SCABB takes to the track for the first time at home. This Friday evening, the basketball players of the fusion of Saint-Chamond And Andrézieux-Bouthéon face a Pro B ogre, Orleans Loiret Basket (OLB), at 8:30 p.m. at the Arena. After their defeat in the opening of Pro B, SCABB will want to rectify the situation to avoid another setback as they aim to reach the playoffs at the end of the season. Between 2,500 and 3,000 seats have already been sold out of the 4,200 available in the stadium. France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire spoke with the captain, Jonathan Hoyaux.
France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire: How do you feel before this first home game? What’s more, facing a big part of the championship.
Jonathan Hoyaux: OLB, it’s true that it’s a very big team in the championship, but we feel pretty good. And this despite the defeat at the ASA, something that wasn’t particularly planned because it was a match that we controlled almost from start to finish and we had a rather catastrophic fourth quarter. We have our playing identity, we know how to play now and if we can reproduce what we did at the ASA for 40 minutes, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Afterwards, Orléans remains a very good team, but we will still have the support of the public. We are excited to play this first match in the Arena which will be quite full in my opinion.
More generally, is there always this objective displayed in the background of moving up to Pro A?
It’s a goal, but rather in the medium term. The new leaders have arrived so it will take time. The goal is really to finish in the top five or six to make the playoffs. Afterwards, it doesn’t call anything into question given the pre-season. When we see what we offered in this first match, we are capable of playing very good matches, very good sequences. Afterwards, we just have to be more consistent. If we manage to do that, we will be able to glimpse great things.
Do you feel that this year you have a group that is cut out for the playoffs?
Yes, I think clearly. And then the way we play. All the players who arrived this year have already blended well into the existing mold and into the playing identity that the staff has put in place. I’m talking about the way we play. Everyone is pulling in the same direction, so it’s much simpler and we can see that it happened quite quickly over the first three weeks, so it’s a good thing.
How would you define this gaming identity?
It’s clearly aggressiveness all over the court and for 40 minutes with a lot of changes within the team. That is to say, two or three players who come out so that we really have maximum energy in order to annoy the teams in front. And especially against the OLB, we will have to be in the shorts of all the players for 40 minutes and then we don’t let them breathe. It’s a style that is spectacular, it goes fast, there is a lot of possession. Automatically, when there is more possession, there are more points on the scoreboard. I think that’s something that spectators like to see in basketball.
