In a bit more than a month on the bench, Vassilis Spanoulis has already made a profound impact on Monaco's season. The Greek head coach, a rookie at the EuroLeague level, had a tough job in replacing Sasa Obradovic, but so far, he has improved the team both offensively and defensively.
Change is not a simple thing. Sometimes, it takes years to see changes in even marginal aspects of our lives.
Many factors can hinder change, and fear is one of the main ones. Not everyone is ready to make radical changes in their lives because they fear they may be completely upended.
In sports, change can definitely be more rapid. One day, you are the coach of a team, and you think you are relatively comfortable, but the next week, you can be fired without much explanation. This is the nature of professional sports.
Until a little over a month ago, AS Monaco did not seem like a club that needed to change the coach.
The Principality team had a 7-4 record in the EuroLeague. Not everything was perfect, but overall, the leadership of coach Sasa Obradovic, who arrived in 2021, did not seem to be in question.
Overall, the team was not doing badly, but there was still a feeling that something was not working to the initial expectations.
So after the home defeat in the French league against Le Mans and a few days before the EuroLeague game against compatriots ASVEL, Monaco decided to relieve Obradovic of his duties and embark on a search for a new coach.
Monaco's choice to entrust the bench and the club's near future to Spanoulis seems to be paying off, at least so far.
Since Vassilis Spanoulis' arrival on the bench, Monaco has amassed a 5-2 record in the EuroLeague, topping the standings with an overall record of 12 wins and 6 losses.
However, it is not just about the overall record. Monaco seems to have found a new dimension that is working in all respects.