point, 0 rebound, 0 assist and 1 lost ball in 8 minutes), the silent Will Thomas enjoyed the confidence of Sasa Obradovic since his arrival in the Principality. This one thus granted him successively 27, 30, 25 and 26 minutes of playing time during his first four outings, sometimes even in the money-time as in Berlin, at the expense of a Donatas Motiejunas yet on fire (23 points in 18 minutes). During the same trip to Germany, Brock Motum had to be content with 4 short minutes. But the hierarchy could quickly change, the Belgrade coach having in particular publicly rejoiced to see that he could rely on the Australian, to be credited with 17 points at 7/9 and 7 rebounds against Fos-Provence. Likewise, his remarks concerning the playing time deliberately allocated to Thomas against the BYers should be understood in the sense that he chose to leave Motiejunas in civilian clothes and not the American. Nevertheless, Will Thomas could quickly find himself in an ejection seat, even if Oleksiy Yefimov is defending himself from any desire for change for the moment.

“We are constantly monitoring the market. But I don’t think it would be professional to give you such an answer until the new manager has really had a chance to work with his team. This will be the case in early January with a full week break between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and ASVEL. We are always on the lookout for an exciting opportunity but it is still too early to talk about any possible workforce changes. “

Verdict to the question posed by the title: if AS Monaco confirms “expect better” from their winger, there is therefore officially (yet?) No Will Thomas problem in the Principality. But at this rate, in a club behind on its “crucial” goal of qualifying for the EuroLeague playoffs (14th at mid-season), this could quickly become the case …

In Marseille,

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending