The Roca Team celebrated a great victory at Panathinaikos on Friday and is looking ahead to the future with huge optimism
'I love the vibe': Jordan Loyd jubilant after Monaco triumph at OAKA
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Regular Season
Round 12 of 34
Group Regular Season
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After celebrating Vassilis Spanoulis’s first game in charge with a hard-fought road victory over the reigning champ, it’s no surprise that AS Monaco’s players were all smiles as they reflected on their 88-91 triumph at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
A game featuring 25 lead changes was ultimately taken by the Roca Team thanks to a powerful finale, holding Panathinaikos to just one field goal in the last three minutes and outscoring the home team 4-10 over the decisive last 120 seconds.
The key man offensively down the stretch was Jordan Loyd, who scored 8 of his 15 points in the final quarter and 5 of them in the last 32 seconds, as he followed a three-point dagger by staying ice cool to dispatch free throws.
Loyd’s triple was particularly important as it gave his team a lead that would last the rest of the way, and he epitomized relaxed confidence as he looked back on that key moment and smiled: “You never shoot to miss! It was a great pass by Elie [Okobo]; we have some of the best guards in EuroLeague, we play for each other, and I just had to finish the job.”
That collective job saw Monaco overcome rebounding problems – Panathinaikos won the battle of the boards 38-25 – largely thanks to a smoothly functioning offense which delivered 26 assists with just 8 turnovers, leading to excellent shooting percentages of 21 of 37 from two-point range (56.8%) and 10 of 22 from deep (45.5%), while also forcing Panathinaikos into 14 turnovers and restricting the Greens to just 6 three-point conversions on 26 attempts (23.1%).
Loyd was again keen to pass on the credit to his teammates as he spoke to EuroLeague TV after the game, saying: “Everybody that stepped on the floor today did a great job. We were looking for one another, not just offensively but also defensively. When you do that, it will translate back to offense. It was fun playing like this, we have a lot to build on and I love the vibe and the passion that we had tonight.”
Of course, it’s impossible to escape the Spanoulis factor, with Monaco riding a wave of positivity following the arrival of one of European basketball’s greatest 21st century legends into the coaching hot seat just three days earlier.
And Loyd admitted that the opportunity to learn from the Greek great is something he is determined to grab with both hands, saying: “This is amazing. A legend here. Some time I’m going to look back on my career and just look at all the people that I’ve been blessed to come into and play under. I’m going to learn as much as I can, be a sponge and enjoy it.”
Enjoy it? Based on Friday’s evidence we’re all going to enjoy it… except Monaco’s opponents.