AS Monaco's 89-87 victory over UNICS Kazan in Game 1 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals was a thriller. The game saw both teams lose double-digit leads and featured 10 lead changes in the fourth quarter alone.

After such a contest, there are many things to focus on in the post-game analysis. Interestingly, the two head coaches focused on different key plays and moments.

"At the moment we took a lead of 10 points in the third quarter, we lost our minds, we played some stupid offenses and we received consecutive transition points without even being back," Coach Dimitris Priftis of UNICS summed up. "That was the moment that changed the momentum of the game."

Indeed, after Nate Wolters gave UNICS a 45-55 advantage, Monaco came charging back. Twice Holland scored to keep Monaco at bay, but soon three straight UNICS turnovers allowed the hosts to slash away at their deficit. After Marcos Knight scored in transition to cap an 11-0 run for a 61-59 lead, Monaco had regained all of its confidence.

"I think both teams played with great energy," Monaco's Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic said. "Maybe a couple offensive rebounds at the end of the game was the key factor in the end."

Of Monaco's 9 offensive rebounds in the game, 5 came in the fourth quarter and 3 of them on one critical possession in the final minute. They came right after Jordan Theodore gave UNICS an 86-87 lead. J.J. O’Brien missed a jumper, but the long rebound bounced to Rob Gray, who did not hesitate and fired up a triple. He, too, missed, but O'Brien fought for the board and passed the ball to Dee Bost. The point guard put up a shot from downtown and also missed. Knight leaped for the offensive rebounds and was fouled. He then made the go-ahead free throws with 27 seconds remaining.

Gray led all players with 23 points, but after the game was critical of his own game and complimentary of his teammates: "I missed a three at the end and missed a free throw. I need to get in the gym, but I am glad we were able to pull it out in the end with those last defensive stops and defensive rebound to get the win. Shout out to the bigs for contesting Theodore's right-hand layup."

Mathias Lesssort had a key role in those two defensive stops. First, he poked the ball loose from Jordan Theodore, which led to Abdoulaye Ndoye's steal. The ball got to Gray, who was fouled and went to the line with 6.1 seconds left. He only made 1 shot, which meant UNICS had a lost possession to try to tie - or win the game – at the buzzer. Theodore drove and Lessort rose high to tip the shot and preserve the win.

Ndoye too highlighted a different key to the Monaco victory. "I think the effort we put in the whole game allowed us to win, putting a lot of pressure on the defense. We stopped important players for them like Jamar Smith."

Yes, the defense of unsung heroes like Rudy Demahis, Knight and Bost took Smith out of the game. The EuroCup MVP, who was also plagued by foul trouble, did not even attempt a three-pointer for just the third time in his 109 career EuroCup games. Smith was 1 for 5 on two-pointers and tied a season-low with 2 points.

Wherever you look, there can be different explanations for how and why Monaco won. And ultimately, in such a close game, they are all true. Of course, all that really matters now is that Monaco leads the series and is one win from history.

Monaco made the momentum plays

There are a lot of things that need to go right for a team to compete for the 7DAYS EuroCup crown. And when things go wrong, they still need other things to go right. Such has been the case for AS Monaco, which is one win away from capturing the EuroCup. One reason for its success has bene the play of teenage guard Rudy Demahis, who few expected to see playing, let along starting, in the EuroCup Finals.

For Demahis, an early-season injury to another player opened the door and he took advantage. Monaco signed Khadeen Carrington expecting him to play a main role for the club, but the guard suffered a torn ACL in a French League game in October and was lost for the season. Demahis, who by all accounts was not expected to be a key piece in the rotation this season, stepped up and by season's end had earned an important place in the rotation.

Head coach

"He spends entire days in the gym. He works so much, he is so diligent, so persistent."

"A boy who came from INSEP, who never played any professional league before, he came to work, to improve, and maybe get some kind of a chance in some game," Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic said of his first impressions of Demahis when he took the reins this summer.

Demahis was a promising prospect coming out of the French national basketball academy – or Centre Federal du Basketball. He averaged 11.7 points, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals in the third of three seasons there. Demahis had also played for CFBB at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament in each of the previous three seasons and had suited up for France at the European championships in both the Under-16 and U18 age groups.

Many teams sought the services of Demahis when his time at CFBB had run out, though in almost all cases it was to continue playing in the youth ranks as he developed. Demahis believed Monaco's program fit his needs best.

"I chose Monaco because it was the best situation for me," Demahis said. "With all the great players, great staff, I knew I would be improving a lot this year, learning a lot, too. It was the best chance for me."

