After eight editions at Disneyland Paris between 2013 and 2020, two others canceled due to Covid, the Leaders Cup has been on display at the Arena Saint-Étienne Métropole, in Saint-Chamond (Loire), since 2023. This tournament mid-season brings together, for three days, the eight clubs ranked in the first places in the Betclic Elite after the end of the first legs.
All matches are direct elimination, after a full draw, from the quarters to the final.
That's it for the frame.
The posters for the quarter-finals of the #LeadersCup are known 🤩
4⃣ matches to follow on @skweektv and @lachainelequipe 📺🍿 pic.twitter.com/m0DqjoMJei
— LNB (@LNBofficiel) January 13, 2024
Barring any surprises, there is a good chance that we already know the future winner: Monaco.
Reigning French champion, undisputed leader of the championship (21 wins, 2 losses), qualified for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and still in the race for the final phase of the Euroleague, the Monegasque club is the juggernaut of basketball French.
Unless he takes this event without major stakes in the middle of a titanic calendar, it is difficult to see who could oppose his power.
“We want to win everything this season”
With Le Mans, Monaco, triple winner of this competition for Mickey (2016, 2017 and 2019), holds the record for victories.
Even before becoming today's superpower.
“The Leaders Cup is a goal for us in the same way as the Coupe de France.
We are doing a good job at the moment but we have not won anything yet,” warns coach Sasa Obradovic. “We want to win everything this season and we have the means to achieve it,” confirms captain Yakuba Ouattara.
Only downside: the Monegasques do not have an easy draw with a quarter-final against Le Mans this Friday, a possible half against the ambitious Paris Basketball and a possible final against Asvel.
Tony Parker's club is the other big favorite.
Eliminated this Tuesday in the quarter-final of the Coupe de France by Monaco (102-92), he remains the defending champion.
In the middle of a turbulent season with already two coach replacements and a catastrophic run in the Euroleague, Villeurbanne and Nando de Colo will therefore be looking for a double.
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Announced by the latest forecasts as a potential future number 1 pick in the NBA draft, Zaccharie Risacher will be the big attraction of the weekend.
NBA scouts, as they have been doing since the start of the season, will arrive in large numbers in Saint-Chamond to observe the player from Bourg-en-Bresse.
Five days after the inauguration of the Adidas Arena, a month before a Eurocup quarter-final, Paris Basketball is present for the first time at this winter meeting.
This confirms how much he is growing.
Finalist exactly ten years ago but absent since 2020, Nanterre is back to confirm an excellent season (5th in the first leg) in the shadow of a neighbor who is falling (Boulogne-Levallois) and another who is climbing (Paris). Basketball).
The Leaders Cup is the only French trophy missing from Victor Wembanyama's training club.
Before leaving the bench he has occupied since 1987, coach Pascal Donnadieu really wants to win this last Cup.
The program
Friday February 16.
Quarter-finals:
1 p.m.: Bourg en Bresse-Nancy (on Skweek);
3:30 p.m.: ASVEL-Nanterre (on Skweek);
6:30 p.m.: Monaco-Le Mans (on Skweek);
9 p.m.: Paris-Saint-Quentin (on Skweek and La Chaîne L’Équipe).
Saturday February 17.
Semi-finals:
6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Sunday February 18.
Final:
6:30 p.m.