Basketball – Olympic for a 20th crown, the other Romans in ambush

The time to go back to school has come for the elite of Swiss basketball. Triple reigning national champion, Friborg Olympic puts its good back on the line on Sunday (4:00 p.m.) with the reception of Swiss Central on the occasion of the first day of the SB League. The formation of Petar Aleksic is obviously one of the big favorites to its own succession, but it will have to be wary of a team of Massagno which was particularly strengthened during the summer break. With his expert eye, Randoald Dessarzin looked into this fight for the title, as well as the other top clubs. Overview of the forces involved.

«Despite his elimination, Friborg has accumulated Champions League experience this summer. The club then made the choice to bet everything on the championship by refusing to participate in another European Cup. Olympic is also confident after its victory, admittedly anecdotal, but with style, in the SuperCup. The Friborg people, who have bet on the stability card, can count on the return of Natan Jurkovitz. The latter knows the house, Slobodan Miljanic too. Milos Jankovic shouldn’t take a long time to adapt to Petar Aleksic’s methods. The squad looks really good and will have the motivation to win a 20th national title.»

«Massagno had quite an impressive summer recruiting with the arrivals of Roberto Kovac, Juwann James and Uros Nikolic. The Ticinese have also managed to maintain a certain stability in their squad, which is certainly one of the keys to success. Everything will depend on the dynamics of the start of the season and if the sauce takes quickly, but this team should normally fly over the championship in the company of Friborg.»

«Monthey has a great team on paper, but it will be above all a question of dynamics. Like Amineye Lakoju and Jalen Hayes, the Valais club has a squad with a lot of size and physical power. It is therefore above all a very athletic training. In my eyes, the arrival of Clayton Le Sann is very important because he will bring a lot of security to the team. Overall, I find the workforce to be very strong and very balanced.»

«Geneva has lost a lot of its luster compared to last season. During the summer, the club saw several important players like Jérémy Jaunin, Natan Jurkovitz and Roberto Kovac go. It’s still a lot. The workforce, like the foreign sector, must be completely rebuilt, but it can count on interesting arrivals like Marco Portannese. For his part, Thomas Jurkovitz must gain stature within the team. However, it should not be too big a fixation around foreign players. More generally, all positions are doubled and Imad Fattal always does everything to maintain this culture of victory. To see if the last exercise, which ended in sausage water, will leave traces.»

«What is happening in Neuchâtel is very interesting. The club has clearly downsized its workforce compared to last season and only announced two non-locally trained players, including Chad Timberlake who should rather have a role of assistant coach and not player. Union has decided to play the Swiss card, with strong players like Bryan Colon, Yoan Granvorka, Noé Anabir, Selim Fofana and Killian Martin. These players must now take their responsibilities, even if it is already the case for some of them. It is up to them to prove that we sometimes do a little too much around foreign reinforcements to the detriment of team cohesion and a Swiss identity.»

«There are solutions in Nyon and it is now difficult to point the finger at a weakness in this team as was the case last season with a lack of leadership. Jeff Dufour was far too alone, while Benoît Hayman did not have the confidence of the coach. The club can also now count on Jérémy Jaunin, an arrival that changes the situation a lot. Worn by a hyper versatile George Beamon in three positions and by a Maleye N’Doye who could almost have received the MVP title last season, the Foreign Legion really looks great. There will therefore clearly be teams that will fall in Nyon this year.»

«Boncourt must clearly aim for a place in the play-off. Brent Jackson could also be one of the revelations of the championship. Several young players, like Julien Waelti and Petar Kozic, must take responsibility this year and take a step forward. But the Jurassians benefit above all from a huge wild card this season since Nemanja Calasan is now considered a Swiss player, which leaves room for four foreign players. This team will therefore have its say, especially at home, where it can count on its cauldron.»

«In Lugano, there is a good mix between Swiss youth and experienced foreigners. With players like the impressive interior Arkim Robertson, Lugano will be very strong under the baskets. I would also not be surprised if the president, Alessandro Cedraschi, calls on a foreign leader during the season, given his temperament and that a place for a mercenary remains vacant.»

«Even though coach Dragan Andrejevic never ceases to impress and perform miracles, I don’t think Starwings can surprise again and reach the final. Last season the chemistry and trust between the foreign players was so impressive that I don’t think they are going to be able to do it again this year. But we never know…»

«Swiss Central will not stand a chance. This team will play its all-out and will build on a dynamic of success, it which won a significant percentage of matches last season. The arrival of Antwoine Anderson is also a nice surprise for this team and for the whole of Swiss basketball. Overall, the club remains straight in its boots and relies on a longer-term team building, even if there is already talent within this squad. We also feel the paw of assistant coach Zoran Popovic, who remains one of the very good in Switzerland in terms of training.»