As expected, playing time was scarce early with most of his minutes coming in blowout wins over Lietkabelis Panevezys in Round 2 and Telenet Antwerp Giants in Round 3. Then in Round 4, he was called upon to help guard one of his favorite players, Milos Teodosic, in the second quarter of the game against Virtus Segafredo Bologna.

"That was surprising because, I was watching him play, so watching him play on the court, in front of me, playing against him, it was very strange," Demahis remembered. "He is even better than on TV."

Even though Demahis was showing sparks, he wasn't quite ready for big minutes in the EuroCup. However, the time spent in practice helped him grow as a player and left an impression on the coaching staff and his teammates.

"First of all, he is an incredible kid. I can barely recognize his voice," Coach Mitrovic said. "You cannot hear him. He just works. He spends entire days in the gym. He works so much, he is so diligent, so persistent, he listens to everything, and eventually the minutes he got he used them to the maximum."

When asked about his hobbies, Demahis had no answer. However, that is because as his coach noted, Demahis really does spend almost all his free time training to be as good a player as possible.

"I am always working at my game when I can. I have more time this season than before because last year had school, too, so I had to be focused on both. But this year I have more time to go to the gym, to put in the work. I do it any time I can," Demahis said. "I focus a lot on shooting. A lot. Also on the other things, but mostly shooting."

As a point guard, Demahis is well aware of the other demands of the position besides shooting. And at Monaco, he has several experienced guards to show him the ropes, though no one has been quite as helpful to the teenage prospect as Dee Bost.

"I have learned a lot already about my position, how to play point guard. Dee is giving me a lot of advice, they have been great teammates for me," Demahis explained. "Dee always told me to talk more on the court, because I am a point guard so I've got to alert my teammates what is happening on the court. He always tells me that."

Don't take it just from Demahis and his backcourt mates. All the players see what kind of kid, how hard he works and what a bright future Demahis has.

"Rudy is a good kid. I met him when I first got here, him and his family. He came from INSEP, which is a really good institution in France," forward Wilfried Yeguete offered about his teammate. "He is a hard worker who wants to learn, who wants to continue developing. I think he has shown a lot of progress throughout the whole season, getting stronger and understanding the game better. He is really helping us a lot, especially in the EuroCup.

"At this level, especially for him, being efficient and effective is what can make him get to the next level. Playing against guards like Rob Gray, Marcos Knight and Dee Bost in practice is helping him learn a lot this year, and the more he plays, the more comfortable he will get. I think that is what happened with him this year: he got more comfortable when he got more minutes in the games, and playing more will make him take better decisions during the game. I think he showed it this year. He can only go up from here."

After playing nearly 12 minutes in the regular-season finale, Demahis played nearly 15 in Round 1 of the Top 16, a blowout win over Nanterre 92. That number rose to 16:17 in the final game of the Top 16, a road win at Unicaja Malaga. In those games, Coach Mitrovic started to feel Demahis was ready for more.

"He is not a shooter, but if he is in a position to shoot, he will not hesitate to shoot the ball. So, he resonates like a basketball player. He will shoot, he will attack the basket, he does what he is supposed to do. But he practices a lot, shots will come to him, and he already is making baskets in tough moments," Mitrovic said. "When he is playing, you can see he is not afraid of these established players. He respects them as a young person should respect older people, but when it comes to the basketball part, five-on-five or one-on-one, that does not phase him."

After Monaco lost Game 1 of the quarterfinals against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, Coach Mitrovic inserted Demahis in the starting lineup – for the first time all season – for Game 2.

"I did not really expect it," Demahis admitted. "But coach trusted me and put me on the court with all the other guys, so I took my chance and gave everything I have... I was not nervous, I was more excited because I worked a lot the whole year, so I was really happy the coach had confidence in me at this moment, in these big games."

Though he did not score in Game 2, Demahis dished 3 assists in a 5-11 third-quarter run that helped Monaco extend its lead. In Game 3, he connected on a pair of three-pointers – the second of which gave Monaco a 73-69 lead in the fourth quarter – to help Monaco reach the semifinals against Herbalife Gran Canaria. Demahis's had a +/- of plus-15 in Game 3 to lead all players. He started both games against Gran Canaria, too.

"Coach trusted me and put me on the court with all the other guys, so I took my chance."

"He helped us defensively, incredibly well pressuring the ball. He did that with [Justin] Cobbs and [Nikola] Ivanovic against Buducnost, and against [Andrew] Albicy and especially [A.J.] Slaughter in the semifinals against Gran Canaria." Coach Mitrovic said. "I think Slaughter's low percentages were only because of that great pressure. On the other hand, offensively, he did not have many turnovers. And he hit a few triples, which were just a bonus we did not expect. Even without those three-pointers, we would have been happy because the organization of our offense did not suffer, and defensively he did what he was supposed to 100 percent."

