Fenerbahçe controls a good part of the match in the first of the series at home and takes the 2-1 from Monaco.
Fenerbahçe wins at home and scores great pressure on the shoulders of Monaco who now have to win in Istanbul to keep their Final Four hopes alive.
The team coached by Jasi triumphs for 89-78 and runs madly towards his RoadtoBerlin .
The three-point shot
One of the main factors of this series for Fenerbahce – which had given joy in game 1, satisfaction and then nothing concrete in game 2 – was an element with relative weight in this third episode of the series. Fener closes with a discreet result 39%.
The evolution in the match is particular, with Fener building his very first break of his own hitting from the perimeter. The game struggled to take off in the first quarter, two triples by Hayes-Davis first and then by Dorsey gave the first lead of the game.
Monaco works hard for counter the post of Pierre and the Turkish wingers, and he does it profitably, which is why he sometimes risks revealing the blanket at 6.75.
At the end of the first quarter, however, Monaco will begin to play intelligently trying to avoid capitalizing on situations favorable to Fener and exaggerating his success from three. We can remember at least one preventive foul on the post so that it wasn’t a hotbed of play and a breakthrough foul on the penetrator who had unloaded in the corner to the shooter with kilometers of space.
These factors, combined with the growing initiative of the Monegasque wingers, will favor Monaco’s advantage in the first quarter. Progressively, Fener will build his responses on a broad and very effective offensive spectrum two-point shot.
However, as long as the plays that will kill the Monaco comeback will both be two long shots from Biberovic. A triple and a long two.
Marko Guduric
The real rift of Fenerbahçe, which will come and will never be mended, is made up with the Marko Gudurić’s outburst. 5 points in a quick sequence, won by exposing Donta Hall’s difficulties with the defensive switch.
Vader cultivates the advantage he has built and maintains it. In the mind, Monaco lacks pace and production of advantages and goals.
Guduric is master of competition in knowing how to exploit every little channel made available by the opposing defense, in annoying the defensive changes, in fact he closed the ball in the last action of the first half, snatching the +7.
Monaco changed focus on that later in the match defense on the pick and roll, asking the big man for strong help to get the ball out. Gudurić, however, will remain a master of readings and among these he will insert a delicious assist for Papagiannis out of the defense trap in the final.
The Serbian, in a match where the goals are quite distributed among the Fenerbahce players, scores a match worth 13 points and 6 precious assists.
Mike, where are you?
Monaco had their backs against the wall and lost a match played in a less than incisive way. The team managed to mount a reaction at the end, using the play in an open field to force a comeback, but then got lost in the slightly confusing moments at the end.
Monaco pulls the 19% from three and deals 20 assists. Usually many assists are a positive thing and, for goodness sake, they are also in this case. But Monaco is used to giving few assists also for the great individual responsibility of his people handler. Which was absent in this race.
Okobo, Loyd and James they scored 24 points together. Recording a 1/6, a 4/10 and a 4/13 from the field respectively.
James, who averaged 18.7 points and 5.1 assists this season, is scoring in this series 11.1 points with 6 assists on average. With 30% from 2 and 26% from three. Somewhat merciless numbers.
He often gave up the ball, also due to the defense, without taking responsibility in the moments in which he could have decided the match. That James recovers a more aggressive version is not only necessary because he is the leader and the most talented of the team, but also because Monaco cannot give up values on which his attack is based.
Photo credit: euroleague.net and Fenerbahçe
