Will we be entitled to a 100% French Eurocup final? Nothing is done but we are definitely on the road. The two semi-finals of the second of the continental competitions smiled on the French representatives this Tuesday evening. Winner (99-86) of the London Lions in a copiously packed Adidas Arena, Paris Basketball took a good first option.
The capital club leads 1-0 against its English counterpart in this semi-final which is played as a best of three matches. It is therefore enough to win another to go to the final which will be played in mid-April, in the same format. A little earlier, Bourg beat the Turks of Besiktas Istanbul (86-74).
Towards a 100% French final?
The team of prodigy Zaccharie Risacher, announced as a possible first choice of the future NBA draft, and coach Freddy Fauthoux also has only one match left to win to imitate Strasbourg (2016) and Monaco (2021), both the only French clubs to have played in a final of this Cup. The return matches will take place on the banks of the Thames and the Bosphorus this Friday March 29 before a possible good one on April 3 at home for the French clubs. “We have only taken the first step and there is at least more to do,” says Finnish coach Tuomas Iisalo. What we have to do now is recover and analyze this match, what was and what was not. »
Qualifying for the final will also mean for both clubs moving a little closer to an invitation to the Euroleague. As Monaco did three years ago, winning the Eurocup offers its winner a ticket for the “big” European Cup the following season. The Euroleague and the Eurocup depend on the same private organization.
It’s a charge – given the insane schedule (34 matches) and the substantial budget required – that it is possible to refuse. Gran Canaria, the Spanish club of French leader Andrew Albicy, did not take the plunge last year, due to lack of financial means. It has nevertheless been the dream of Paris Basketball since its creation, only 6 years ago. “The club’s objective,” continues the French international, “is to win the Eurocup. Our pleasure as players is to win the trophy and our ambition is to bring Paris into a new dimension. »
Paris and fashion diesel
It’s hard to imagine that he will turn down the opportunity to play so quickly against Real, Barcelona, Milan and a few giants of this caliber. He only has three games left to win: one more against London and the last two in the final. For a team undefeated since January 27, which remains on 14 consecutive victories in all competitions and has only lost one match in twenty in the Eurocup, it looks good.
We will already have to win the next one against these Lions whom the Parisians have already beaten three times this season. It won’t be that simple. If England is not a land of basketball, the club in its capital is not one-armed. In January, Paris won there after extra time (106-102) in the group stage. London also tickled Paris for a while this Tuesday. “We gave them too many mistakes and too much confidence, we put things back in place at half-time” thinks Nadir Hifi.
In diesel mode (0-7, 3rd then 8-15, 6th), Paris had a complicated first quarter. And then the machine started. The steamroller rather. The gap of only 5 points at the break (54-49) widened in the third quarter (79-57, 30th). The hardest part was done. The money-time was only a confirmation: Paris won (99-86) and leads 1-0 in the duel of the capitals. TJ Shorts’ team, author of 23 points, will cross the Channel in a position of strength. “It was only the first match and we will have to do the same thing in London,” summarized the naturalized Macedonian American playmaker.
“We must not think that because we have already won three times against the Londoners, they will not beat us twice in the coming week. It remains a very good team and the trap is to think that we are already in the final. No, this is not yet the case,” warns Nadir Hifi.