Yeguete concurred with his coach about Demahis's defensive prowess: "I think he has shown he can be a really good defender. He has guarded some of the best players on the other teams in the EuroCup. I think he is a good point guard as well who is starting to get better, making us feel better. He has great size and a lot of potential."

After starting again on Tuesday night and drilling an early triple and adding 2 assists in Monaco's 89-87 over UNICS Kazan in Game 1 of the EuroCup Finals, Demahis is dreaming big.

"It would be really great to win EuroCup in my first season. Last year I did not expect at all that I would be playing that much in EuroCup, go to the finals of the EuroCup at 19 years old, it would be really great to win against UNICS," Demahis added. "I think we can keep doing it. We are always working hard, we have great chemistry at the team, so I think we can do it."

Spotlight on Rudy Demahis, AS Monaco

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After a long and challenging season, the time has come for UNICS Kazan and AS Monaco to face each other with two goals in mind: the trophy and a much-desired EuroLeague qualification for the 2021-22 season. As Game 1 of the Finals tips off Tuesday (18:00 CET), we look back to five defining moments of the EuroCup Finals all the way back from 2003 to 2019 (since the 2019-20 season was not concluded). 

MORE...

These are the 7DAYS EuroCup finals moments that left their mark in the competition’s history.

Trademarks: Five plus one defining EuroCup Finals moments

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is about to get a lot more regal. Until now, the closest most teams get to royalty is their annual trip to the Spanish capital to face Real Madrid. Real – Spanish for "royal" – received its name and the accompanying crown on its crest from Spain's King Alphonso XIII in 1920.

Now that AS Monaco is eligible to make its debut next season, however, EuroLeague teams may find out what it's like to play in front of actual royalty.

HSH Albert II, Prince of Monaco, is a tried and true AS Monaco fan who has been a regular at the team's games for years. Indeed, the prince is expected to be in attendance on Tuesday when Monaco hosts UNICS in Game 1 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals.

The strong connection between the Principality of Monaco and the local sports teams is clear. The crown from Monaco's coat of arms sits atop the basketball team's logo and the players' uniforms are red and white, just like the principality's flag.

Moreover, Prince Albert is an athlete himself. He competed five times as a bobsledder in the Olympic Games and drove in the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally. He also has a black belt in judo. He is the president of the Monegasque Olympic Committee and the honorary president of both the International Union of Modern Pentathlon and the International Athletics Foundation.

However, when he settles into his seat at Stade Louis II, the prince is just like the rest of the fans around him. He generally dons an AS Monaco scarf and can be seen applauding, cheering and emoting after all the big plays. In the pre-COVID-19 era, HSH Prince Albert would occasionally head down to the locker room to congratulate the team after big wins, too.

Prince Albert isn't the only celebrity fans may see at Monaco games. Monaco-born Formula One racer Charles Leclerc has been to many games, as have former racecar driver Felipe Massa, former AS Monaco football team manager Thierry Henry, AS Monaco football players Stevan Jovetic and Danijel Subasic, and fashion model Jeremy Meeks.

They are just a select few of the many famous locals who have come to see Monaco play in recent years. Now that the team will be competing against the best of the best in the EuroLeague, that list should only grow.

Prince Albert II brings royal touch to Monaco stands

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UNICS Kazan is a member of a select group of 12 clubs that have won the 7DAYS EuroCup as well as six clubs with multiple trips to the EuroCup Finals. This will be the third time UNICS will be playing for all the marbles in the competition.

The club won its only EuroCup crown in 2011, its first trip to the EuroCup Finals. That season the competition format had the last four teams battle it out in a single-elimination format in Treviso, Italy, much like the EuroLeague Final Four format. UNICS arrived with an 11-3 record after it ousted Pepsi Caserta with two wins in a two-game, total-points quarterfinals series to advance alongside Cedevita Zagreb, Cajasol Seville and host Benetton Treviso.

In the semifinals, UNICS pulled away in the second half to dismiss Cedevita 87-66. UNICS built a 17-point halftime lead and never lost control of the game, as Terell Lyday led in victory with 27 points. Kelly McCarty collected 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Maciej Lampe had 16 points plus 8 rebounds for UNICS that night.

