Finally !
Forced rest since March due to the pandemic, the French Championship resumes its rights this Wednesday evening with two games advanced to the 2nd day: Boulogne-Levallois moves at 7 p.m. in Monaco for a clash between title contenders and Nanterre welcomes Bourg at 8 p.m.
Beginning with meetings on the second day is the symbol of a season that promises to be chaotic and uncertain due to the health crisis.
The Metropolitans want to play spoilers
The sudden departures of President Boris Diaw and coach Fred Fauthoux - who left to breathe the air of the Euroleague at Asvel - in the space of a few days last spring obviously did not dampen Boulogne's appetite -Levallois.
With an announced budget of 7.4 million € (just behind the 11.8 million € of Asvel), the Metropolitans do not hide their ambitions to play the scarecrows and win a title.
To succeed Fauthoux on the bench, the club recruited for two seasons the Slovenian Jure Zdovc, European champion in 2013 with Limoges and renowned coach on the European scene.
He will be at the helm of a group that already knows each other with 6 players already present last year.
Among the flagship recruits, we can note the arrival of Bosnian Miralem Halilovic (ex Orléans, top scorer for Jeep Elite last season) - injured, he will be absent for at least 6 weeks - and French international winger Lahaou Konaté.
"We will have a team to fight against the best," confided in July the former Nanterrien who played last season in Spain.
We are competitors so we hope to win titles.
We know that Asvel has a great project but that of Boulogne-Levallois is also ambitious with a new venue soon (by 2023) and the desire to play in the Euroleague.
"
‼ ️ GAME-DAYYYYYY‼ ️
Here we are!
After 199 days, Nanterre 92 is back on the floor for an OFFICIAL MATCH 💚🏀
See you tonight, it will be beautiful, it will be great, it will be MAGNIFICENT 😍 # WeAreJSF pic.twitter.com/yAI7gZyQXQ
- Nanterre 92 (@ Nanterre92) September 23, 2020
Nanterre goes into the unknown
He does not speak of the impatience to find the floors or the adrenaline of competitions.
A few hours before the resumption of the season, Pascal Donnadieu does not hide his mistrust, his fears and his “anxiety not to be ready” and a serious problem of equity before starting the championship.
The Nanterre coach was not spared from the worries during the preparation.
Of the eight games on the program, the club has only been able to play two due to positive cases in its ranks or those of its opponents.
A few days ago Nanterre experienced another hard blow with the injury for the entire season of winger Lucas Dussoulier, "our best player in our first preparation match" dixit Donnadieu.
“We go into the unknown, we have no benchmarks, continues the coach.
We chained the bad scenarios.
We cannot be ready in terms of the game. There were such differences in the preparations.
Bourg, for example, was able to play his eight preparation matches… Some players only have one or two collective training sessions.
”In these conditions, it is difficult to assess the quality of the group and its potential despite a clever recruitment.
The club, whose budget is in decline and is around € 4.4 million (13th out of 18 in Jeep Elite), has signed two former members of the house - the leader Chris Warren, champion of France in 2013, and the interior Brian Conklin - and leader Dwight Buycks, MVP of the championship in 2013. Captain Isaïa Cordinier, one of the best French last season, will be keen to confirm his rise to power.
Asvel wants to recover its title
Deprived of a double that stretched out its arms to him last season because of the stoppage of the championship, Asvel seems built to live a good season.
The club of Tony Parker, champion of France 2018, is the big favorite to his own succession.
"On paper, this is the strongest workforce seen in France for twenty to twenty-five years," said Laurent Legname, Dijon coach, after a preparation match against Asvel.
The collective is indeed impressive, built for the intense contests of the Euroleague.
First - and by far - budget (11.8 M €) and payroll (3.6 M €) of Jeep Elite, Asvel has expanded its group both in quantity (15 pro players) and as.
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The number of French internationals (7 with notably the leader Antoine Diot, the winger Paul Lacombe, the interior Guerschon Yabusele or the giant Moustapha Fall and its 2.18 m) would almost make it a French team twice.
Double NBA champion with Miami and LeBron James in 2012 and 2013, Norris Cole left the Riviera and Monaco to join this war machine.
Boss Tony Parker has entrusted the reins to his younger brother TJ who will be supported by Fred Fauthoux.
Asvel's main opponents in its race for a 20th national crown are Monaco - including coach Zvezdan Mitrovic, sacked by ... Asvel last spring, will be thirsty for revenge - Dijon, a surprise team last season, and Boulogne-Levallois.
Basketball finally accessible to all
It's a first !
For the first time in its history, the French Championship will be accessible to all fans of the big orange ball.
Free.
After the confidential years on Canal +, Ma Chaîne Sport or RMC Sport, it will no longer be necessary to pay a subscription to see your favorite team.
While access to theaters promises to be complicated and drastic due to the health crisis, the Basketball League has given up on the 10 million TV rights that it has been collecting for five years from SFR to offer the show to the greatest number.
The L'Equipe channel will broadcast one flagship match per day - most often reserved for the Monday evening box at 9 p.m. with Christophe Denis (ex coach of Paris-Levallois) for comments - and another will be on the media website on Saturday.
To complete the broadcast, the League also announced on Tuesday an agreement with the "Sport in France" channel, accessible free of charge on all boxes.
One meeting of Jeep Elite and one of Pro B will be broadcast in clear each week.
At the same time, the LNB offers an OTT offer (
acronym of Over-the-top quit designates the content offered by means of an Internet connection
), which will be available from October 1, 2020, on the LNB.TV platform.
All matches will benefit from commentary and will also be visible in replay.
For the League, this exposure must attract new partners and compensate for the loss of income related to TV rights.
The #LNB is back 💥 # JeepELITE #PROB pic.twitter.com/zXqXrQBwdy
- LNB (@LNBofficiel) September 20, 2020
A recovery under close surveillance, with several unknowns
The cancellation of the All Star Game is further proof that the season which begins this Wednesday will be placed under the threat of Covid.
Since the start of preparations, all clubs have been impacted, to varying degrees.
It's hard to imagine that the positive tests disappear with the start of the season.
The LNB therefore considered several scenarios to carry out the championship and designate a successor to Asvel, champion in 2019. The priority is to finish the regular season, even if it means giving up the playoffs.
The 34 days of the regular season must end before the deadline of June 15.
If this is not the case, a ranking mechanism established on the results of recent seasons will then be put in place to define a final ranking.
Each week, the teams will have to perform tests.
If two positive cases are detected among the players of a team, or three among the delegation, the newly created health committee will have to rule on a possible postponement of the meeting.
