AS Monaco’s dominant victory against Le Mans in the 2026 Leaders Cup final (103-79)

After AS Monaco’s dominant victory against Le Mans in the 2026 Leaders Cup final (103-79), Matthew Strazel (1.82m, 23 years old) reflected on this second trophy of the season, the Roca Team’s collective momentum, and their ambitions for the end of the campaign.

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Matthew, second trophy opportunity, second trophy won this season…

Yeah, that’s right. A bit of relief to start and continue the year the right way. We showed seriousness and I’m happy that we’re being rewarded in this way, with everything that’s happening to us.

And finally, you win the Leaders Cup, the trophy you were missing?

Finally, after many attempts, whether with ASVEL or with Monaco, I tried a lot. It feels good to tell myself that I’ve won everything in France.

Did you learn from the difficult match against Strasbourg, with two big starts then against Cholet and Le Mans?

Exactly. With the experience I have, I told myself it was a blessing in disguise, what happened to us in the first game.
It served as a warning and I tried to tell everyone. I think it was a good wake-up call for us and we approached the games differently afterwards.

After the somewhat difficult period you went through, ultimately, did you perhaps manage to come together even more?

That’s right. I think it was a good start and we still have plenty of games in this end of season. I hope this title will help us build on that.

A word about Elie Okobo, who was named MVP?

Yeah, that’s right. Since the start of the season, he’s been doing pretty much whatever he wants on the court. He goes to his spots, he scores points, he makes passes. Very happy for him that he’s being rewarded. But it remains a team victory.

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There are still other trophies to go after: the EuroLeague, the French championship title that slipped away last year, the French Cup…

We’re going to try to go all-in, we’re going to try to chase as many as possible. We’re off to a good start. We’re going to try to make this season historic, in every sense of the term.

Can you tell us about the cohesion within the group?

With everything that’s happened to us, there are plenty of things that allow us to find ways to come together and become one. I think we managed to do that. As I said, it will help us become one until the end of the year.

Is this an opportunity to really finish beautifully, to win everything?

Yes. It’s no secret that next year the team will be very different. A bit like Paris last year, the idea is to try to do something good all together before everyone takes different paths.
A month ago, we were on a six-game winning streak in EuroLeague. Then we had five straight losses. We’re going to try to be more consistent and avoid these roller coasters.

Did you play Monaco’s ideal basketball?

It’s close, but I’d say more yesterday’s than today’s. We moved the ball better yesterday. We held the ball less. And it’s when we move the ball and everyone is involved that we’re unstoppable.

When you show this level of play, are you also sending a message to your management?

No. We’re really trying to focus on ourselves, to add titles to our trophy case. And as I said, before everyone separates, what we want is to win games and titles together.

At the Futuroscope Arena,