"He can shoot from very, very far away": Matthew Strazel, the Roca Team's sharpshooter, heading for a 5th consecutive title against Paris?

Served by Elie Okobo , he unsheathed with his right arm. Along the touchline, well beyond the 6.75m line. In front of the Paris Basket bench and at the buzzer, please, just to close this third quarter with panache to allow Monaco to come back to within one point (55-56, 80-74 in the end). Sunday afternoon, ASM was racing behind its best enemy ten minutes from the end when Matthew Strazel placed a remote-controlled bullet. A big shot that the kid from Bourg-la-Reine has the secret of and likely to disconcert any defense. A significant asset that he had somewhat lost since the beginning of this series, well watched by the Parisian goalkeepers. "I think they did a good job defensively on me," the point guard admits. "They managed to make me doubt myself, to make me hesitate. I tried to simplify things, to play to my strengths. I knew that one shot was enough to give me a little confidence. That's how I operate."

"He always had to fight"

Strazel will score four goals in this final home game, returning to a welcome level of accuracy for the Roca Team (57% ). The former Asvel player has always had his ability to line up, according to Nicolas Lang, the most prolific shooter in the history of Betclic Elite. The experienced Limoges native crossed paths with his young teammate in the Rhône a few years ago and recognizes his talent and perseverance. "He was a promising player when I was a pro, " says the 35-year-old fullback. "He's always been a young player with a very strong character, who's not afraid of anything. But you always feel like he has to prove himself: for the past five or six years, every time he does something good, it seems like he has to start from scratch the following year. He's always had to fight, and that's built an unbreakable character. People may not like his approach, but without that character, he wouldn't be at Monaco playing 25-30 minutes a game. Currently, he's the boss with Elie (Okobo)."

Two ways to take the shots

A winning mentality that keeps him in the game even when success eludes him. With a meager 3/10 from 3-point range and an average rating of 7 after three games in these finals, Strazel knew he was expected in Game 4. The small frame (1.82m) delivered. "My goal isn't to score offensively, it's just to win the game," he evades. "If it's going to be by creating by making 10 passes, it'll be by making 10 passes. If it's going to be by scoring shots, it'll be by scoring shots." The young man with dreadlocks has two ways of pulling the trigger. "It depends on where he's shooting from," analyzes Nicolas Lang, an expert on the subject. "We know he's capable of shooting from very, very far away. In this case, he'll be much more stable on his base and the shot will come from a little lower. When he's closer to the 3-point line, we really see that he's going for a jump shot."

A question of coordination

With a small jump that allows him to gain height but requires more technical mastery. " Before, he didn't always find the right timing between the jump and the moment when he had to release the ball," compares Nicolas Lang. "With experience, we feel that he is managing to find this relaxation that allows him to make big shots."

At 22, the French international is one of the young players in Vassilis Spanoulis's squad. Not necessarily the least experienced: for the past four years, he's won the national title at the end of each season. Tonight, he'll undoubtedly have a few opportunities to pull out a shot and hope to lift the trophy again. Five consecutive wins, since the first recorded French championship in 1921, have never been achieved.