Game
Series 3-2
1 2 3 4
Olympiacos 11 30 25 28
Monaco 13 35 22 18

2022-05-04 18:30 / Stadium Peace and Friendship / Spectators: 11847
Compare
Olympiacos Piraeus Olympiacos Piraeus
Shaquielle  McKissic
Shaquielle McKissic
Points 18
Accuracy 6-7
86  %
Rebounds 2
Assists 2
Steals 1
Efficiency 24
AS Monaco AS Monaco
24 Points Mike  James
Mike James
6-17
35  %
Accuracy
4 Rebounds
10 Assists
0 Steals
26 Efficiency
Olympiacos Piraeus
AS Monaco
60%
31/52
Field goals
46%
30/65
26
Rebounds
31
18
Assists
16
2
Steals
5
8
Turnovers
8
48%
11/23
3-pointers
42%
13/31
News
2022-05-13

Roughly 70 minutes before the decisive Olympiacos Piraeus - AS Monaco Game 5 tipped off, fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium had already started to pack the stands. Kevin Durant and Emma Stone were still on their way to the stadium, but neither of the two playoff contenders paid attention to what was going on outside the court. 

In front of the guest team's bench, Monaco's General Manager Oleksiy Yefimov was discussing the details of the upcoming game with his associates. One of the issues to be resolved was making sure that all delegation members had been allocated their respective seats. 

As Monaco players exited the locker room for their last pre-game warmup, Yefimov didn't look nervous at all. 

"I'm proud of those guys, of the organization and the Principality of Monaco," the Ukrainian executive told BasketNews.

"The fact that we reached the playoffs was something outstanding, especially taking into consideration that our four victories against Russian clubs didn't count. We also secured our future in the EuroLeague."

As one of the cornerstones in Monaco's front office since 2014, Oleksiy Yefimov has propelled the Roca Team to unprecedented heights. At only 36, he's by far the youngest GM on any EuroLeague team. It would be unthinkable to rank Monaco among Europe's top teams five years ago. 

"I will remind you one thing," Yefimov continued. "On September 22, 2021, we still didn't have permission to host games in Monaco."

That was the first reminder that EuroLeague isn't anywhere close to the EuroCup, despite the huge leaps forward that Monaco have made over the past two seasons.

Yefimov says the biggest differences between the two competitions are in the schedule and in the way the available budget should be spent.

"In EuroLeague, the schedule is tighter and the level of physicality higher. When you play against those teams, they will capitalize on any mistake that you make," Yefimov said.

"Logistically, the most important decision we made was to spend less money on players in order to travel with a charter," he continued. "In the end, our investment paid off. Especially taking into consideration the location of French teams, it would have been impossible to maintain this rhythm without a charter."

If Game 5 in Piraeus was a final in its own right, Monaco had already played not one but three finals. The first one was lost in 2018 when AEK Athens beat them in the BCL Final Four. The next two were victorious, as Monaco swept the EuroCup final series against UNICS Kazan to win their first-ever trophy. 

Yefimov admits that it's hard for him to work out a logical explanation. 

"It's only eight years since we turned into a professional team, coming from the second division. The main reason is the passionate people who backed the project and learned from their mistakes. That's how experience works.

We had huge support from the local community, the government, and Prince Albert II himself. He likes basketball, and he used to attend basketball games with his father."

As basketball's popularity continues to grow in the Principality and their European journey gained considerable momentum, financial resources are necessary to keep the project alive and kicking.

In 2014, the Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Sergey Dyadechko became the President of Monaco Basket.

Almost eight years later, in January 2022, the torch was passed from Dyadechko to Aleksej Fedoricsev. With a firm handshake, the former president and his successor sealed the agreement, which ratified the acquisition of 46.4% of the club's shares by Fedoricsev, making him its majority shareholder. 

Fedoricsev, 66, is the founder of Fedcom, the world leader in grain and fertilizers, with an estimated personal fortune of $1 billion. His company had been the shirt sponsor for AS Monaco football club for more than 25 years.

Born in Russia but now holding only the Hungarian citizenship, the financial tycoon previously owned Dynamo Moscow and FC Rostov football clubs. 

In any case, Dyadechko has made clear that he'll keep investing in the team as a minor shareholder, despite the fact that the last word belongs to Mr. Fedoricsev.

Yefimov, a graduate of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, made one of the greatest connections of his career back in 2007. Having worked as the press officer and then the marketing director at BC Kyiv, the giants of Ukrainian basketball at the time, he was offered a job as their manager. That's where he met Monaco's current coach, Sasa Obradovic.

When the Serbian tactician moved to Donetsk the following year, he proposed Yefimov to Dyadechko as a GM. 

"Mr. Dyadechko opened a new chapter in the history of AS Monaco. When the team was in the third division, he started investing in it. Then, he became the president and brought the club to the EuroCup title," Yefimov summed up.

