AS Monaco Basket, commonly referred to as AS Monaco or simply Monaco, is a French-registered Monaco-based professional basketball club. They are a part of the Monaco-based multi-sports club of A.S. Monaco, which was founded in 1924.

AS Monaco
AS Monaco logo
NicknameLa Roca Team
Les Rouges et Blancs
(The Red and Whites)
Roca Boys
LeaguesLNB Élite
EuroLeague
Founded1928; 96 years ago (1928)
ArenaSalle Gaston Médecin
Capacity5,000
LocationFontvieille, Monaco
Team colorsRed, White and Gold
     
PresidentAlexey Fedorychev
General managerOleksiy Yefimov
Head coachVassilis Spanoulis
Championships1 EuroCup
2 French Championships
1 French Cup
3 French League Cup
Websiteasmonaco.basketball

The club's basketball section was founded four years later in 1928,[1] and it currently competes in the French top-tier level LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. Monaco plays their home games at Salle Gaston Médecin.

Monaco has won one EuroCup title in 2021, one French Cup in 2023, and three Leaders Cups.

History

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About four years after the parent athletic club, A.S. Monaco, was itself founded, A.S. Monaco Basket was founded in 1928. They finished as runners-up in the French top-tier level Nationale 1 (current LNB Pro A) following the 1950 season, which is regarded as one of their greatest successes in their history. Monaco also won the LNB Pro B (French 2nd Division) championship in the 1973 season, with one of the greatest offenses on the European continent.

A.S. Monaco Basket joined the Nationale 1 for the 1973–74 season, where they finished in ninth place. They made their first appearance in the European 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup in the 1974–75 season, where they lost in the group stage to other notable teams, such as the French League club ASVEL Basket, the Bulgarian League club Levski Sofia, and the Italian League club AMG Sebastiani Basket. They entered the same tournament again in the 1982–83 season, but lost to Dynamo Moscow in the semifinals qualification battle, in the Top 16 group stage, despite a far better finish in the tournament overall.[2][3]

Entering the 1980s, Monaco was in the process of securing their title as one of the most dangerous teams in French basketball. They reached the finals game of the French Federation Cup, where they lost to Limoges CSP, by a score of 96–81. The Red and Whites also became a threat in the LNB Pro A (French 1st Division), what the league had been renamed to, after former NBA player, Robert Smith, joined the team in 1985. Smith was named the 1987 French League All-Star Game MVP.[4]

After Smith left the team, Monaco found themselves descending in the league. They were relegated to the second division LNB Pro B, later in the decade, and eventually ended up in the Nationale 1 Division. They would not return to the LNB Pro A, the highest division of basketball in France, for many years to come. In 2014, A.S. Monaco Basket was crowned the champions of the French third-tier league, the Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1), and they returned to the LNB Pro B (French 2nd Division).[5]

In the 2014–15 season, Monaco became the French 2nd-tier LNB Pro B champions, and they were finally promoted back to the top-tier league in France, the LNB Pro A. In 2015, the Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, Sergey Dyadechko, became the President of A.S. Monaco Basket. In the 2015–16 season, Monaco won the 2016 edition of the French Pro A League Cup, after beating Élan Chalon in the finals, by a score of 99–74.[6] Monaco player, Jamal Shuler, was named the French Pro A Leaders Cup MVP.

In the 2016–17 season, Monaco returned to European-wide competitions, when it qualified for one of the pan-European secondary level competitions, the FIBA Basketball Champions League.[7] They finished the season in third place. In 2017, the charity fund, DSF, founded by the club's owner, Dyadechko, became a sponsor of A.S. Monaco Basket. The club also played in the FIBA Champions League, during the 2017–18 season, in which they finished in second place, after they lost to the Greek League club AEK Athens in the final, by a score of 100–94. The club won the 2017 French Pro A League Cup and the 2018 French Pro A League Cup titles. They also finished in second place in the French Pro A League, in the 2017–18 season.

In European-wide competitions, Monaco spent the next three seasons (2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21) playing in the other pan-European secondary level competition, the EuroCup, subsequently winning it in 2020–21.[8] In the 2021–22 season, Monaco made its debut in the EuroLeague, the highest pan-European level. Finishing seventh in the regular season with a 15–13 record, Monaco qualified for the playoffs where they lost 2–3 to the second-seeded Olympiacos.

The following season, Monaco was eligible for another EuroLeague season because of their good performance the previous season. They made the playoffs for a second season in a row.[9]

On April 22, 2023, Monaco won its first major trophy when it won its maiden French Basketball Cup with Monaco, after beating ASVEL in the final.[10] Élie Okobo was the cup final's MVP after his 20-point performance.[11] In the same 2022–23 season, Monaco reached new height on the continental level after reaching the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the playoffs.[12] They became the third French League club ever to reach the Final Four (after ASVEL and Limoges) and the first to do so in 26 years.[13]

Arena

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A.S. Monaco Basket plays its home games at the 3,000 seat[14][15][16] Salle Gaston Médecin, which is a part of the Stade Louis II sports complex.

