Jean-Baptiste Maille will never be the most beautiful player in the French championship. But it's a safe bet that he doesn't care at all. After all, he's not there for that… Rather to get his opponent out of the match, by inexorably seeking his limits, rather to spread the SIG spirit within his team, rather to defend the lead, rather to bring the extra soul, rather to throw yourself at all the balloons. And if he has not always had easy times recently in Strasbourg, due to a very questionable quality-price ratio last season, the Sarthois deserved a moment of glory like that of the last minute in Dijon this Friday .
Let's rewind. There are 50 seconds left, the score is balanced (89-89) and Dominic Artis tries to play the 3-point hero. Missed. Phil Booth takes the rebound but collapses, JBM plays the garbage and scores (89-91). Next possession, duel of ex-teammates: Phil Booth may have been warned by a whole season spent training against him every day at Rhénus, Jean-Baptiste Maille remains a good defender. So when the Dijon rear tries to overtake him from the left, the former Ditchen manages to always stay in front of him. Forceful passage. A decisive sequence, punctuated five seconds from the final buzzer by the winning free throw (91-94). Curtain.
Five defeats in a row at home in the league for the JDA!
Still diminished by the injuries of Illan Piétrus, Malik Fitts and Brice Dessert, SIG Strasbourg therefore signed a superb operation in the race for the Leaders Cup (7v-6d) by offering itself a second victory in a row on the road after La Rochelle. The second where Jeff Roberson came out of his box: 41 points in total over his eleven previous outings, 41 points in total in his last two matches (23 against Stade Rochelais and 18 in Dijon). Laurent Vila's men above all showed great strength of character to resist the storm Gregor Hrovat (11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter), when the JDA thought they had done the hardest part: overthrowing the match, from -12 to +7 (from 44-56 to 80-73, 35th minute).
This defeat risks particularly hurting the JDA, beaten for the third time in a row in seven days… Laurent Legname spoke of the moment of Phil Booth's lost rebound (“He gets his bras »), will also be able to think back to the disputed sequence on Edon Maxhuni 7 seconds from the end, with a suspicion of returning to the zone, but when we lose a fifth time in a row at home in the championship (last victory at home during his first match against Nancy on October 1), especially after having had the match in hand (+7 five minutes from the end, +3 at 52 seconds against Chalon last Saturday), when we still concede more than 90 points at home, it 'East that the evils are deeper than a simple absence of a whistle. Yes, everything is not to be thrown away, yes, there was heart, but this Dijon team, now 14th, in the current state of things, is only good for holding on.
