Four months ago, Paris was still battling in Pro B, far from the spotlights of Europe. This Saturday, however, it was the Milan of Ettore Messina, semi-finalist of the Euroleague 2020-2021, who presented themselves to Carpentier with his team of stars. Sergio Rodriguez or Nicolo Melli on the Parisian parquet, it is still only the pre-season, second match of the Paris European Games (after the defeat of ASVEL against Berlin), friendly tournament organized by the recent promoted to Betclic ELITE, but it is perhaps a foretaste of the ambitious Parisian project, which ultimately dreams of joining the Euroleague.
In the meantime, as evidenced by the final score, 95-64 for the Italian team, the sporting gap remains large between a European cador and a team which has just left the second division and whose workforce has remained stable. With Kyle Allman (in photo, against Shavon Shields) but still without Kyle O’Quinn, who will arrive on September 18, Paris quickly took the measure of this gap, cashing an entry 12-0.
“These first minutes, it was fear, loose the coach Jean-Christophe Prat. But after this start of the match, I found what we proposed rather coherent. It’s almost a play-off match. after 15 days of preparation, we could not ask for better in terms of opposition, this kind of matches allows the players to gain a lot of experience. “
Sergio Rodriguez on the floor of the Halle Carpentier (photo : Lilian Bordron)
After this period of acclimatization to the hardness of the Euroleague level, where even obtaining a firing position required deploying treasures of energy, the locals have indeed shown beautiful things, in particular Milan Barbitch, who has converted a few cheeky shots from the top of his nearly 20 years (17 points at 6/12, top Parisian scorer). But Milan took this match very seriously, like this time-out of Messina, annoyed while Paris returned … to 18 points (46-28, 27 ‘), or “El Chacho” Rodriguez scooping a technical foul shortly before half-time.
“It was very complicated, but it was a very good experience, says Barbitch. We touched the highest European level. We never play to lose, but we learned a lot today. We can see that on all the small details, small trips, all the little things are done much better at Euroleague level. “
And if the gap was a bit tightened at the break (48-34), it quickly started to rise again under the impetus of former NBA player Troy Daniels, 14 points in the 3rd quarter, 19 in total , until flirting with the 40 point difference mark. But the locals, as welcomed by their coach, have never lowered their heads. Paris will face Sunday at Alba Berlin, while Milan will face ASVEL.
at the Halle Carpentier,
