the SQBB and “its warrior spirit” return to the Champions League after 33 years of absence

This Tuesday, October 1, Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball (SQBB) faces Kolossos de Rhodes in the first group match of the Champions Basketball League. Saint-Quentin had not played a European Cup match since 1991 against Panathinaikos. José Ruiz, the coach at the time, remembers this memorable moment.

33 years old. It’s been 33 years that Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball (SQBB) had not played a European Cup match. The last ones date back to October 2 and 9, 1991. At the time, Saint-Quentin was trying to win the Korac Cup in a back-and-forth match against a European colossus, le Panathinaikos.

“It remains one of the memories that struck me first because it was the first big event. And it was a time when we were passionate about technique, strategy, operation and group dynamics to find a solution to a large“, remembers José Ruiz, SQBB coach in 1991.

“It was the discovery of this somewhat privileged world, of a very, very high level. Panathinaikos is still not just anything, even if they started. But they started with other weapons than us“, he emphasizes.

The first leg went like a dream. Saint-Quentin leads the debates and will be up to 15 points ahead. The Greeks cannot find the key. “IThey took us a little high” more “we managed to stay in the match“, observe José Ruiz.

The former coach remembers this legendary match. “When we arrive at the end of the match, the whole team is focused, attentive and already very happy to have achieved the feat of maintaining a footing in a match like that“, he says.

The SQBB then attempts what is called “a double box“and what José Ruiz describes as”strategic poker move“. “It’s a defense in which we serve some people much more than othershe explains. I think that was unexpected for them and they completely foiled in the last minutes only to die in a defeat that they absolutely did not expect.“, analyzes the former coach.

On the stands side, the public is then in tune with their team. The Palais des Sports is packed. This unique atmosphere is the soul of the club. “It’s a positive energy. I think the players perceive this energy. And when they feel supported, when they feel that things are expected of them, they sublimate themselves and I think that is what is happening in Saint-Quentin and it continues today“, estimates José Ruiz.

On October 2, 1991, Saint-Quentin won by 12 points. The victory is historic and encouraging before the return match. But in Greece, the Odyssey turns into a nightmare. In a hostile atmosphere, the SQBB held on but, a few seconds before the end of the match, Panathinaikos nibbled away the few points it needed to qualify. Final score: 77-52. Athens won by 15 points. Saint-Quentin is eliminated.

“We were about to surprise them“, points out José Ruiz. At the end of the match, something happened”a little lunar“according to him.”There was enormous pressure on the referees. […] It was very tense. The victory could have been on our side, but as soon as the opposing team moved to a point in front, the public flooded the field, the match was stopped before the end. And at the time, our international institutions were perhaps not what they are today.“ For José Luiz, this defeat is “a big regret” at the moment.

When we sweat drops, when we have pain, when we work and when we win, we are rewarded. When victory escapes you like that, frustration cannot be prevented

José Ruiz, SQBB coach in 1991

More than three decades later, the SQBB has managed to keep “a warrior spirit.“And José Ruiz believes in this team and in Julien Mahé,”a very talented young coach“. Stay at the SQBB at write another ending to this new page in the club’s history.