Unable to present eight valid players against the Turkish team, the Parisian club requested the postponement of the meeting.
“It’s the hardest week of the season… And I already said it thinking that we would be in good health! Imagine being sick…” Signed Tiago Splitter, after Paris Basketball’s defeat against Real Madrid (85-96), Tuesday, at the Adidas Arena, during the 16th day of the Euroleague. And the Brazilian coach of the Parisian team added, regarding possible returns of players with a view to PBB-Fenerbahçe, this Thursday (8:30 p.m.), at the Adidas Arena: “I don’t know. I hope…I can only pray”. Prayers will not have been enough. “The match of the 17th day between Paris Basketball and Fenerbahçe was suspended due to the impossibility for Paris Basketball to have a minimum of eight players registered on the authorization list and fit to play due to injury or of an illness”we announced in a press release.
On Tuesday, the capital club already had to do without its top scorer, US leader TJ Shorts, third best scorer in the competition (19.3 pts/match), second passer (7.9/match) and November MVP, but also Yakuba Ouattara, Michael Kessens and Enzo Shahrvin. Announced uncertain before the game, Mikael Jantunen only played eight minutes. All this while Daulton Hommes has not yet been able to make its debut in its new colors since the start of the season. With the latter, Paris has 15 players under contract. More than half are unavailable this Thursday.
Created in 2018 and promoted to Betclic Elite in 2021, Paris Basketball won its first major trophies last season, notably the Eurocup, which gave it the right to participate in the Euroleague for the first time. Tiago Splitter’s players have achieved feats so far, including a series of 10 consecutive victories which has allowed them to take the lead in the standings. They currently appear in second place with 11 wins and five defeats after two defeats, the same record as leader Monaco and one victory more than Olympiakos, Kaunas, Bayern and Fenerbahçe, which remains on two huge slaps in the Euroleague.
The calendar puzzle
The authorities “will evaluate with the teams concerned the best possible options to reschedule the match”we specify. It won’t be easy, as the schedule is so dense. The Parisians are expected at the LDLC Arena on Sunday, to face Asvel, before hosting Limoges on Monday.
“It wasn’t easy already because we learned of certain packages at the last minute. We found out this morning for some, others this afternoon, some left in the middle of the matchreported Léo Cavalière, Tuesday evening. From there, it’s a bit complicated… And then we hadn’t yet experienced this, the fact of having to do without so many major players. We all tried to move up a notch but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”. Author of 30 points, the German world champion Maodo Lo, for example, raised the cursor. “Yes… but we lost. It’s more important to win the matches. I hope the next match will be better. (…) We advance game by game, we try to refocus each time, moving forward with the mentality of the outsider”he emphasized. A too diminished outsider this time.