Two days later, UNICS dominated the championship game 92-77 at the expense of Cajasol Seville. UNICS made 13 of 18 field goals in the first quarter to open a 32-16 lead and Cajasol never came closer than 7 points the rest of the way. Maciej Lampe scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Marko Popovic added 18 points while shattering a EuroCup Finals record with 11 assists. Popovic also took home the EuroCup Finals MVP award to complete the UNICS celebrations at Palaverde.

UNICS returned to the EuroCup Finals three years later, in the 2013-14 season. The team had a perfect 10-0 regular season and won the first two games in the Last 32. It won 15 of 16 games to reach the eighthfinals, where it swept CET Basketball Nymburk with wins of 33 and 17 points, before sweeping Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler in the quarterfinals with wins of 13 and 36 points. In the semis, UNICS lost the first game on the road against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 63-52 before winning the second leg 84-67 to overcome that deficit and reach the two-game, total-points finals, where it would meet Valencia Basket.

The first game took place in Valencia, where the hosts jumped in front and led by as much as 70-37 late in the third quarter. UNICS rallied to cut the deficit to a final margin of 80-67. Vladimir Veremeenko had 17 points and Luke Harangody scored 14 that night. UNICS went into the second leg with hope, but Valencia held a 4-16 lead after 10 minutes and led 10-29 in the second quarter, which translated into a 32-point aggregate advantage. UNICS never threatened again and Valencia won the title with a 73-85 victory. Andrew Goudelock, who was the EuroCup MVP that season, scored 22 points in that game and Ian Vougioukas had 11 in a losing effort.

Four players – Pavel Antipov, Kostas Kaimakoglou, Evgeny Kolesnikov and Pavel Sergeev – from the 2014 finalists remain on the current UNICS roster though only two of them, Antipov and Sergeev, played in the finals. Seven years later, those players now have a chance to take the final step and become only the fourth team in competition history with multiple titles.

A look back at UNICS's past trips to the finals

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Head coaches Dimitris Priftis and Zvezda Mitrovic go head-to-head for the first time in an official game with each aiming for his first EuroCup crown. Guided by Priftis, UNICS Kazan has been on a scoring spree lately, while Mitrovic's AS Monaco has mostly won behind its stiff, physical defense. Both coaches had successful campaigns in the EuroCup before this season, but now have taken their respective teams to the EuroCup Finals, which tip of with Monaco hosting Game 1 on Tuesday.

### Dimitris Priftis, UNICS

In four seasons on the UNICS bench, Priftis has accumulated a 52-26 record and UNICS has reached at the least quarterfinals each year under his helm. This season, the run has extended to the EuroCup Finals giving the 52-year-old Priftis and UNICS a chance to attain EuroCup glory. His team is one of the best scoring and three-point shooting teams in the competition. UNICS can win games with its defense, which was the case in the first five Top 16 games – a stretch of wins in which UNICS held each opponent to 70 or fewer points. Since then, however, Priftis's team has played looser with the players getting the chance to improvise more; that has paid dividends. UNICS has been attempting 30.2 three-point shots since the start of the playoffs and the two highest-scoring performances Priftis's team has had this season came in the playoffs with 94 points in Game 1 of the quarterfinals before a record-setting 100-107 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the semifinals. There is no reason to believe UNICS will step away from what has worked lately and will try to fire its way to the title.

### Zvezdan Mitrovic, AS Monaco

Monaco head coach led his team to a place in the EuroCup Finals in his only second season in the competition. After reaching the quarterfinals with LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in its debut in the competition two years ago, the 51-year-old Mitrovic has now paced Monaco to a 15-6 record with his team having won 10 of its last 12 games entering the finals series. Monaco under Mitrovic has played strong defense the entire season, but especially early on when it led the regular season with the fewest points allowed, 72.4 per game. Since then, however, Monaco has picked up offensively, too. The team lit it up in the Top 16, averaging 91.3 points over six games. During the playoffs, it was back to defense; Monaco has kept opponents to 77 or fewer points in four of its five playoff games. Mitrovic has a shorter rotation and does not make many changes to his starting lineup; four players – Dee Bost, Mathias Lessort, Damien Inglis and Marcos Knight – have been starters for the majority of the season and in each of the playoff games so far.

Finals matchup: Priftis vs Mitrovic at head coach

The top two scorers for 7DAYS EuroCup Finalists UNICS Kazan and AS Monaco operate in the backcourt. UNICS sharpshooter Jamar Smith is a veteran and one of the greatest to ever play in the competition, while Rob Gray has proven to be a perfect mid-season addition for Monaco and the scorer of one of the most famous baskets in club history. The two will look to continue lighting up the scoreboards when the EuroCup Finals top off on Tuesday, April 27.