On the other hand, Fedoriscev was the title sponsor of AS Monaco football team for 26 consecutive years, which is the second-longest sponsorship period in European football's history.

"He's also someone who has contributed to the Principality for a long period of time," Yefimov stressed. "I'm glad that even though he played football professionally, he grew to love basketball so much that he's 100% focused on the Roca Team."

Monaco GM is positive that Fedoricsev will stick around for a long time.

"He has always had a long-term vision. I hope that he'll stay at least for as many years as the ones he spent with the football team."

Despite not having one of EuroLeague's biggest budgets, Monaco almost doubled their expenses during their maiden season at the highest level.

The club started the 2021-22 campaign with a 14-million euro budget, which is expected to increase next year. How much? That's still to be determined, Yefimov maintains.

"We will try our best to increase it, taking into consideration that the Financial Fair Play rule will change next year. This means that only half of the budget can be contributed by the shareholders, so we need to earn the other half.

For playoffs, we could allow a sponsorship with a crypto-currency platform. We're trying to explore new digital markets."

The Ukrainian says Monaco only rank 13th-14th among EuroLeague clubs in terms of budget.

"From what I've learned from open sources, only ALBA Berlin, Panathinaikos, and Crvena Zvezda are beneath us. In past summers, we were having a headache because we couldn't keep our players after successful seasons," he said.

But this season is no different. It can even be much worse, considering how great season players like Mike James, Dwayne Bacon, and Donta Hall are having. Yefimov thinks that the most important thing is that all of them are super happy being in Monaco as a place, a city, and an organization.

"I believe that they will first listen to us before they make any decisions."

2022-05-06
For die-hard Olympiacos Piraeus fans, Thomas Walkup is their version of the Terminator. The man who takes on a mission, especially on the defensive end, and pulls it off. For some journalists, the blond guard is the rightful successor of Acie Law and Daniel Hackett, arguably the two best defensive backcourt players that Olympiacos had in the last decade. For the mainstream audience and those who ...
2022-05-06
Less than two hours before Game 5 between Olympiacos Piraeus and AS Monaco tipped off, French newspaper L'Equipe broke the news again, heralding Kevin Durant's arrival at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. The NBA superstar and three-time Olympic gold medalist with Team USA had visited the Gaston Medecin for Game 4, and this time he was reportedly expected to sit next to Vassilis Spanoulis. It ...
2022-05-05
At the beginning of the season, AS Monaco were widely considered a longshot for the EuroLeague playoffs. When the Russian teams were left out of the competition, the newcomers saw four of their wins go to waste, but at the same time, three of their main competitors were knocked out. Despite not concluding what would or could have been an already miraculous season, Monaco once again stood tall at ...
2022-05-05
Olympiacos Piraeus had to go through a five-game ordeal to bring down AS Monaco and get the remaining ticket to the 2022 EuroLeague Final Four, adding another high note to their season. The Reds had to bounce back from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter to get a hard-fought 94-88 win in Game 5 in front of 12.000 high-spirited fans. The Greek side made it to their eleventh Final Four overall ...
2022-05-05
Olympiacos Piraeus downed AS Monaco in Game 5 to clinch the last remaining Final Four spot, as the Reds made the TOP 4 for the eleventh time in their history. Players, coaches, and basketball people around Europe and the USA, who either saw the game, watched the highlights, or simply heard about the news, congratulated the Greek squad on their success and commented on the atmosphere at the Peace ...
2022-05-04
Euroleague Basketball would like to strongly condemn the acts that took place during the last minutes of Game 5 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs between Olympiacos Piraeus and AS Monaco. The lack of security during the game led to a court invasion with the game in progress, forcing the officiating crew to pause the game until the minimum safety conditions were recovered. Other serious ...
2022-05-04
Kevin Durant has probably witnessed what he never did before in his life. An intense atmosphere, hundreds of fans on the court jumping and screaming with flares in their hands. Mike James-led AS Monaco lost a Game 5 drama against Olympiacos Piraeus and ended their participation in the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season. The Roca Team lost the best-of-five series 2-3, while the Greek ...
2022-05-04
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2022-05-04
Kevin Durant has landed in Athens and will be in attendance for the decisive Game 5 of the EuroLeague playoff series between Olympiacos Piraeus and AS Monaco, L'Equipe reports. The Brooklyn Nets star was so impressed with the Game 4 in Monaco that he decided to continue his journey through the EuroLeague playoffs. According to L'Equipe, Durant will sit next to the EuroLeague legend Vassilis ...
2022-05-04
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2022-05-04
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2022-05-03
With their series against AS Monaco tied at 2-2, on Wednesday, Olympiacos Piraeus will look for another win that will hand them a Final Four ticket for the first time since 2017. Kostas Papanikolaou, being one of the most experienced players on the Reds' roster, knows very well the ins and outs of decisive games like the one his team is playing tomorrow. According to the Greek forward, one of the ...
2022-05-03
Olympiacos Piraeus face AS Monaco in a 'make it or break it' Game 5 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Wednesday night. The Reds' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, welcomed the pressure that his side will inevitably have to deal with, calling it "a privilege." The Greek tactician, who's been to the EuroLeague Final Four with both Olympiacos (winning the trophy in 2013) and Lokomotiv Kuban (in 2016), ...
2022-05-02
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Best players
Shaquielle  McKissic
18 PTS
6/7 FG
4/4 FT
Mike  James
24 PTS
6/17 FG
10/11 FT
Aleksandr  Vezenkov
7 REB
7 DREB
0 OREB
Will  Thomas
8 REB
5 DREB
3 OREB
Kostas  Sloukas
5 As
3 TO
20 MIN
Mike  James
10 As
2 TO
35 MIN
Shaquielle  McKissic
24 EFF
100% 2P%
67% 3P%
Mike  James
26 EFF
57% 2P%
20% 3P%
NO MIN FGM-A 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A REB D-O REB AS ST TO BS RBS PF RF PTS EFF
0 Thomas Walkup 31:47 7-10
70%
4-5
80%
3-5
60%
0-0
0%
1-0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 18
2 Tyler Dorsey 28:45 6-11
55%
4-6
67%
2-5
40%
2-3
67%
2-0 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 4 16 16
10 Moustapha Fall 26:43 2-3
67%
2-3
67%
0-0
-%
0-1
0%
2-1 3 4 0 2 0 0 3 4 4 8
14 Aleksandr Vezenkov 35:08 3-7
43%
1-2
50%
2-5
40%
1-1
100%
7-0 7 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 9 12
16 Kostas Papanikolaou 20:12 1-5
20%
1-3
33%
0-2
0%
4-4
100%
2-0 2 1 0 1 1 0 2 3 6 6
4 Michalis Lountzis 0:04 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Giannoulis Larentzakis 3:02 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -1
11 Kostas Sloukas 19:41 3-5
60%
1-3
33%
2-2
100%
7-8
88%
5-0 5 5 0 3 0 0 2 5 15 22
12 Hassan Martin 13:06 3-3
100%
3-3
100%
0-0
-%
3-4
75%
0-1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 9 11
15 Georgios Printezis 4:28 0-1
0%
0-0
-%
0-1
0%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Livio Jean-Charles 0:00 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
77 Shaquielle McKissic 17:04 6-7
86%
4-4
100%
2-3
67%
4-4
100%
2-0 2 2 1 1 0 0 2 5 18 24
200 31-52
60%
20-29
69%
11-23
48%
21-25
84%
23-3 26 18 2 8 2 0 17 27 94 119

