To close the season, 300 supporters greeted the Roca Team players at Gaston-Médecin

The evening began around 7 p.m. this Wednesday in the Gaston-Médecin hall. 300 season-ticket holders were waiting for the return of the Principality's basketball players to reaffirm their support after a trying season of more than 90 matches . Players (except for Mike James, who was sidelined, and Georgios Papagiannis, who was ill), coaches, and the rest of the staff entered the court as if it were a Betclic Elite or Euroleague pre-match, with Ferxel Fourgon at the microphone to act as the room warmers. Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas turned into Santa Claus and threw jerseys into the crowd. However, it was Terry Tarpey who won the applause.

Asked about his hopes for such a European epic by joining AS Monaco basketball, as the team was preparing to move up from National 1 to Pro B (the second tier of French basketball), Oleksiy Yefimov preferred to reply: "What I couldn't imagine was seeing at the end of the match against Olympiakos in the semi-final of the Final Four our supporters shouting louder than the 3,000 Greeks on site. We had taken the lead!"

With slates in hand, the Roca Boys had to choose players based on a variety of criteria, some of which were rather bizarre. When asked, "Who takes the longest to do their hair?" , some of the audience responded ironically: "Nick Calathes." A laugh-filled session where we learned that the best-shod player in the locker room was... Elie Okobo.

The players participated in a question-and-answer session with fans. The fan questions were pre-selected by ASM Basketball, perhaps to avoid the ones that might cause a stir.

During the evening, point guard Matthew Strazel was voted MVP of the season by the fans. Quite simply, the best player of the season. "I've been here for three seasons, and I've decided to stay with you to continue writing the club's history, all together, and so that we can go after trophies next year," he said. And for the record, the player was also awarded two diplomas: one for the best playlist in the Monaco locker room and one for the best-dressed player this season.

A family moment that ended with a signing session with all the players present, and a long queue to come and thank the Monegasques for their season, certainly frustrating, but rich in emotions, punctuated by a Euroleague, Betclic Elite and Leaders Cup final.