“What does this success represent, which places you second in the Betclic Elite rankings?
It’s a magnificent victory, a great match. Beating Paris, with this quality of basketball, in these proportions, while having the advantage for a large part of the match, is something… Against Paris, the game plan is simple to state, but very hard to execute. We must prevent them from playing first line so that they lose a little of their identity. We managed to stay focused as never before on the withdrawal, to force them to go for long attacks. While they are the best in Europe in fast and transition play.
We take 17 offensive rebounds. In terms of performance, we went beyond my expectations. I have great respect for the team, the players. It’s a nice Christmas present for the supporters. Special mention to Roko Prkacin, who suffered a muscular injury in recent matches. Many, before the break, would not have played. We must salute the work of the medical staff.
This is the first victory in the derby for Nanterre since September 2022…
My first derby! I am happy for the club, with whom we are having a dynamic start to the season. We build our ambition as we go. We are approaching the end of the first legs and we played eye to eye with Monaco (defeat after two overtimes), Villeurbanne and Bourg.
But each time you lost, at the last minute… How important was it to achieve this against a big player in the Championship?
There was, in my opinion, no lack of confidence. But it was essential to validate with success. The players have proven they can do it. On the other hand, it’s still a team that scores 100 points per game. We hold them at 83. We will come back in January with the desire to stay at the top as long as possible. Afterwards, we have no margin on anyone, and only ten players. The planets will have to align.
You won thanks to a French core which scored 77 of your 99 points. What does this say? I’m happy that we’re putting emphasis on that. Having a French group is very important for us. It’s part of the club’s history. And we wanted to continue, to give importance to the French in our team building, despite one of the smallest budgets (13th out of 16, €5.6 million compared to €28.9 million from Paris, No. 2 behind Monaco). We take risks by taking on young US people who are supervised by the French. Many don’t do that, but it’s in line with what Pascal Donnadieu did. So it’s nice this evening. There is Mathis (Dossou-Yovo)Hugo (Yimga-Moukouri)Ben (Sene)and Paul (Lacombe). And then we don’t talk about it much, but the start of Lucas Dussoulier’s season (15 points for the Olympic vice-champion of 3×3 in Paris, specialist in long distance shooting, 4/10 at 3 points Friday), it’s naughty… I’m happy and proud, especially at a time when we’re seeing a terrible exodus among young people. It is our role to show that the best step to prepare across the Atlantic remains here. »
