Vincent Collet (Boulogne-Levallois): “If my players didn’t know what the playoffs were, now they know”

Stunned by ASVEL, the Metropolitans 92 took a great “lesson” during match 3 at the Astroballe (86-59), says coach Vincent Collet. But his proteges retain an opportunity to conclude this semi-final in match 4, this Sunday (5:05 p.m.). Reactions of the two clans.

Vincent Collet, coach of the Metropolitans 92 : « We were simply upgraded. We got off to a bad start in the third, because we played it offensively. Barry Brown, who was frustrated not to have played in the first half, put in some nice baskets. The problem is that we didn’t make any stops on the other side so that didn’t make us progress. Without stop, it was almost compromised. One of the obvious things of the evening was that we had no offensive solution. Our external sector has suffered a lot, to say the least. And it was still well paid for us to be at -3 at halftime. At that time, we were still within our defensive standards. It was first our defense that broke down.
We couldn’t contain Dee Bost today. This is partly due to our matchup problem, the absence of our starting point guard (Devante Jones) and the faults of our secondary point guard (Barry Brown), if I may say so. As much as he hadn’t had a lot of openings in the first two matches, he had a lot more tonight. He was the one who started the team. Then, (Retin) Obasohan hurt us a lot with his percussion, we couldn’t contain him compared to previous matches. Amine Noua brought juice, different solutions, Antoine Diot too. We know that (their depth) can be an advantage over the series.
Will Devante Jones play in Game 4? We hope so. Is Victor Wembanyama blunt? Maybe. He had back pain since Tuesday, he played today but he didn’t train yesterday. Anyway, it’s the sixth game in a row with a reduced squad, we obviously have fewer possibilities. The longer the series lengthens, the less it is to our advantage. Again, my team is particularly young. Tonight, there is a lot to learn. If my players didn’t know what the playoffs were, now they know. But I don’t think we’ve made any sin of complacency (…) We learned a lesson, we have to try to use it to come back with other intentions on Sunday. »

TJ Parker, ASVEL coach : “It is still 2-1 for Boulogne-Levallois. We think about the next game. I am satisfied with the commitment of the players, especially in defense. Our defense was very good tonight, like Amine Noua, who made 11 deflections (major defensive actions) tonight. We really put them out in the second half, it starts from the defense because we only shoot at 28% from 3-pointers. We made stops, stops, stops, and behind it, it allows you to run and get easy baskets. Opposite, they have a professional coach. They will adapt to two or three things. Sunday, we start at 0-0. Admittedly, we are used to these series but we will have to start again with the same intensity. I don’t see them lowering their heads, they are very tough. »

Retin Obasohan, back of ASVEL : “In the locker room, we thought that the details were the most important things. We made a lot of mistakes in our strategy in the first half, we had to pay attention to all the little things. The truth is that all the players in this league are strong. To make a difference, you have to play with intensity, stay strong. My personal contribution? We have a lot of players who did things in the second half: Chuck fought a big battle with Wemby, Amine Noua was strong defensively, there was the finesse of Dee Bost, the contribution of Antoine Diot, etc We have to level up together. »