Head Coach:

Georgios Bartzokas

NO MIN FGM-A 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A REB D-O REB AS ST TO BS RBS PF RF PTS EFF
9 Leo Westermann 3:26 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 -2
10 Will Thomas 36:39 3-7
43%
3-5
60%
0-2
0%
0-0
0%
5-3 8 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 6 11
20 Donatas Motiejūnas 23:38 3-8
38%
2-4
50%
1-4
25%
0-0
0%
1-3 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 7 7
24 Yakuba Ouattara 21:58 5-8
63%
0-1
0%
5-7
71%
0-0
0%
2-2 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 15 14
55 Mike James 34:32 6-17
35%
4-7
57%
2-10
20%
10-11
91%
4-0 4 10 0 2 0 1 4 7 24 26
5 Paris Lee 20:13 5-8
63%
2-3
67%
3-5
60%
1-1
100%
3-0 3 1 1 0 0 0 5 1 14 12
8 Dwayne Bacon 29:41 4-12
33%
3-10
30%
1-2
50%
3-3
100%
3-1 4 2 1 1 0 1 2 4 12 11
12 Brock Motum 0:07 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Jerry Boutsiele 0:00 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 Ibrahima Fall Faye 0:07 0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
-%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 Danilo Andjusic 13:34 2-3
67%
1-2
50%
1-1
100%
0-0
0%
0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 5 1
45 Donta Hall 16:05 2-2
100%
2-2
100%
0-0
-%
1-1
100%
0-2 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 5 5
200 30-65
46%
17-34
50%
13-31
42%
15-16
94%
20-11 31 16 5 8 0 2 27 17 88 84

Head Coach:

Sasa Obradovic

Teams
FGM-A 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A REB D-O REB AS ST TO BS RBS PF RF PTS EFF
Olympiacos Piraeus 31-52
60%
20-29
69%
11-23
48%
21-25
84%
23-3 26 18 2 8 2 0 17 27 94 119
AS Monaco 30-65
46%
17-34
50%
13-31
42%
15-16
94%
20-11 31 16 5 8 0 2 27 17 88 84