The decor of the Casino (in Monaco of course) for the first presentation of the Roca Team season. The kingdom of dreams and big cars for a Roca Team which hit hard on the transfer market this summer.
Heavy, brand new, but also an air of continuity for the vice-champion of France and quarter-finalist of the Euroleague, with the extensions of Mike James ”himself”, Yakuba Ouattara, Donta Hall, Alpha Diallo and Donatas Motiejunas. “We are no longer the Cinderellas in the Euroleague, we will be expected at the entry turnconfie le GM, Oleksiy Yefimov. It was important to keep a framework and not start from scratch like in previous seasons”.
Better balance
The recruits are Elie Okobo (nugget of French basketball, currently with the Blues), Jordan Loyd (Russian champion with Zénit), Adrien Moerman (double European champion with Istanbul), Yoan Makoundou, the great prospect de Cholet, the electric pile John Brown III (former interior of Kazan), the young U20 international William Strazel (champion with ASVEL) and Jaron Blossomgame, a very complete US winger from Germany.
Twelve players signed, a smaller workforce than last season (14) but furiously qualifying.
“On paper, yes, it’s very attractive, the coach’s job will be to form a high-performance collective”, note with the GM.
“We have taken care to establish a better balance between French and foreign players, in order to keep all our chances for the championship”, slips coach Sasa Obradovic.
It is true that the conquest of the 1st title of champion of France in the history of the ASM will be a priority for the club of the Rock, after the 3 finals lost for a breath during the 5th round (2018, 2019 and 2022) . Due to the limited quota of foreigners in BetClic Elite (6 maximum), ASM suffered during the last final against ASVEL from a workforce that was not sufficiently supplied with leading French players. An imbalance erased this year.
“We should not expect new signatures”, says the GM. In particular, Dwayne Bacon, the Florida winger, is gone and will not return.
In the back, it’s crazy
The ASM transfer window is closed, although one or two additional players can still arrive. A crazy Roca Team at the back: Okobo, James, Loyd, Strazel, Ouattara… Have we ever seen such a compilation of talents in positions 1 and 2 in the French championship? In truth, it borders on insolence. Positions 3 and 4 with Diallo, Blossomgame, Makoundou, Moerman and Brown also fly very high. A Roca Team matching its era, with 11 players out of 12 (Donta Hall, he is in charge of crushing the dunks) capable of lighting the fuse at 3-pts… A team undoubtedly less equipped at position 5, from side of the awkward under the circles, even if the Hall-Motiejunas doublet has already demonstrated its complementarity. And Donta Hall, this time, will not have to wax the bench seeing the final take place without him, due to the limitation of foreigners on the sheet.
AS Monaco, resolutely, has invested in the ”frenchie” touch, the end of difficult choices for Sasa Obradovic, who will not complain.
