President of AS Monaco, Sergey Dyadechko clearly expressed himself in a press release on the potential Final 8 which should award the title of champion of France at the end of June, at the end of the regular season. The organization or not of this Final 8 will be voted on this Friday morning during the Steering Committee of the National Basketball League (LNB).
If the captains of the Jeep ELITE clubs signed a letter from the National Basketball Union (SNB) to ask the LNB not to play the Final 8, the president of ASVEL, Tony Parker, was totally opposed to their request in L’Equipe last Saturday.
For his part, the president of AS Monaco expressed his incomprehension concerning the decisions of the League which have not yet been taken within a month of the deadline. As for his position, Sergey Dyadechko seems to be against the Final 8 since he believes that if it is scheduled, the teams already guaranteed to finish in the Top 8 of the regular season will rotate their workforce, which would potentially lead to defeats. against teams fighting for maintenance, affecting a little more the sporting fairness of this already very special 2020-2021 season.
Here is the press release from Sergey Dyadechko:
“In October, AS Monaco’s position was clear: when deciding to suspend the championship, it was necessary to understand the consequences that this would entail. I think it is absolutely unacceptable that at the end of May we don’t know what the format of the end of the championship will be. But one thing is already clear: whatever decision the LNB makes regarding the potential Final 8, it will cause somebody to be dissatisfied anyway. this, LNB put itself in a losing position.
The first thing to note is that when considering this issue, the opinions of the presidents of AS Monaco, Dijon and ASVEL should in no way be taken into consideration, as we are all extremely parties. interested and cannot be objective. Therefore, unlike Mr. Tony Parker, I will refrain from expressing my opinion on the players and their moral principles. Second and foremost, in my opinion, the decision on whether or not a Final 8 should be made and voted on only by Jeep Elite clubs currently ranked between 10th and 18th position, as these clubs risk being relegated from Jeep ELITE to Pro B. So the decision about the Final 8 may have the biggest impact on them.
I will explain in detail why I think so. Obviously, in the event of Final 8, the three strongest clubs in the League (Monaco, Dijon, ASVEL), which have already guaranteed a ticket, will fully focus on preparing the teams for Final 8 and will give rest to their key players in matches played after June 1 in order to avoid the risk of injury, as these matches will have no impact on the ranking of the three clubs.
Thus, we will have a situation where some clubs that are fighting for their survival in Jeep ELITE will already play (and lose) two games against each of the top three clubs before June 1 when these clubs have been fully motivated, and others after the June 1 will receive as rivals Monaco, Dijon or ASVEL demotivated and half-weakened, will potentially win victories in these matches on their half-complete teams and thus remain in the Jeep ELITE.
Relegation to Pro B for any club in this difficult pandemic season means a real nightmare, loss of sponsorring income and a long, difficult road back to the Jeep ELITE. This is why, from my point of view, the decision whether or not to keep Final 8 will directly affect the fate of the clubs fighting to stay in the Jeep ELITE and it must be taken by them and only by them. “
