The Monegasques (fifth with 15 wins, 10 losses) however need their master to play more than ever when facing Maccabi Tel-Aviv, eighth (13 wins, 12 losses) Thursday (9:00 p.m.) during the 26th day of Euroleague.

"We are entering the + money time +, says coach Sasa Obradovic. We have to win our five home games to qualify (in the play-offs, editor's note). Everyone is involved and prepared."

First, Mike James, nominated for the title of MVP of the season in the Euroleague, designated leader but whose recent attitude is disturbing.

After his exclusion from the Leaders Cup against Bourg-en-Bresse on February 17, he spent his time shouting at his coach at a key moment in Barcelona last Friday.

Obradovic remained impassive.

"I stayed very calm, that's supposed to be the right reaction," he told AFP.

He left his player on the field.

Monaco lost (80-70).

Obradovic's passive

Last season, however, James was full of praise for how his manager had raised the bar after his predecessor Zvezdan Mitrović.

Now their ties are loose.

But Obradovic has to manage a group full of egos, not just one player.

Monaco's American winger Mike James (L) scores against FC Barcelona in a Euroleague match on February 24, 2023 in Barcelona © Josep LAGO / AFP

"It is never good to overreact. Those who know me know how difficult it was for me to understand that. I was very aggressive. But for more than seven years, my daily experience has taught me to react during stressful situations", underlines Obradovic, as if to send a message to his player.

In 2015, in the middle of a match, the Serb, then coach of Alba Berlin, had come to blows with his captain, Alex Renfroe.

"I had just been elected coach of the year in Germany, he remembers. (...) I learned from this lesson. People can be frustrated, for objective reasons or not. But you always have to find the way out of the tensions from the top."

He also appreciated that all the players, James in the lead, met, without him but with a member of the staff, to train together, last Sunday, when a day of rest had been decreed before a month. overloaded march.

"Stabilize our mood swings"

"We were very upset by our performances, explains Jordan Loyd to AFP. We all came to work together, with Mike (...). There was a very good atmosphere, we did one on one, discussed together ."

"On the floor, it's sometimes brutal, we can cross the yellow line, but we have to be careful to keep our cohesion, because there is love between us," said the American rear.

James needs to regain his confidence to erase the error that haunts him the most: the one committed on February 3 against Real Madrid.

Instead of going for a three-point shot for the win, he got rid of the ball.

"With all the shots I've taken in my life, denying this one is the dumbest thing I've done in a long time," he wrote on Twitter after the game.

Since then, he has brooded over his frustration.

"It's not the first time we've been through a stressful situation, and not the last, continues Obradovic. I only work on what I can influence. We don't change the past or people. We have to accept the things and do the best you can."

His team has therefore worked on its defense, its ability to change attacking rhythm.

"I also want to see good behavior on the pitch, a good image of the club," he insists before concluding: "We are also working on confidence, which we lose too quickly after a few mistakes. We have to stabilize our mood swings."

© 2023 AFP