Basketball: In Vevey, the rebirth of the Galeries du Rivage

For various reasons, we couldn’t be there. On Sunday, nearly 500 people immersed themselves in Vevey’s return to the Swiss basketball elite, after two seasons of spanking 50 pawns in the Premier League and in the B league. But, even behind the screens, we felt the expectation, the warmth of the support and then the explosion of joy, at the final buzzer. Winner at the end of the suspense of the Geneva Lions, Vevey Riviera Basket is the leader after two days. The sample is minimal but already says a lot about what ambitious newbie.

Trailing (by little) throughout the game (except at the very start), the Veveysans showed heart and their supporters love that. It’s not always very pretty to see – like when Jonathan Dubas (25 points, 12 rebounds and 6 stray balls) becomes a point guard – but there are successes to be satisfied with. Especially since coach Niksa Bavcevic had to do without Malik Johnson (19 points, 10 assists) or Eliott Kubler (differential of +6), both excluded for five faults, in the money time. It was the new offensive leader, Michael Williams (21 points), who planted the decisive shot. And fortunately for him that he recovers the ball under pressure from Arkel Lamar, otherwise the game is over. What is it about…

The Lions therefore dropped a match that they never knew how to “kill”. Of course, the convalescents Clayton Le Sann and Slobodan Miljanic are still missing, but there was so much better to do, especially in the management of the last three minutes, during which the Genevans drew a blank. Bryan Colon had 24 points, but he took 22 shots, and that’s probably too many. He was not supported enough. Jeremiah Paige (10 points but 2/11 in shooting) did not regain his address from the first day and pivot James Karnik, who suffered from the speed of Dubas, played less (24 minutes) and therefore less shot (4/8). Only Noé Anabir (17 points and 8 rebounds) showed his best side in contact with Colon.

Arrived at the end of last week to remedy the injuries affecting the Geneva workforce, James Padgett, a former Pommier, did not weigh (2 points and 3 rebounds in thirteen minutes). The 31-year-old American pivot, who has also played for Massagno, Neuchâtel and Lugano in the past, has he signed for a month? Or more? We will not know, since Robert Margot refers us to the official version – which does not specify the duration of the contract. “There are the injured, the temporary unavailability and we lack visibility to date, specifies the sports director of the club at the end of the lake. Hence this commitment. We will see more clearly in a month, I think…”

Of course the addition is salty and the shower freezing for the supporters of the Rock. We will be careful not to draw hasty conclusions after the first match of the season, but all the same… Already in mid-September, during a friendly match against a French third division team, we found the Nyon performance somewhat messy and indigestible. But that was nothing compared to the five minutes that Stefan Ivanovic’s players went through at the end of the first quarter.

From 8-6 to 8-29, the team of a strangely discreet Jérémy Jaunin sank. Targeted in defense, Maleye N’Doye seemed out of shape while Jeff Dufour lost two balls in quick succession. And what about these two actions where Colin Dougherty (11 points and 5 stray bullets) – the potential of the back is there but the waste too – chained the dribbles on the spot, revealing to all eyes the poverty of the Nyon game. Is this the story of a day? Maybe. After all, Nyon can plead the thesis of the accident, since he started his championship a week after all the teams. But what is certain is that Ivanovic’s team have their work cut out before their trip to Swiss Central on Sunday.

If Nyon was also “catastrophic”, it is also because Monthey, who scored a third of his points on the 22 opposing balls lost, confirmed in intensity his feat from Reposieux against Fribourg. With 48 points between them – 24 each, Jaizec Lottie and Jay Jay Chandler were the detonators of the 23-0 first quarter. As for the Swiss players, Brunell Tutonda (10 units) and Thomas Salman (11) proved to be invaluable. It is as a dolphin of Vevey that Monthey will go to Basel to challenge Starwings on Saturday.

Eternal Dusan Mladjan. At almost 36 years old, the former rear of the Swiss team showed again this weekend that he remains one of the best when it comes to locking a meeting. While Massagno’s last possession in regulation time had fallen into the hands of Juwann James, the eldest of the Mladjans took responsibility in the last minute of extra time and played the same score to two different opponents – Joshua Brown then Florian Steinmann: taking the ball at the head of the racquet, dribble attack towards the basket with the left hand and small bell shot with the right hand. Surgical.

It seems obvious that the Boncourtois, with five elements at more than ten points (Steinmann, Brown, Nesbitt, Monteiro and Bengui), returned frustrated from their trip to Ticino on Sunday evening. But they can’t blame themselves for much, apart from a lack of skill behind the arc. Freshly arrived from Strasbourg, where he played with the “hopes”, the interior player Pedro Bengui (21 years old, 205 cm) immediately had an impact. His association with the Nigerian Martins Igbanu – the Boncourt top scorer was ill – is promising.