Calling AS Monaco’s future uncertain is like calling me open to an occasional beer. Never mind Euroleague, we don’t know if they’ll even play professionally next season. That makes Friday’s play-in game with FC Barcelona all the more important, writes Emmet Ryan.
Friday. On Friday there is not an AS Monaco baller that shall standalone. Not Friday. On Friday they will face the monsters that are at their door and bring the fight to them. This Friday, AS Monaco have a chance to defer the apocalypse.
With their future in basketball as a whole, not just Euroleague, hanging in the balance, Friday means more than anything. AS Monaco welcome FC Barcelona with the last place in the playoffs at stake. It might well be the last relevant home game the team plays in pan-European competition for quite some time.
Fontevielle, we have a problem
The issues at AS Monaco off the court are well-documented. With extremely limited access to capital, last season’s Euroleague finalists are in a perilous position. The government has come in to shore things up but for how long and to what extent remains a question.
Right now, on the floor, things have stabilised considerably. While they lost the opening play-in to Panathinaikos on the road, it wasn’t like the Monagesque side looked bad. They had issues dealing with the length disadvantage but the overall outlook performance wise isn’t bad.
In all competitions, they have won six of their last seven home games with a French league loss to Asvel stopping the run. That includes taking a 93-86 win over FC Barcelona less than two weeks ago. That win was the difference between getting one and two bites at the cherry in the play-in.
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This is not Banterlona
While FC Barcelona had fallen back to the banter era on the floor over the last couple of years, order has been restored since the return of Xavi Pascual. The veteran head coach has gone back to the fundamentals defensively while still creating room for offensive expression.
Much has been made of the fact that Pascual is 10 for 10 in playoff appearances in Euroleague seasons where he was a head coach. What’s far more relevant now is how the Blaugrana have improved at a steady clip since his return.
It wasn’t a big explosion followed by a let-down. They are not world-beaters right now but they have been improving clearly and have their healthiest roster of the season available for the trip on Friday. AS Monaco will be expecting a serious fight in this one.
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A matter of pride
You look at the roster that AS Monaco has and it has a lot of guys who will relish this fight. Mike James is built for thriving in this kind of madness. The same goes for Jaron Blossomgame, Daniel Theis, Elie Okobo, and Alpha Diallo.
With a shortened roster, due to all of the chaos off the floor, this is a squad that has been able to cultivate a siege mentality. FC Barcelona are coming to their gym to try to end their relevance in Euroleague, in basketball as a whole. Friday night is it. Everything beyond doesn’t matter in the moment.
Not since the run of Siena to the Italian league finals in the year of their crash has there been anything like this. A team with everything collapsing off the floor is keeping it together for one last push at glory. Few, possibly none, will be there next season if there even is a next season. As a group, this is a moment for them. Do not count them out before the final bell.
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