Stéphane Eberlin is not “not the funniest guy” of the earth, nor of French basketball, it is he himself who says it and recognizes it. It’s true, you have to get up early or be patient to make people laugh or simply gain the trust of the 48-year-old Alsatian, who has long remained on his guard since his arrival in Caen in the summer of 2022.
The coach did not leave his native Alsace, where his wife and children still live, to make Normandy laugh. He was there to bring Caen BC back to Pro B, which he managed to do last spring. And he stayed there to install it in the division, which seems to be going very well at the dawn of a first Norman derby against Rouen. Thursday noon, after the training session, Stéphane Eberlin delivered like never before since his arrival in Caen.
Stéphane, in the space of 15 days, Caen BC has just acquired Saint-Chamond, Nantes, Boulazac and Pau. What inspires you?
I think we reap the fruits of what we sow. We have to remember that we started with a strong backbone from last season. We just had to get used to the Pro B level. Apart from Blois, where we didn’t exist (117-80), we competed with everyone. Over the last 15 days, we have gained consistency, calm and offensive control. All this means that we manage our matches better. It’s a very good series, the goal now is to continue it.
READ ALSO. Stéphane Eberlin after Pau: “It’s a big performance, but we have to stay humble”
By keeping eight climbers, you hoped to leave one step ahead of the competition and that these players would return your confidence. Bets already successful…
We trusted them and today, they are paying us back. We didn’t imagine finding ourselves at 7-4 after eleven days. It’s very good but it’s today’s photo and we know that things go very quickly in this championship. You lose 3 matches and immediately the dynamic changes. What is needed is to redouble our efforts. If we give ourselves the means, we will have a great season. From the moment we believe ourselves to be more beautiful than we are, when we let our guard down, we will not move on.
“I learned that there aren’t many good times in a career”
Which match was the trigger for you?
We learned real lessons from the Antibes match (73-79), where we were very frustrated, very angry afterwards. We had a very good defensive match but it was in attack that we lost track in 2e half-time, practicing basketball hurray every other attack. In Pro B, you have to control things, be calm. It is this awareness that allowed us to be more in control in attack. For me, it was from Antibes that we changed the way we managed matches.
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