Paris Basketball surely dreamed of such a debut in the Euroleague. Before hosting Zalgiris Kaunas this Wednesday (8:30 p.m.), they posted a nice series of four victories, including one against Monaco, acquired in particular thanks to their play which made them successful last season.
The Parisians (8es) and their sports director Amara Sy would have “signed with both hands and even both feet” at the beginning of October, before the first Euroleague match in their history, only to find themselves less than a month and a half later with only one success of the lead, which the Lithuanians (6 wins for 2 losses) share with three teams.
“The road is still long”
“We knew that there was the possibility of being competitive, but to almost play the leading roles in this competition, honestly, it's a big surprise for us,” continues Sy, however measured because “it remains a start of the season, the road is still long.”
Les « play-ins » (7e at 10e place) of access to the quarter-finals, after 34 regular season matches, are still a pipe dream, but at least the young Parisian club created in 2018 did not miss its debut in the queen of European competitions, to which he was invited after winning the Eurocup.
Splitter found his feet on the Parisian bench
With the arrival of former San Antonio Brazilian pivot Tiago Splitter on the bench, a coach without any experience as a head coach (he was an assistant in Houston and Brooklyn) but who has shown himself capable of perpetuating the Parisian identity and the game of Iisalo, who leaves no respite for the opponent, discombobulated by the extremely early shots – even if it means experiencing waste – and the all-terrain pressure of the Parisians.
“Most of the players were under contract. They were used to playing and winning in a certain way, so the intelligence was to continue in this way. We did several interviews with coaches and Tiago was the most convincing because it was a game that spoke to him,” says Sy. “We took the gamble of signing him rather than turning to a coach with more experience but who would play much more slowly, with a calm game which does not resemble us at all,” adds the sporting director of a club which, in its quest for public loyalty, wants to offer “a game that moves forward, that pleases, because we must not forget that it is a spectacle”.
Paris takes care of its statistics
This game which reigned over the Eurocup can currently be transposed to the Euroleague: Paris Basketball is the team which attempts the most three-point shots (30.4 on average) and takes the most offensive rebounds (13. 6) per game and is second in interceptions (7.4).
He is always led by his electric duo of point guards TJ Shorts (5e best scorer with 16.4 pts/match on average) and Nadir Hifi (5th best gunner by far, 2.4 winning shots/match), spearheads of a workforce less provided quantitatively in general and qualitatively inside than competition.
A duo who already sowed terror in C2 last season and who, like the club, whose budget (18.8 million euros) is one of the lowest in C1, has so far passed its exam in the upper class .
