There was no photo. Big favorites for the title of champion of France, the Monegasques crushed Boulogne-Levallois (87-64) like a puzzle this Saturday, at Gaston-Médecin, during the first round of the Betclic Elite finals. Victor Wembanyama (8 pts, 7 rbs) and company only deluded during the first six minutes of the meeting (12-11) before taking the thunder, dominated in all compartments of the game. Already an advantage of 31 points in favor of the Roca Team at the break (52-21 MT)! I Eleven different scorers for ASM, including Alpha Diallo (14), Mike James (12) and Elie Okobo (10). Top scorer of the game, Armel Traoré split 15 points for the Ile-de-France team. The two clubs will meet again on Monday evening (8:30 p.m.), still in the Principality, for the second round, before match 3 on Thursday, at Roland-Garros. The first team to three wins will pocket the bet.
In the first half, the Monegasques quickly took control. We quickly felt a Boulogne-Levallois team trying to pass the game through its star, “Wemby”. But, jostled by the defense in place of the Monegasques, the young prodigy could not find an answer. The physical challenge was perhaps too great or Monaco, too sharp, but the next number 1 in the NBA draft has all the trouble to score 4 points in the first ten minutes of the game.
Opposite, the trio Mike James, John Brown and Donatas Motiejunas was already hurting, very hurting their opponents. Harvesting rebounds for one, points in the racket for the other, the Monegasque three-headed dragon destroyed almost everything in its path. James finished the first quarter with 5 assists. The score ? 23-15.
But the worst was yet to come. In the second quarter, Monaco atomized the visitors 29-6. The Mets totally confused. The Monegasques like in a dream, on a cloud, thanks to their insolent address (7/13 to 3 points). Elie Okobo did very badly off the bench, scoring the majority of his points (10) in this second quarter. At halftime, Monaco was quietly leading by 31 points (52-21 MY).
Coming back from the locker room, the Roca Team were slacking off a bit: their shots were mostly short and the intensity was dropping. This is the moment that Vincent Collet chose to try another approach. He decided to go into the zone. A tactic that paid off at first because Boulogne-Levallois recovered several balls and scored on the counter-attack. However, it would have taken more, much more, as the abyss was enormous. Armel Traoré still tried to sound the revolt with his 15 points in 16 minutes. His self-sacrifice will have been lucky, but he was the only one to show a spirit of resilience among the Mets. Moreover, he was the only one of his team (with Barry Brown Jr, 10 points) to cross the bar of ten registered units (87-64 final score). The Mets have two days to get their heads together before the second inning on Monday.