### Jamar Smith, UNICS Kazan

The freshly crowned EuroCup MVP and a former EuroCup champion, Jamar Smith is the all-time EuroCup leader in three-pointers made and second-best all-time scorer. This season may be the best and the most complete season of his career. One of the greatest sharpshooters who ever played in the competition, Smith ranks fourth this season with 17.1 points per game while leading the EuroCup with 2.9 three-pointers per game. Even though he came off the bench in 14 of his 20 appearances, Smith also leads UNICS in minutes (27:46), and is second in both assists (3.5 apg.) and steals (1.2 spg.). He is a veteran of 108 appearances entering the EuroCup Finals and posted career-highs this season in scoring (32), PIR (34), rebounds (6) and steals (4). He averaged 18.7 points in three quarterfinals games against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and then dropped 22 points in Game 1 of the semifinals against Virtus. Smith topped it with 24 points and 5 assists in a memorable and a record-setting 100-107 win in Game 3 to earn a chance to compete in another final series and add to his legacy.

### Rob Gray, AS Monaco

Gray opened the season with Boulogne Metropolitans 92, which was the reason he was not eligible to play in a Monaco uniform until the Top 16. But once he did, Gray immediately became the team's best scoring option. Gray has come off the bench in all but one of his 11 appearances for Monaco and nevertheless leads the team with 17.1 points on 51% three-point shooting in just 24:24 minutes per game. In the Top 16, Gray averaged 18.5 points on 17-for-27 three-point shooting (63.0%), with 2.0 assists, pacing Monaco to first place in the group and home-court advantage for the playoffs. Gray was slowed down in the quarterfinals against Buducnost, but still posted 14.3 points and 3.3 rebounds before earning the Semifinals MVP award for his heroics in two games against Herbalife Gran Canaria. Gray netted 25 points on 5-for-6 shooting beyond the arc in a Game 1 win before knocking down the game-winner with 0.3 seconds in Game 2 to sweep the series, make Monaco history and send his team into the EuroCup Finals.

Finals matchup: Smith vs. Gray at shooting guard

When Dimitris Priftis joined UNICS Kazan in 2017, he was a well-known coach in his home country, Greece, but not so famous in continental basketball. Four years later, Priftis has not only maintained UNICS as a solid team in all its, but he now has the chance to become the first Greek coach to win the 7DAYS EuroCup title. Priftis has a 52-26 winning record (66.7%) with UNICS in the EuroCup, but none of those victories were more satisfying than the last two. Down 1-0 in its best-of-three semifinals series against previously undefeated Virtus Segafredo Bologna, UNICS managed to beat the Italian powerhouse twice to storm into the EuroCup Finals. In so doing, Priftis, 52, has already led UNICS into the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Now, he wants the club to lift its second EuroCup trophy by winning the finals against AS Monaco starting on Tuesday, April 27. "We made a lot of improvements during the last four seasons. Overall, for me, it means something very important to stay in a team for more than one year," Priftis told EuroCupBasketball.com. "It is, by itself, a small reward, that the club believes in you and keeps you for a second season, to continue working with you."

**Coach, congratulations on reaching the EuroCup Finals for the first time. How satisfying is it to be so close to the title?**

"Thank you very much. We are very happy. I am very glad. It is an effort that started here four years ago. I had one more participation in the EuroCup with my ex-team Aris. I am very glad that we managed to reach the finals, plus the fact that being there means that we made it to the EuroLeague next season. I think it is a double benefit and makes this achievement much bigger. So we are very glad and I hope we will enjoy the finals next week."

**Like you just said, UNICS has also qualified for the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. How important is that for the club and you, personally?**

"It is a big honor. It was one of my dreams, to reach the EuroLeague with a team and participate in the process to make it. It is important for me: I am not going to a team that is already in the EuroLeague but getting there with my team. I reached this goal with my team. Of course, it is still open if I continue in UNICS, but this is how I approach it. If I continue, it is very important for me that I did it with my team. And for the club, it is an effort that we made in the last four years. Of course, last year was a particular season that never ended. In my first year here, we had a chance to get to the EuroLeague through the VTB League. We played a final four and lost the semifinal game against Khimki. We were close. The next year, we played with Valencia in the semifinals, a very tough matchup against a very tough opponent. We were very close but didn't manage to make it, and this is why we are very happy that we now have achieved this goal." 

"It was one of my dreams, to reach the EuroLeague." 

