By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
After registering a win with AS Monaco over reigning champion Panathinaikos Athens in his EuroLeague debut as head coach, Vassilis Spanoulis lauded his superstar player Mike James for the way he distributed assists to his teammates and influenced the team’s offense overall.
“Mike James scored six points but he had 10 assists,” Spanoulis said in the post-game presser. “I can’t imagine how many more passes he made when they trapped him. How many times he released the ball and some other guy made the assist. It’s not easy to find such a scorer in the EuroLeague who plays so mature. And to pass the ball like this and to care so much for the win. I’m really happy about him.”
While James shot 2-10 from the field for a season-low six points, he still managed to be pivotal by dishing out season-high 10 assists to cause problems to the Panathinaikos’ defense. He also had several hockey assists before actual dimes, as Spanoulis emphasized.
“We talked with Mike the day before the game and I told him him that the first option for every team is to lock down all big players and the star of the opposing team,” Spanoulis also mentioned. A three-time EuroLeague champion and Final Four MVP, Spanoulis was notable for exceptionally balancing amply scoring for himself and creating for his teammates to initiate offense in multiple ways.
“You have to be smart,” Spanoulis added. “In order to win, you have to be smart. Mike is one of the EuroLeague superstars. While he’s such a great scorer, he’s also the best passer among those capable scorers. He’s an excellent passer. I see it also in practice. When he distributes the ball then his teammates also feel better. There will be moments when we see what he can do when he gets hot and he’s unstoppable.”
Spanoulis had began singing James’ praises in the flash interview after Monaco’s victory. “When Mike James, who is the best scorer in the history of EuroLeague, passes the ball like this, you can tell that this is a good team. He was unbelievable,” the Greek coach said.
Monaco overall finished with a season-best 26 assists while averaging 17.2 before this game.
Alpha Diallo was one of the Monaco players who took great advantage of James’ assists to finish with career-high-tying 24 points to go with his seven rebounds. Jordan Loyd had 15 points and five assists, draining to go-ahead triple for the 86 – 88 and a pair of free throws to put his team up by four with 12 seconds to go.
“This is amazing. We have a legend here,” Loyd said about playing for Spanoulis. “Sometimes I’m going look back at my career and all the people I’ve been blessed to work with. I’m going to learn as much as I can, be a sponge and enjoy it.”