Reigning French champions, the Roca Team players retained their title by beating the capital club for the third time in four games (115-76) in this final on Wednesday.
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Inaugurated this year for the Olympic Games, the Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle will not have the first French champion trophy to display this year. And for good reason, if match 4 of the Betclic Elite finals took place this Wednesday, June 12 in the Parisian venue, it was AS Monaco who won against Paris Basketball (115-76).
Crushed in its room and beaten three victories to one throughout the final, the Parisian club never seemed able to overthrow the principality’s players. The magnitude of the score indicates the gulf that currently separates Monaco – crowned for the first time last year – from the competition since Aleksej Fedoricsev took control in 2022.
For two years, the Russian oligarch who is a naturalized Hungarian has offered the Monegasque club the largest budget in the history of the French championship (27.5 million euros this season, three times that of Paris). This trophy therefore appears to be a union minimum at the same time as it saves the season of the “Roca Team”, until now without a title. ASM thus let slip the Coupe de France (defeat in the semi-finals against Strasbourg) won last year, fell in the semi-finals of the Leaders Cup (against Paris) and failed in its Euroleague dream.
After losing Game 2 of the final at home, Monaco raised its level during the two matches played in the capital, winning the second as well as the first without question (88-59). Faced with Parisians who were ultimately too limited, these Monegasques were too strong and showed their muscles from the start by inflicting a scathing 19-0 in the first five minutes.
The spectators who carefully followed the Arena announcer’s instructions to remain standing until the first Parisian basket must have found the time a little long, since they had to wait 5 minutes and 30 seconds before sitting down. They ultimately witnessed the rout of their team, ending a historic season, punctuated by the first two titles (Leaders Cup and Eurocup) in the history of this young club, created from scratch in 2018, which reached the final of the championship from his first participation in the playoffs.