**After reaching the EuroLeague, how high is the motivation to finish the job and win the EuroCup title?**

"The trophy in front of us is a very important goal, and that will keep us alert and motivated. I think we are very ambitious and want to fight for this trophy although we already made it to the EuroLeague and that job is already done. It is something that we discussed together. The trophy is something that would be with us forever. For both teams and all players who will participate in the finals, it is important to win the title, and it will be a good fight."

**How would you summarize your team's semifinals series win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna?**

"Overall, we had a really bad preparation period. I am going now back to September. We got hit by COVID early, as a group, so most of our guys got infected in that period. We almost didn't play any friendly games and had a very bad preparation period, almost nothing, almost zero. So we started playing games without having this part of the season, which is very important for every group. Progressively, we started to get better during the games, game by game. We had really good performances after Christmas, a good sequence of wins. We had a tough [quarterfinal] series against [Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar] and faced Virtus. It was a very interesting series. I would say that, before the series, Virtus is a team that I would like to have avoided. They had a very, very impressive regular season, being unbeatable. I thought that was the toughest team that we could play against, with very experienced players and a great coach who is a big personality in basketball. Obviously, we expected a very difficult series. In the first game, we were close and felt that we could have beaten them. We believed and had faith in Game 2. We managed to win it and play this final game in Bologna. And in one game, anything can happen. We had a good performance, shot the ball well, and won this game."

**What are the strong points of your EuroCup Finals opponent, AS Monaco?**

"Monaco is a very physical team. They are playing well, using their athleticism. They play very physically and very hard, regarding contact. They are strong in the lane and the best offensive rebounding team in the EuroCup. It is difficult to score against them because they press constantly, denying every pass. They play with high intensity overall and you must be very concentrated not to make turnovers because that will give them easy points in transition, which is part of their game. As I said before, it is very important to get defensive rebounds. They have good offensive rebounders like [Mathias] Lessort and [Wilfried] Yeguete, even Marcos Knight, who is a very aggressive offensive rebounder although he is a guard. It is hard to control them and, in general, it is a hard team to play against, very physical. They play with high intensity."

**Both teams have talented guards, undersized but strong centers, and great physicality. From a tactical standpoint, does it make things more difficult for both coaches?**

"Yes, I agree. Regarding physicality, as you said, there are some particular things that we can attack. And of course, we have some weaknesses that they will attack. I don't think that it is time to overanalyze this, but for sure there are some certain things that both teams can use to create advantages and find open shots in better conditions. First, I would say that it is a matter of who will play with the most physicality and who will make the least mistakes, because of this defensive style of game. For me, this is the main thing. I would stay with the basics: not to turn the ball over, especially in the passes; control the rebounds; play decent, consistent one-on-one defense. And then everything else, of course, plays a role but is secondary in these types of games." 

"The trophy is something that would be with us forever" 

**Jamar Smith, the new EuroCup MVP, is the only player on either team to have won the competition before. How much of an advantage is he?**

"First of all, Jamar is a special player for me. I have been with him in Kazan for four years. It was my choice to bring him here. We have great cooperation, like a coach and a second coach on the floor. He is very experienced. I am very glad that he is MVP. He deserves it because of his stability, persistence and working spirit. He is a very, very good worker who never quits, has very good psychology, encouraging his teammates. He is the captain of the team and, of course, it is an advantage that he has already been in this situation, to play the finals and win it. He knows the psychology of those games and transfers it to the rest of the group. It is a luxury, a great weapon for me to have his character and his personality in my team. I have a special feeling for him, and I am glad that he was awarded the EuroCup MVP trophy this season."

**No coach except Stanislav Eremin from 2000 to 2006 has stayed at UNICS longer than you. What makes you so comfortable in Kazan?**

"First of all, I would say I am a type of character that usually stays longer where I am going. I connect with the people and create bonds with the team. As you know, in the last seven years, I worked in two clubs. I am the type of person that looks for stability, and I also respect and appreciate the fact that [team president] Evgeny Bogachev, his family, the administration of the club overall, gave me this faith and this support these years. The fact that I have stayed here for four years is not just up to me; it is a mutual job. I am very glad that we have very good cooperation with the family and together, with Claudio Coldebella, we have a great organization. We made a lot of improvements during the last four seasons. Overall, for me, it means something very important to stay in a team for more than one year. It is, by itself, a small reward, that the club believes in you and keeps you for a second season, to continue working with you."

**How great would it be for the club to lift the EuroCup trophy, a decade after its first crown in Treviso?**

"It is a big goal, no doubt. Of course, it was a different format in 2011. I think that it is a little bit more difficult now to reach the finals and win the title. But UNICS is a team that always tries to create a good roster. They have always had a pretty good budget to create a good team. As you see, we are always in the top four or top eight teams in the EuroCup, with chances to go to the EuroLeague, a competition in which we have played several times. After four years and the effort we made, we deserved to be in the EuroLeague, but also to claim this trophy. It is a big honor for the club to have the chance to win the EuroCup title for the second time." 

