This Saturday (8 p.m.) in La Rochelle, the Espoirs de Basket Landes will present themselves without their leader and captain, Théa Héléno, seriously injured in the knee in the last minutes of the match which opposed them to Bourges last weekend. More than the defeat (63-77), conceded in the fourth quarter while Vincent Joly's players held their own against Berruyères, it is the absence of its leader which concerns the coach: “Théa's injury is a a real blow for her, for her Basketball project but also for the team. It will take a common effort from all players to compensate for her contribution on and off the field. »
Make up for the absence of the captain
Once again, the staff will have to draw on the young guard of coach Jean-Michel Moré's U18s (“who have shown that they can be better than temporary workers”). Despite the defeat, the U20s still remain in the race for qualification for the Final Four Espoirs after a match which “satisfies” the coach “in its content. We have been equal for a long time and I think we could do even better with a little external skill.”
With a seventh victory against Saumur (63-60) in eight matches in NF2, the Landaises are still runners-up to Lamboisières when it comes to facing a two-faced Stade Rochelais (4V-4D): “Depending on the players lined up, it's a surprise so we're going to focus on ourselves and get back to our development objectives. Which will not stop us from trying to win,” concludes, ambitiously, Vincent Joly.
Stade Rochelais (7th/12 pts) – Basket Landes Espoirs (2nd/15 pts)
Lieu La Rochelle. Hourly This Saturday, at 8 p.m. Referees MM. Cazenave and Charruyer.
BASKETBALL LANDES ESPOIRS The group Darrieutort, Dosso, Mercier, Diallo, Chemin, Uriarte, Dechanoz, Brouste, Duportal, Caille-Allah-Rabaye, N'Diaye, Lambert.