Due to minimum requirements, Monaco was supposed to play its 2021–22 EuroLeague games in the Azur Arena in Antibes. The decision was later overturned, thus the team could play in its usual home arena.[17]

Logos

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Players

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Current roster

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

AS Monaco roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 0   Okobo, Élie 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 27 – (1997-10-23)23 October 1997
F 4   Blossomgame, Jaron 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 31 – (1993-09-16)16 September 1993
SG 8   Loyd, Jordan 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 31 – (1993-07-27)27 July 1993
C 9   Papagiannis, Georgios 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) 121 kg (267 lb) 27 – (1997-07-03)3 July 1997
G/F 10   Korkmaz, Furkan 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 27 – (1997-07-24)24 July 1997
SF 11     Diallo, Alpha   2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 27 – (1997-06-29)29 June 1997
PF 12   Cornelie, Petr 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 108 kg (238 lb) 29 – (1995-07-26)26 July 1995
C 14   Jaiteh, Mouhammadou 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 30 – (1994-11-27)27 November 1994
F/C 20   Motiejūnas, Donatas 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 118 kg (260 lb) 34 – (1990-09-20)20 September 1990
SF 22     Tarpey, Terry 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 30 – (1994-03-02)2 March 1994
SG 23   Begarin, Juhann 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 22 – (2002-08-07)7 August 2002
F 30   Brown, Vitto 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 107 kg (236 lb) 29 – (1995-07-13)13 July 1995
SG 32   Strazel, Matthew 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 22 – (2002-08-05)5 August 2002
PG 33   Calathes, Nick   1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 35 – (1989-02-07)7 February 1989
PG 55   James, Mike (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 34 – (1990-08-18)18 August 1990
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Team manager
  •   Oleksiy Yefimov

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Updated: 9 December 2024

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Donatas Motiejūnas Georgios Papagiannis Mam Jaiteh
PF Jaron Blossomgame Vitto Brown Petr Cornelie
SF Furkan Korkmaz Terry Tarpey Alpha Diallo  
SG Jordan Loyd Élie Okobo Juhann Begarin
PG Mike James Matthew Strazel Nick Calathes  

Trophies and honors

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Domestic competitions

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Winners (2): 2022–23, 2023–24
Runners-up (4): 1949–50, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22
Winners (1): 2022–23
Runners-up (1): 1982–83
Winners (3): 2016, 2017, 2018
Champions (2): 1972–73, 2014–15
Champions (1): 2013–14

European competitions

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Third place (1): 2022–23
Champions (1): 2020–21
Runners-up (1): 2017–18
Third place (1): 2016–17

Other competitions

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  • Berlin, Germany Invitational Game
Winners (1): 2019

Season by season

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Season Tier Division Pos. French Federation Cup Pro A Leaders Cup European competitions
2008–09 4 NM2 9th
2009–10 4 NM2 7th
2010–11 4 NM2 1st
2011–12 4 NM2 1st Round of 44
2012–13 3 NM1 1st Round of 40
2013–14 3 NM1 1st Round of 44
2014–15 2 Pro B 1st Round of 16
2015–16 1 Pro A 3rd Quarterfinals Winner
2016–17 1 Pro A 5th Quarterfinals Winner 3 Champions League 3rd 17–4
2017–18 1 Pro A 2nd Quarterfinals Winner 3 Champions League RU 17–4
2018–19 1 Pro A 2nd Quarterfinals 2 EuroCup T16 9–7
2019–20 1 Pro A 1st Quarterfinals Semifinals 2 EuroCup QF 10–6
2020–21 1 Pro A 4th Quarterfinals 2 EuroCup C 17–6

Notable players

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Head coaches

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Head Coach Years
  Bill Sweek
1985–1990
  Jean-Pierre Baldwin
1999–2000
  Philippe Beorchia
2000–2003
  Claude Palanca
2003–2004
  Stéphane Dao
2004–2007
  Georgy Adams
2007–2010
  Jean-Michel Sénégal
2010–2013
  Savo Vučević
2013–2015
  Philippe Beorchia
2015
  Zvezdan Mitrović
2015–2018
  Sašo Filipovski
2018–2019
  Saša Obradović
2019–2020
  Zvezdan Mitrović
2020–2021
  Saša Obradović
2021–2024

References

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  1. ^ "L'Histoire de la Roca Team". asmonaco.basketball (in French). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Korac Cup 1974-75". LinguaSport.com. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Korac Cup 1982-83". LinguaSport.com. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  4. ^ "HISTORIQUE". ASMonacoBasket.com. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  5. ^ Bosi, Kévin. "Monaco, champion de NM1". FFBB.com. Fédération Française de Basket-Ball. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Monaco, première !". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  7. ^ Basketball Champions League meets Monaco's high standards.
  8. ^ "Monaco sweeps UNICS to lift first-ever EuroCup trophy". Eurohoops. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Monaco punches another playoffs ticket!". Euroleague Basketball. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Monaco dominate ASVEL, win club's first-ever French Cup". basketnews.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Elie Okobo, MVP de la finale en Coupe de France : "Je montre de la sérénité, de l'engagement et après je fais ce que je sais faire"". Basket Europe (in French). 22 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Monaco outlasts Maccabi 97-86 to reach Final Four! | EuroLeague". Euroleague Basketball. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Ambitious Monaco takes itself and French basketball to new heights | EuroLeague". Euroleague Basketball. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ MONACO: LA SALLE GASTON-MÉDECIN TROP PETITE (in French).
  15. ^ Euroligue (H) – Monaco : La salle Gaston-Médecin pose problème (in French).
  16. ^ Salle omnisports Gaston-Médecin Capacité : 3000 places (in French).
  17. ^ "AS Monaco to play the EuroLeague home games at the Salle Gaston Medecin". Sportando. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  18. ^ Informations générales asmonacobasket.com
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