After four years on the bench of UNICS Kazan, head coach Dimitris Priftis is satisfied to have reached one goal – taking his team to next season's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague – and is now focused on another, lifting the 7DAYS EuroCup trophy.

Dimitris Priftis, UNICS: 'It will be a good fight'

AS Monaco has torn through the ranks of French and European basketball in recent years and has now reached the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals and become eligible to participate in the next edition of the Turkish Airline EuroLeague. One man who has been a part of the entire journey is head coach Zvezda Mitrovic. Now in his second stint with the club, Mitrovic was the man on the bench when the team made history in 2015 and reached the French elite level and almost six years later, he has guided Monaco to a 15-6 record in the EuroCup. Next up is a battle for a coveted trophy against UNICS Kazan. Before that, Mitrovic spoke to Eurocupbasketball.com about the club, its remarkable season and his coaching start. "All the guys really made an excellent effort the entire season," Mitrovic said. "They played with a huge heart, relationships on the team are great, we never gave up, we played every game to the maximum."

**First of all, congratulations on reaching the EuroCup Finals! If we go back to your first day with Monaco when the club was playing in the ProB, could you have ever imagined this day?**

"I arrived that season to lead the last 11 games. Monaco was in a good position and the goal was to get promoted to the first division. Thoughts about playing in European competitions at that time were very far away. It was more of thinking to try to move up, then avoid relegation the next season because oftentimes, promoted teams struggled to stay up. We were probably not even dreaming about this at that time." 

"Different players came up big in different moments and we achieved this amazing success."

**Monaco started the season with three straight wins and has been competitive all season long. Was there a moment or a victory when you thought to yourself: 'This team can go to the EuroCup Finals and win the title?'**

"Only after we finished the Top 16. Because, to be honest, when we saw our regular season group, and knowing before anything started that the level of our budget was lower than in previous seasons, the only goal was to get into the Top 16, hoping we can get past Lietkabelis and Antwerp. We thought that was realistic and we made it through playing good defense and low-scoring games. After that, we exploded. Maybe our performances in the Top 16 were a result of playing without the pressure of having bigger goals and playing with a short rotation because we did not have more players than what we played. But even then, we did not think about the EuroCup Finals and earning a place in the EuroLeague. But after the Top 16, when we saw our playoff path, we did think we have an easier path than what it would be facing the two Russian clubs, UNICS and Lokomotiv, and undefeated Virtus. That's when we thought, we have our chance, why wouldn't we make a run for it."

**Even though you were able to sweep Herbalife Gran Canaria in the semifinals, it was a tough series. Looking back, how would you summarize it?**

"Both games had dramatic endings, but during each game we dominated. We led by double digits, even led by 18 in Game 1, but in both games, we gave them a chance to come back. Especially in Game 2, when we had an 8-point advantage entering the last minute. Maybe our hands got tied a little bit, we missed some free throws, committed some turnovers. However, I think we dominated more in each of those two games and had more control throughout each game than what we did against Buducnost in the quarterfinals. However, Gran Canaria always found a player that would bring it back to life. But we managed to pull both games out in close finishes."

**Can you take us into the timeout after Andrew Albicy tied Game 2 in the last seconds? What was said and what were you thinking?**

"We practiced that special-situation play the morning of the game. We had a similar situation against Buducnost, but with less time on the clock, which we also executed nicely; Lessort did everything he needed to do, but the ball did not want to go in. This time we opted for either Rob Gray or J.J. O'Brien. But that combination is something we practice and we ran it five-on-zero in practice that morning. So, we repeated it in the game. There are two options and whichever guy gets the ball, he needs to finish it, there is not much thinking. Luckily, Gray made the shot. Lessort missed it against Buducnost, that's sports. But let's not forget, Gran Canaria almost sent the game into overtime on the last play with 0.3 left. Every tenth of the second can count in those moments." 

"Coach Priftis is a great colleague, a very positive person, and I am very happy for him, too." 

**One thing that stands out about Monaco is that it is truly a team where different players come up in big moments, whether it was Rob Gray, or Mathias Lessort, Dee Bost, Marcos Knight, J.J. O'Brien. The list goes on. It must be a pleasure to work with such a group.**

"We have a short roster, and I have to say that a couple of young guys extremely stepped up to help us, especially defensively. First, Abdoulaye Ndoye, who has been doing great defensive work, then the kid Rudy Demahis who even made important shots and took over running the offense. They used their chance. But the rest, the other seven players that are the foundation of our team, all carried it out.

