By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco and Paris Basketball have faced each other plenty of times in the past few seasons in the LNB, but today it marked their first-time ever clash in the EuroLeague. Surprisingly enough, improving to 2-3 in the standings and grabbing a first road win, Paris beat the hosts 86-80.
In the aftermath of the home side’s loss, Sasa Obradovic shared his delusion. “We didn’t pick up with their rhythm, we didn’t run and jump like them. It doesn’t matter if on offense you can miss some shots without any big plan. But you still have to run, we didn’t have any minute of underdog mentality. We were just walking there. If you play like this, with this kind of team, you have no chance”, he said.
“Paris showed up here with enthusiasm to play the game, and we completely missed the focus, from the beginning. We missed open shots under the basket. When you give this kind of rhythm to a team that depends on great rhythm, it’s hard. Today it was out of discussion: our character was under a big question mark. I didn’t see leadership”, Sasa Obradovic followed in the press conference.
Previously, his colleague Tiago Splitter spoke about his team’s road win. “We believed for the whole game we would have won it. The guys were aggressive, and TJ [Shorts] was a monster. The whole group defensively got a lot of stops. Once we figured it out with the rebounds, the game was a little on our side. Big time on the last quarter”, the Brazilian commented.
“Basketball is a game of runs, right? We had a nice run at the beginning of the game, they had a nice run in the third quarter. We just have to be smart. We always believed, even down whatever we were, and found a way to get back to the game”, he also commented.
Can TJ Shorts’ domination push Paris even more?
TJ Shorts was simply on another level, finishing with a EuroLeague career-high double-double of 28 points and 10 assists, for 39 of PIR. A few weeks ago, Tiago Splitter praised TJ Shorts after the game in Milan. Today, he repeated himself. “He was a monster. TJ [Shorts] is a high-character player, ready to do whatever it takes to win a basketball game”, he said.
Tiago Splitter continued. “He involves his teammates, leads them on and off the court, and encourages them, asking for their best. Tonight he just shot the ball extremely well, got to his spots, and led us”, Paris Basketball’s head coach added.
TJ Shorts himself spoke in the post-game flash interview. “It’s an amazing feeling for us to get our first road win against one of our rivals in the French League. It’s huge for us, it builds confidence and we will just continue rolling with it”, he said after the win, before commenting on what’s coming for Paris.
“We’ve lost a lot of tight games, and we feel like we’re right there to get over the hump. That’s only gonna boost our confidence to continue for the rest of the season. Hopefully, there will be more wins in the future”, the former Telekom Baskets Bonn’s point guard shared.
He was followed by one of his long-time teammates in the post-game flash interviews. “We’re just trying to prove we can compete. It’s a testament to our work in practice and our guys in the locker room. It’s tough playing in the EuroLeague for sure, we had our instances of shock. But we weather that pretty well, we have to continue moving forward and make the best of it”, Tyson Ward commented.