AS Monaco’s EuroLeague campaign began on a sour note with a home loss to Zalgiris Kaunas, and new head coach Vassilis Spanoulis didn’t hold back when assessing his team’s performance.
The Greek legend made it clear after the game that he had expected much more from his players in their season opener.
“We didn’t deserve to win; we were very bad everywhere,” Spanoulis admitted bluntly in his post-game comments. “(We had a) very bad mentality, very bad approach in the game, we didn’t make fouls, we didn’t play defense. We were late in every rotation; we have to work.”
The coach reiterated the same frustrations in the formal press conference shortly afterward, emphasizing that Monaco’s defensive effort simply wasn’t at the required level.
“It was the first game in the season and we were very bad. We didn’t play defense, we did only for a couple of minutes, and when you don’t play defense, you can’t win this kind of game,” Spanoulis said.
When asked about his team’s late push in the final minutes, Spanoulis acknowledged that Monaco showed some fight but insisted that effort must come from the start of games, not when the contest is nearly out of reach.
“Exactly, I agree with you, but it’s too late, we have to start the game like this. This is our mentality, you remember from last year. In the EuroLeague, every game matters; every game is difficult. If we don’t have the right approach, we will have a problem. We need to play with a bigger sense of urgency,” he explained.
Vassilis Spanoulis: "We didn't deserve to win, we have to work"https://t.co/Ccyn8vvRS8
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) October 1, 2025
