Captain of the Roca Team, the tricolor international looks back on the victory against Bologna (81-68), Thursday, in Monaco, during the 29th day of the Euroleague.
The Roca Team four to four. While Asvel chained an eighth loss in a row on the European scene by losing to Panathinaikos (82-86), AS Monaco disposed of Bologna (81-68) Thursday, in the Principality, during the 29th day of the Euroleague. And this without the Monegasque star Mike James, suspended … by the princely club until further notice. Sasa Obranovic’s players shone with their solidity, their composure and their sense of collective to overcome those of Sergio Scariolo, making the break in the third quarter. Dominating in rebounds (39 to 24), they relied on the tandem Elie Okobo (21 points) – Jordan Lloyd (15 points) and are now only a small victory away from the play-offs. In fact, they are only third in the standings heading into Barca’s game on Friday.
Enough to approach the final sprint of the season with ambition for the captain of a Roca Team who remains on four straight wins, Yakuba Ouattara, who spoke to some journalists after the match. On the menu by the end of the regular season in Europe? Valencia, Kaunas (where the Final 4 will take place), Bayern, Partizan and European champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
The game : «We knew it would be a fight. As soon as they entered the room, you could read on the faces of the Bologna players that they were determined and that they came to win. Afterwards, we keep our momentum, with a very collective game in the last matches. The ball spins a lot. When we play like that, we make things a lot easier. (…) We knew that we would have to stay solid for 40 minutes. Even when we have less good shots, we don’t panic, we stay solid. And the base, it remains the defense. We know that even if we don’t get shots, if we manage to stop, after a while, it will end up falling into our side. As long as we are solid defensively, we are calm in our heads.»
The absence of Mike James, suspended by the club : «What more do you need to do without him? Contribute. Everyone needs to contribute a little more in small efforts. Offensively too, we know that there will be more opportunities for some guys to express themselves. You have to be ready and play together. (…) His return ? For now, it’s temporary, but we don’t have any more details about that.»
Home advantage would really be a big plus in the quarter-finals…
Yakub Ouattara
The play-offs in sight and… the top 4 : «We are only one win away from qualifying. We still have one more step to take. Top 4? You still have to qualify. There are still five games left. We will take things step by step. Once the qualification is acquired, we will think about the classification. (…) The home advantage would really be a big plus in the quarter-finals. We could see last year what it looked like against Olympiakos (Monaco lost in the fifth game in Greece, editor’s note). Home field advantage is really important.»
Monaco progression : «It’s “phew”, huh (smile)! For a French championship team, it’s a great showcase… What we’re doing is very good. But we don’t intend to stop there. (…) Each year, the club is not satisfied with the results of the previous season, we are always aiming to do better. We see it in recruitment, speeches… The public? We see that people take great pleasure in supporting us and that gives us crazy energy. It’s fun. Hope it continues to go in this direction.»
We have a more combative team than last year, more collective.
Yakub Ouattara
The reasons to hope to do better than last year : «We will have more experience. And in the style of play too. We have a more combative team than last year, more collective.»
The arrival of Skweek in the landscape of French basketball : «This is the first time we have a broadcaster like this. For a while, it was unclear who was going to take over. Skweek appeared, came out of nowhere and saved thousands, millions of people who wanted to follow European basketball (smile). It’s huge for the French championship.»
