[Basket] “We can really be strong”

Christopher Jack, Captain Dudelangeois, believes in the chances of his team against Etzella.

If you were told that you would be in the final, you would have believed it?

Christopher Jack: I would have said it was possible. Even if on paper, I would say that we were the fourth team after Etzella, Steinel and maybe Esch. But it’s the third season with Yves (Defraigne). Its system requires time to adapt. But if we are here, I think we can really be strong. We really have lots of options and everything is calculated.

You have been practically the best team in the country since the start of the year. When did you feel that you were well launched?

I would say with the Christmas break, when you beat Esch at home. This is where it started.

You have chained the victories to climb to third place. And in play-offs, did you have to finish the second match against Contern without Brandon Randolph?

Yes, that didn’t help us. We knew that if we had to play a third match without him, it would be difficult. And we showed our character as a team. Once Brandon was released, Nils Schroeder and Fabian Agbodenou made a very good job to help us win this match. We played very well together. Especially in defense. It is not in attack that we win this match.

Then it’s the association, with a new American. You lose the first match. You are your back on the wall … and you reacted!

We were the underdogs. We had nothing to lose. Yves always says that we have to play these matches with the knife between the teeth. And that’s exactly what we did. It made the difference. That and then the fans. At home, there were really a lot of people. And even in Steinsel, in the locker room before the match, it is our supporters we heard. Same thing at halftime. They really helped us! We didn’t have the feeling of playing outside.

They are strong but not invincible

You finally win this match 3 to Steinel. The absence of Jarvis Williams, who is injured quickly, had a big impact in your opinion?

Of course. It is one of the best scorers in the league and it is always harder if it plays. But at the same time, Scott (Morton) made a hell of a match. I have already played with him in Bascharage and I know what he is capable of. What saved us on this match is the defense. And it will also be very important against Etzella.

Precisely, the final will be against Etzella. How do you approach it?

I think we have our chances. In our matches against them this season, we made some mistakes that have been fatal. We know they are strong, but they are not invincible. We know very well that they have one of the best 2-way players of the country with Jimmie Taylor, who plays a very good defense and that we know very well. With (Quatarrius) Wilson, they have one of the candidates for the title of MVP. And « Sticky« (Gutenkauf) is very very strong, especially offensively. He can put 20 or 30 points if he wants. And there are all the others, Wolff, who has a very good season, Fritz (Gutenkauf) which is always an X factor, Thomas Henkel which is also very strong. But they no longer have Zenners, who also has a very good season. Suddenly, they will play six or seven. It is not easy physically.

What are the keys to beat them?

Defense. She has nothing to do with that of the start of the year. She was not bad but not great either. And now it’s really our identity. To beat them, you will have to have a much better three -point percentage than against Steinel. Between 35 and 40 %. It will also take a strategy to limit the three main scorers of Etzella. And the concentration should be at its max all the time. Because against a team like Etzella, the slightest jump of concentration can be very expensive. If we do all that, we really have our chances.

You will play with Eddie Colbert, who made a very big match on Saturday. But perhaps with Gibbs temple instead of Brandon Randolph. What does it change?

Colbert is much stronger than at the start of the season. I think he is really in a good rhythm now and that he has evolved well. Besides, many people have called to find out about him for next year. Regarding the other American, we will see. I think we’ll see Brandon during this series. Now, it will be on Saturday, it is not certain. Temple has just arrived, it is not easy for him but he has the right attitude and he is ready to help the team. On the parquet floor if necessary and it is ready to encourage us if Brandon plays.

You play this final when the club announced a few days ago, the departure of Yves Defraigne at the end of the season. Did you expect this news?

No. It was a bit surprising. Now, the club makes decisions. Yves is a great coach, very demanding. I do not know many coaches who stay in the gym after the Saturday shoot to work individually with young people, because he knows that they will not play in the evening. And even now that he knows that he does not stay, he continues to do it. It shows its character. And that doesn’t change your motivation.