“You really have to question yourself”

“Disappointment”. “Shame”. Huge disappointment.” Here are the words spoken by some Friborg Olympic players on Tuesday evening in the corridors of Saint-Léonard after the 5-point defeat suffered in the quarter-finals of the League Cup against Union Neuchâtel.

The players of Petar Aleksic, who won this competition last year by beating Massagno in the final, will have this time off at the end of January because they are eliminated. They will not win the first trophy of the season traditionally put into play at the Salle du Pierrier in Montreux.

The only time Friborg Olympic did not qualify for the Final Four of the League Cup was in 2005…

But where is the defense?

Why did Fribourg-Olympic lose on Tuesday evening? The answers can be many: the absences of the injured Americans James Padgett and Matthew Milon, the 5 lost balls of Jonathan Kazadi, the coaching of Petar Aleksic, the lack of guidelines from the referees or the lack of skill in shooting with only 37% success rate.

But the main reason: it’s the defense. After conceding only 44 points on Saturday in the league against Monthey, Friborg Olympic took almost double three days later: 86 points conceded at home including 48 in the second half. It’s too much for a team that has won many trophies in recent seasons thanks to its defense.

It should also be noted that Union Neuchâtel, which led in scoring for a large part of the match, was very skilful at 3 points, with 13 baskets scored from long distance.

Match statistics

Digest this failure

Friborg Olympic is now entitled to a week off, a week to digest this failure. Boris Mbala’s teammates will have to show great strength of character to get up. These players may not have yet erased from their memory the failure of elimination against Porto (loss by one point) in the FIBA ​​Europe Cup on November 23rd.

The next match is scheduled for January 4 in Lucerne against Swiss Central while the next big game is scheduled for January 14 in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Cup in Geneva. Will Friborg Olympic have digested these 2 failures? The answer will be known early next year.