Asvel beaten by Monaco and a great Okobo

For its first match since the ouster on Monday of Serbian coach Sasa Obradovic, Monaco, with an excellent Elie Okobo, beat Asvel (103-92), Thursday evening during the 11^e Euroleague day.

This victory allows the Roca Team, now led by the Georgian Manuchar Markoishvili, former assistant to Obradovic, to remain in 7^e place, in contact with the first six, directly qualified for the play-offs.

With a gala Elie Okobo (27 points, 34 evaluation), the Monaco team therefore resumed its march forward in its room, where it remained on two consecutive defeats in the Euroleague (against Paris and Belgrade) and a defeat in the championship (against Le Mans).

From now on, he will have to continue his convalescence in Athens, against Panathinaikos, on November 29. Asvel, for its part, will host Efes Istanbul, beaten at home by Paris, during this 11^e daytime.

Under the eyes of their president Tony Parker and led by a very good Théo Maledon (24 points, 30 evaluation), the Villeurbannais quickly took the lead and even led by eleven points (8-19, 7^e), a meeting where the players of the Roca Team had a lot of pressure.

James comes out of his box

During the first quarter, ten points from Maledon, the in-form Asvel man, were answered by ten more from Monegasque Elie Okobo, coming off the bench. But that wasn’t enough for Mike James and his team to take the first step in the lead (20-25, 10^e).

If Monaco tightened its defense before the break, its chronic deficit in rebounding (19 to 12 for Asvel at half-time), allowed Charles Kahudi’s partners to take the lead halfway through (38-40, 20^e).

It was after the break that James (17 points, 7 assists), not in good spirits until then, came out of his box. His seven consecutive points during a nice 10-0 gave Monaco an eight-point lead (48-40, 23^e), advance which even rose to eleven units during a new basket from its captain (64-53, 27^e).

Matthew Strazel (12 points, 4 assists), essential in defense and altruistic, was also important for the Monegasques, who managed to exceed 100 points.

And also… Paris never stops winning

Undefeated for more than a month in the European Cup, Paris Basketball scored a seventh victory in a row on Thursday, on the floor of Anadolu Efes Istanbul (93-84) during the 11^e Euroleague day, further confirming his current great form.

A week after their resounding success in Barcelona (103-87), TJ Shorts’ teammates once again won far from home, among the Istanbulites, winners of the event in 2021 and 2022, who remained on two successes in in a row, away, against Vitoria and Real Madrid but who are struggling at home.

The team in good form in recent weeks, both in the league and in Europe, once again dominated the debates, and now has eight victories for only three defeats. The Parisians remain above all well established at the top of the table and even climb to second place behind Fenerbahce (nine wins) while waiting for the rest of the 11^e daytime.