Ahead of what is looking to be a busy pre-season campaign, the AS Monaco Basketball team took to the Monaco Casino to meet the media and to answer some pressing questions. The press conference was held on Tuesday, August 23 and featured Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario behind the microphone alongside the General Manager of the team, Oleksiy Yefimov, and the team’s head coach, Sasa Obradovic.
Among the players present were new recruits Adrien Moerman and Jordan Loyd, the latter arriving to the Principality side from Zenit St Petersburg this year, and Yakuba Ouattara, who is coming into his seventh year with the Roca team.
“Sport is an important factor in the DNA of the Principality and when, in a sporting discipline, you have players who shine as brightly as the Roca Team have for several years, it’s almost easy to give them all the support they deserve to shine even higher on the roof of European basketball. The success of the team allows the Principality to shine throughout Europe in sport,” said Minister Cellario.
The upcoming 2022/23 season will see Monaco take on the Euroleague once more, having been knocked out in game 5 of the play-offs by Greek side Olympiacos in the previous season. More domestically in the LNB Pro A, the Roca team have their sights set on winning the title for the first time in their history.
The Roca team GM, Yefimov, addressed the challenges that lay ahead in European competition; “It is a great pleasure to participate in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague for the second consecutive year and to face the biggest European teams. I hope the fans will be as excited as I am to see this new version of the team. I am convinced that this team will be stronger than that of last season. It is on paper, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on the coach. He is a strong person who likes a challenge and I am sure he will be up to the task.”
Yefimov added: “I would like to thank the Prince’s Government for all the efforts made to renovate the Salle Gaston Médecin and increase its capacity.”
Indeed renovation works to expand the Roca team’s home stadium are currently underway, leaving the team without a home court for the duration of the pre-season.
Featured image: Jack Brodie | NEWS.MC
