Title holderJDA Dijon made its debut in the Coupe de France, Wednesday November 27, 2024. A duel between two elite teams for this round of 16, against Gravelines-Dunkerque (9th in the championship) on the floor of the Palais des sports. La Jeanne left the Northerners no chance, with a 113-70 success. A breath of fresh air since before this meeting the JDA, antepenultimate (second to last) in the championship, remained on three consecutive defeats in all competitions.
A tidal wave!
The start of the match is a story of “runs”, of series. The JDA concedes the first two points of the game, before moving on to a 9-0 in its favor. But the Northerners quickly got up, caught up and then overtook the Jeanne (9-10, 4th). Dominated, Gavin Ware takes a blower from Laurent Legname. The JDA finished this first act better, even if the duel remained extremely close (25-18, 10th).
Jeanne widens the gap from the start of the second quarter. With a devastating three points, David Holston causes a timeout for Gravelines (40-26, 14th). The Northerners are taking to the water, or the JDA continues to take off, depending on your point of view: +23, maximum gap so far (54-31, 18th). Ilias Kamardine produced a high-level first half (19 points, 100% from three points). The JDA largely dominates its subject at the break (60-37, 20th).
The passage to the locker room changes nothing, on the contrary, the JDA continues to drive the point home (82-43, 26th). Gravelines-Dunkerque, for whom the mass seems to have been said for a long time already, catches the tide and sees Dijon reach the 100 points mark (100-57, 36th). The end of the game is unbridled, the hopeful players take part in the party, Kamardine (28 points in total) sprinkles from afar, and the Palace can celebrate this return to the surface in a complicated start to the season.
Laurent Legname: “We must continue on this path, I hope we will continue on this path”
On the microphone after the meeting, JDA Dijon coach, Laurent Legname, was very satisfied: “All victories are good to take, I'm happy for the players who have been working well since the start of the season. Tonight, even though we were reduced, we showed other values. Commitment, more communication, aggression. When there are these ingredients, we obviously defend better And when we defend better we have more possibilities of having easy baskets. We took the match in the right direction. was serious until the end Now it doesn't. Only one match left. We're not in a position where we can get excited but we have to continue on this path, I hope we can continue on this path.”
The Dijon coach also spoke of the restructuring of the squad, with the arrival of Phil Booth, a few weeks after the return of Gregor Hrovat. Laurent Legname spoke about the situation of Kyler Edwards and Joshua Obiesie, who are expected to leave the club very soon: “Sportingly, for me, it's over. I want to thank them, they were professional until the end. It's not only their fault, if we're here, it's everyone's fault the world, not just them. But you know what it is, it's business, when we decide to make adjustments, inevitably players have to leave. I explained to them face to face. I wish them well. continuation, they are young players, they have qualities, perhaps not complementary and adapted with those of others. I hope that they will find a new club and I wish them the best for the future..
Joan deprived of several players
Laurent Legname had to put together a team with several absentees: Robin Ducoté and Gregor Hrovat (injured), Christian Sengfelder (back from selection), Kyler Edwards and Joshua Obiesie, the latter two being in the process of leaving following the remodeling of the workforce. The latest recruit to date, point guard Phil Boothwas not qualified. He should make his debut in the Dijon jersey this weekend in Nanterre.
The hopefuls Marius Balanca (20 years old), Bastien Rieber (19 years old), Mervyn Muamba (19 years old) took the opportunity to play a few minutes and stand out.
