Maccabi Tel Aviv takes on Monaco in a pivotal game 5 that will see the winner head to the Euroleague Final Four while the loser will head home until next season’s campaign. With the series tied 2-2 both teams have had their ups and downs and will look to limit their inconsistencies for the decisive game in the best-of-5 series.

The yellow-and-blue won game one in the Principality and game four back at home as both Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin starred for Oded Katash’s team while Monaco captured games two and three with Jordan Loyd playing a key part in the pair of victories.

One of Sasa Obradovic’s X-Factors in the series thus far has been forward Aloha Diallo who is in his second season with the club. With his powerful dunks off the baseline along with his ability to go to the basket time and time again, the 25-year old has made a name for himself averaging roughly 10 points in close to 25 minutes per game.

The Sports Rabbi spoke to the New York native just ahead of game five to see what he feels will be the keys to the winner take all game Wednesday night which could very well be the fact that Monaco has home court and that no visiting team in 16 game fives has won.

“We worked hard all year for home court advantage and we are motivated to get this win,” Diallo began.

“We just have to play our tempo. We have our unique tempo because they are a really good scoring team and they got some great pieces to complement those scoring pieces so we just need to pace.”

So far this series when Jordan Loyd has been on as he was in game two with 33 points and game three with 15, Monaco has been in the drivers seat and Diallo is well aware that he will be critical for the club’s success.

“Jordan has been big for us all year. We need him more than ever now with game 5, to step up and everyone needs to play well to win tomorrow.”

Maccabi won’t nearly have the amount of fans that they had in games one and two when the over 800 yellow-and-blue supporters packed the arena and made it seem like the Salle Gaston Medicin was a miniature Yad Eliyahu as they helped Oded Katash’s charges snatch the game one win.

With that in mind, Diallo knows that the Monaco fans including perhaps the Prince of Monaco himself Albert II who is rumoured to be in attendance, will have the opportunity to help the team reach the promised land and the Euroleague Final Four.

“I think the crowd will be into it regardless. It will help us that we’ll pack this place with as much of our fans as possible. They are die hard fans and we need them for this game. We want to give them something to be amped up about.”

Last year, Diallo and Monaco made it to a game five when they faced Olympiacos but fell in the decisive game five which was held in Piraeus.

However, that experience the 25-year old says will be crucial when they take to the floor against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the do or die tilt with the hope to make sure that the result won’t be a repeat performance, “We were this close last year but fell short. We are very motivated and just can’t wait to get out there and execute our game plan.”