"Realistically, as a coach, I have to say we were lucky that the French League has had big breaks between games. We did not play too many games. If we had a series of games both in the domestic league and in the EuroCup, I doubt such a short roster would make it through. So, we had a chance to prepare the games throughout the EuroCup season. But all the guys really made an excellent effort the entire season. They played with a huge heart, the relationships on the team are great, we never gave up, we played every game to the maximum. And then, different players came up big in different moments and we achieved this amazing success."

**Is there a player on the team who has outperformed your expectations this season and played a bigger role than you anticipated in getting this far?**

"The young players really surprised me, and the rest each had their moments. Dee Bost opened the season great, then had some lows but then again played at a high level again. We added Rob Gray, he lifted us in the Top 16. Lessort played fantastic basketball in the second part of the season. And the story is similar with other players. None of them were dominant the entire season, but each played at their maximum at certain points of the season and that was the key."

**Your coaching journey was unusual as you left your native Montenegro in your early 30s and spent 12 years coaching in Ukraine before you joined Monaco. Tell us please a little about your beginnings and your time in Ukraine and how it impacted you as a coach and a person.**

"I started coaching very young, I was an assistant at 22 years of age at Picadilly Podgorica in my hometown after I played in the youth categories. Buducnost called me to join their staff in 1996 and that's when there started to be more investments in Buducnost. What has been great there is they were sending me to the clinics, giving me chances to learn, and I went to a lot of those and had a chance to talk to a lot of coaches, even professor Aleksandar Nikolic. It all helped my ambitions. We even played in the EuroLeague while I was an assistant, but I felt that I was not going to get a real chance. So I opted for Ukraine, it was a pioneering move. And I stayed there for 12 seasons. It was a huge experience of all kinds where you learn your coaching craft. And I always stayed in contact with some of the great coaches I had a chance to meet, so I would talk and watch practices of Zeljko Obradovic, follow Dusan Ivkovic at some tournaments in Ukraine. It was a constant education. I don't think there was a year I missed a clinic or listened to some seminars. And of course, the head coaching experience in Ukraine, where we always had a lot of games either for playing in some lower European competitions or we played in a couple of domestic leagues, got me used to a busy schedule. I think that helped me adapt. All if it played a role in shaping me as a coach."

**UNICS Kazan presents a stiff challenge in the finals. Have you had a chance to see them play this season? What do you think about the team?**

"I watched them because I watch all the games. I adore watching all the games. I know UNICS as a club, played them often while in Ukraine, but this UNICS today is a team with great energy, a team so tough to play against. They are similar to us, but I think with higher individual quality. They play undersized players who manage to do everything, like John Brown who dominated Game 3 against Virtus. They have incredible individual quality offensively, but their team defense gives them an option to improvise offensively and do what they do on offense. They have a few amazing shooters. Scoring 107 points against Virtus, which did not play bad defense, tells you how talented UNICS is. They play aggressive and eye-pleasing basketball and congratulations to them and their coach. We met back in a day when he was with Aris Thessaloniki. Coach Priftis is a great colleague, a very positive person, and I am very happy for him, too. He has done a great job." 

"No matter how small our club is, it is fantastically organized." 

**What do you anticipate the keys to the series being?**

"I think energy will be a key. We will both play our finals series after a busy domestic schedule. And I also think motivation will play a big role. This time, both teams know they already got a piece of the pie by becoming eligible to play in the EuroLeague next season. But now, everybody needs to realize there is another great prize to win the EuroCup, to win a trophy. I would say UNICS is the favorite, but so far this season, playing against favorites has not presented a problem for us. We will give our best. Looking at players in specific positions, I think the two teams match up nicely, we are similar."

**As someone so engrained in the club after five seasons in Monaco, can you explain what your success – and being eligible to play in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague next season – means to the people at the club and around Monaco?**

"Knowing our club president Sergey Dyadechko, who had EuroLeague ambitions back with Donetsk in Ukraine, I think it is a dream come true. He is a club president who is very involved, he is very ambitious, and it was a huge dream of his and I am so happy for him. And with him and sports director Oleksiy Yefimov, no matter how small our club is, it is fantastically organized and I am not saying that because I have been here for so long. It is an unbelievable achievement for everybody."

Coach Zvezda Mitrovic has overseen AS Monaco's rise from the French second division to the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals. In this Eurocupbasketball.com interview, he spoke about the club, its remarkable season and his coaching start.