As if the EuroCup regular season wasn’t already long enough, we had to add an interminable 2h18 evening, peppered with video rewatches and refereeing disputes, on top of a marathon of 18 matches. But JL Bourg did well to go to the end of the suffering against Cluj-Napoca (92-88) because what was taken is now no longer up for grabs. And this implacable mathematical logic, Frédéric Fauthoux’s team has understood it perfectly for two years, leader of its group until December last year and this time still undefeated after three matches.
“We played with the heart”
If the essentials were preserved, the Game could nevertheless have spared itself some cold sweats, if it had been a bit more serious in the second half. “We did well because we weren’t ready to put in the same level of intensity as them after the break”, notes Axel Julien. Fortunately, the achievements of the first period were sufficiently solid (53-34, 19th minute) to allow us to resist until the end: flamboyant collective play (16 assists in one half!), skill ( 21/32) and enthusiasm, just to magnificently mask the deficiencies at position 5, with only one valid pivot (Kevin Kokila, following injuries to Bodian Massa and Godwin Omenaka), the young Moulaye Sow to tinker for five minutes and Maksim Salash quickly bothered by the mistakes.
15 points in the first half, 0 afterwards: Isiaha Mike embodied the Burgian evening (photo: JL Bourg / Alexia Graziani)
“Honestly, I don’t care that we didn’t play very well in the second half.”sweeps Frédéric Fauthoux. “With just one post 5, it’s a very good victory. You should not always look at what you did wrong but also rely on what you did right. However, we played with heart and I really liked the sharing of the ball and the solidarity of the team. » With, also, inevitably, superior talent to get the team out of trouble. This Wednesday, there was self-sacrifice, yes, fantastic basketball for 20 minutes, it’s true, but above all Bryce Brown’s address at the opportune moment. An elite shooter, the dreadlocked back again shot long distance (25 points, 5/7 from three points), when it was most necessary so as not to spoil anything (14 units after the break). And then we will add accuracy to his personal record, when he had the lucidity not to force anything, while he was the most legitimate to shoot, to instead shift Jeremy Morgan to only +5 at 105 seconds from the final buzzer (83 -78).
Le sang-froid de Risacher
However, driven by the aggressiveness of Adam Mokoka (11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists), as unstoppable on the drive as he is harmless long distance (0/4 at three points, including two airballs) and the talent of DJ Seeley (22 points at 7/13), the Romanian team had the equalizing shot in hand (89-86), missed by the American rear who will definitely keep a painful memory of Ékinox, where his Gravelin adventure took place. was broken last year after a clash with his new coach Laurent Legname. A lesson without consequence, therefore, for Secular Youth.
Clumsy on the penalty line (5/11), Zaccharie Risacher nevertheless ensured the Burgian success in the last seconds (photo: JL Bourg / Alexia Graziani)
“The important thing was to remain undefeated”insiste Freddy Fauthoux. “3/3 is excellent and it’s really the type of match that will make us grow. » This applies to Moulaye Sow, obviously, to Zaccharie Risacher (11 points at 3/6, 5 rebounds and 2 interceptions), author of his first 2/2 on the free throw line at the best moment (at 90-88 7 seconds from the final buzzer) when he was at 3/9 before, or to Kevin Kokila, mistreated by the vice of Andrija Stipanovic, who curiously ended the match with only one fault on the clock, but who learned the tricks of the trade inside Angola (3 points and 5 fouls in 17 minutes), almost fifteen years his junior. And in four months, when the reckoning comes to an end to winter, no one will remember the late-night scares. All that will remain is one more victory, acquired in a reduced configuration, in the final results.
In Bourg-en-Bresse,
by @Alexandre Lacoste
October 17, 2023 at 9:48 a.m.
As if the EuroCup regular season wasn’t already long enough, we had to add an interminable 2h18 evening, peppered with video rewatches and refereeing disputes, on top of a marathon of 18 matches. But JL Bourg did well to go to the end of the suffering against Cluj-Napoca (92-88) because what is taken is not…
2023-10-17 19:48:58
#Bourg #resists #return #ClujNapoca #remains #undefeated
