May 28, 2022
Petro de Luanda or US Monastir? Who will be crowned the 2022 BAL champion?
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There will be a new Basketball Africa League (BAL) champions when Petro de Luanda and US Monastir trade blows on Saturday at BK Arena in Kigali.
It’s the 38th and last game of the 2022 BAL season.
After knocking out the defending champions Zamalek in the semifinals, US Monastir earned themselves a second chance to lift the BAL trophy after finishing second last year.
While Monastir are chasing their first-ever African title, Petro de Luanda are looking for their third continental trophy.
US Monastir’s best continental result was a Third Place achieved in the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup.
Both teams reached the most important game of the BAL calendar in similar situations.
Petro and Monastir tasted one defeat each in the regular season, but headed to the Championship Game with a 6-1 mark.
US Monastir finished second in the Sahara Conference played in Dakar in March.
Petro de Luanda finished second the Nile Conference played in Cairo in April.
The similarities between Petro and Monastir this season go beyond their numbers.
Monastir, for instance, are chasing a treble, after winning this year’s Tunisian League title and the Tunisia Cup trophy a week before the start of the 2022 BAL posts-season.
Petro, on the other hand, are chasing a quadruple, having won all three domestic competitions (Angolan League, Angola Cup and Angola Super Cup).
Petro de Luanda, who lost to Zamalek in the Nile Conference, finished their domestic campaign undefeated in 34 games.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SHOW
Even when it comes to points scored per game, Petro de Luanda and US Monastir are evenly-matched.
Petro de Luanda averaged 87 points per game against US Monastir’s 84 in 8 games each.
The Angolan champions recorded 23 assists per contest while US Monastir registered 21 dimes per game.
Even long-range shooting, an x-factor for either team in the post-season, is similar. Both teams averaged 31.3 per cent from beyond the arc.
Petro and Monastir averaged 40 rebounds per game each.
Offensively, Petro de Luanda has a slightly advantage, having averaged 47 percent of field-goal compared to Monastir’s 43.
WHAT WENT WRONG WHEN THEY LOST
A thorough look into the numbers explains what went wrong when Petro and Monastir lost in the regular season.
Turnovers played a huge part in Monastir’s 77-74 defeat to Rwanda Energy Group (REG). Modrag Perisic’s team turned it over 19 times, 3 more than their average.
One of the reasons Petro lost to Zamalek (85-72) was their inefficient shooting from long range. Petro scores 31 percent from the beyond the arc, but they made only 17 percent in the loss to Zamalek.
X-FACTOR
There’s no doubts about Ater Majok’s impact in Monastir’s rotation.
The 6-foot-11 center has done it all averaging a team-high of 33 minutes per game.
Majok scores 64 percent of his shots near the basket – the first in the league.
But Monastir’s offense isn’t just about Majok, both Radhouane Slimane and Michael Dixon contribute massively in that regard.
On the other hand, Petro benefits from a deeper rotation where ten players can contribute on a given night.
Childe Dundão and Abou Gakou, who both were voted in the 2022 BAL All-Defensive Team, are having a breakthrough season.
WHAT THEY SAID AHEAD OF THE 2022 BAL FINAL
“We need to prepare mentally to play the final.” – Petro de Luanda Head Coach – Jose Neto
“We need to make to make sure that we don’t relax.” – Petro de Luanda center – Jone Pedro
“Everybody on our team must do everything to try and win the game. We didn’t come here to lose. It’ll be very hard to win.” – US Monastir Head Coach – Modrag Perisic
“This is the same situation as last year. Now we want a different outcome.” – US Monastir center – Ater Majok