Indeed, the last absentee, the British pivot Kavell Bigby-Williams, is back from Eurobasket, after the elimination of the subjects of His Majesty who did not manage to leave the group stage after setbacks against Ukraine, Croatia, Estonia and Italy.
What physical level?
Bigby-Williams was little used by the British coaching staff, averaging 6.6 minutes of playing time. “We followed his journey, explains Ménard. With François Ruiz, the new physical trainer, we will draw up an attack plan for Kavell. He may have refresher sessions. »
But the Boulazacois coach is not at all worried. “He is not deconditioned. He still carried out the preparation with the national team.
For this match against the Béarnais, the staff will try to offer Bigby-Williams “what suits him. We recruited him for his athleticism, his verticality and his mobility, in defense and in attack”.
The BBD must also continue the integration of its latest recruit, the Croatian Martin Junakovic. During the friendly match in Cognac against La Rochelle, Friday September 9, the playmaker/back showed “his knowledge of the game. He brought a lot of juice”. But sometimes, “he put the cart before the horse, he was sometimes too fast for his partners”. This caused several bullet losses. “He defends, he has the culture of winning. »
More generally, Ménard expects from this match “the same combat value. It must be a constant. No one can emancipate themselves from it. And in this block of two matches with that of La Rochelle, we will also put in place new things ”.
