BallinEurope is previewing all 18 Euroleague Basketball teams ahead of the start of the season. Today it’s the turn of AS Monaco, a playoff regular and home to reigning MVP Mike James. Is this the season they truly join the elite?
Mike James got his MVP award, finally, in Euroleague Basketball last season. Unfortunately for him, AS Monaco weren’t able to carry his stellar play any farther than the playoffs. La Roca will have hopes of making the final weekend of the season this campaign.
Last season
Euroleague record: 23-11
Regular season position: 3rd
Playoffs: Lost to Fenerbahce (3-2)
LNB record: 29-5
Regular season position: 1st
Playoffs: Won finals vs Paris Basketball (3-1)
Other: Lost Leaders Cup semi-final (Paris Basketball), lost French Cup semi-final (SIG Strasbourg)
Who’s gone?
Yoan Makoundou (Turk Telecom), Yakuba Quattara (Paris Basketball), Donta Hall (Baskonia), Jordan Loyd (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Kemba Walker (retired).
Who is new?
Giorgos Papagiannis (Fenerbahce), Nick Calathes (Fenerbahce), Furkan Korkmaz (Philadelphia 76ers), Vitto Brown (Pinar Karsiyaka), Juhann Begarin (Nanterre 92).
Who stayed?
Mike James, John Brown, Donatas Motiejunas, Elie Okobo, Matthew Strazel, Terry Tarpey, Alpha Diallo, Theo Pichard, Petr Cornelie, Mam Jaiteh, Jaron Blossomgame.
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Need to know
The Kemba Walker experiment didn’t work for AS Monaco. Nick Calathes, fresh of a repurposed role in the second half of last season, looks like the field tested version of what AS Monaco want from it for this campaign. There’s a lot of roster continuity here in key positions. That La Roca could do this while also bolstering the side for the Euroleague campaign is a big plus.
What the bookies think
There’s a little variety from sportsbooks with AS Monaco. They are as long as 10/1 and as short as 7/1 in Euroleague basketball betting. The broad consensus has them at 9/1 on most markets. Sadly, there’s no MVP market yet so we can’t see how favoured Mike James is to repeat.
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What we think
Any team with Mike James always has a chance. The line-up around him this season is optimised to his strengths. That said, a lot is going to be needed from Furkan Korkmaz for AS Monaco to make that one big leap. This Euroleague Basketball campaign is going to be top heavy. That said, this team screams of consistency. This team is the opposite of FC Barcelona. They’ll make the playoffs for sure.
Fearless prediction
I’ve gone back and forth with AS Monaco and two other sides for rankings. For now, I’ve got them in a battle from 3rd to 5th in Euroleague Basketball standings. They could go higher and I can’t see them going lower. That said, I’m opting for the most confident approach with my selection.
Pick: 3rd in the regular season
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