LBasketball competitions regularly involve inflicting a little headache on yourself to understand how they work. Before racking your brains to understand the challenges of this last day of the Euroleague for the rest of the competition, one thing is certain: Basket Landes, already qualified for the second phase, can finish in first place in group A. he managed to beat the Italians of Schio by more than four points this Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) at the Espace François-Mitterrand.
“We’re not going to lie to each other, we didn’t tell ourselves that we could finish first,” admits coach Julie Barennes. We were super happy to qualify. To get this first place, it will be hard and tough. We never beat Schio, even at home, in previous years. But I find it a great challenge. » The players of the blue and white club have never yet won against the teammates of French international Janelle Salaün in five meetings, including twice at François-Mitterrand in 2021 (64-79) then 2022 (58-78 ).
Capital for the future
The task will therefore be difficult for Basket Landes, but first place in the group will not be the only match at stake. Indeed, in this new version of the Euroleague, after this first round of four groups of four teams, the three qualified teams from each group will meet. Group A, that of the Landes club, will therefore meet with group B to form group E.
Basket Landes will then meet the teams that it has not yet faced – namely Mersin, Bourges and Brno -, while keeping the results against the teams in its group which have also qualified. Schio is already part of it, and the last seat will be decided between Salamanca and Miskolc (match this Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.).
The result of the match against the Italians will therefore have important repercussions for the second phase. If successful, Basket Landes would start this second round with two victories and two defeats and would have a victory ahead of Salamanca (the most likely hypothesis), or three victories and a defeat if Miskolc managed to achieve an exploit in Spain. Otherwise, Julie Barennes' players would be behind the Spaniards with the same record (three defeats and one victory), since the latter have the point average in their favor, or would have a victory ahead of the Hungarians (2V -2D). “There is an issue,” admits Julie Barennes. If we said to ourselves that we didn't want to play it, it's worth doing it. »
Play-ins in vue ?
In addition to being able to finish in first place in the group, Basket Landes could therefore find itself on a favorable waiver to compete in the play-ins (stage before the Final Six). To do this, it will need to finish in one of the first four places in group E. To continue this reasoning, it is appropriate to look at what is happening in group B, that of the future opponents of the Landaises.
Unsurprisingly, Mersin should finish the first phase without having lost and therefore start the second with four victories. Not counting the results against Olympiakos, Bourges has one victory for two defeats, and Brno three losses. The French women's match in the Czech Republic (this Wednesday at 4:45 p.m.), like that of Basket Landes, will therefore have to be followed to find out who will take a step ahead.
In most cases, Basket Landes should find itself in a three-way match with Salamanca and Bourges to grab one of the qualifying places. “We don’t know if we’ll get there (at the play-ins, Editor’s note), it’s way too far,” judge Julie Barennes. Accessing this second group is already very good. » But without a doubt, the technician and her players will do everything to go as far as possible. And continue to dream of a new first.
The different scenarios
Depending on its result this Wednesday, the Landes club can finish in first or third place in this group A. Here are the different options:
– Basket Landes finishes in first place if he beats Schio by more than four points.
– Basket Landes finishes in second place if it beats Schio by four points or less or if it loses to Schio but Miskolc wins in Salamanca.
– Basket Landes finishes in third place if it loses against Schio and Salamanca beats Miskolc.
