Basketball: fatal throws for Elan Béarnais in Monaco
At 77 everywhere at the start of the last minute, when Vitalis Chikoko showed up on the free throw line, he was no longer…
At 77 everywhere at the start of the last minute, when Vitalis Chikoko appeared on the free throw line, there was no longer any question of comparing the budgets of the two teams, almost five times higher for the Roca Team, but good to realize that the Palois, perfectly recovered from the 13-0 which could have weighed them down from the bottom from the middle of the first quarter, found themselves in a dream position to create an authentic feat on the floor of the co-leader of the championship and especially to the Euroleague!
Alas, the left wrist of Vitalis Chikoko, yet ultra-reliable for the previous 39 minutes, twisted at the worst of times. A zero out of two on the line that Michael Stockton, with more than 80% success in the same exercise, could have caught up to 9 seconds from the last buzzer with a single point behind (78-77). Once again, the curse struck, the first throw slid over the hoop, the second took the same path and all of a sudden, the Béarnaise mines darkened, the bench sat down, like if the hope of striking a huge blow and chaining a fourth victory, was supposed to have flown away.
“In basketball, we see totally improbable ends of matches, it was one with his shots missed by Pau at the end, but it’s something that happens to all teams”, breathed Sasa Obradovic, relieved winning coach by the outcome of the debates which save themselves a real beginning of crisis after the soapy second half last Thursday at Partizan.
No last shot
In short, not enough to console the Béarnais who represent Gaston-Médecin with a painful defeat to comment on but a dynamic in the game still intact. “My feelings are mixed, between big disappointment and satisfaction,” admitted Landing Sané.
But hot, resumed the interior author of a beautiful project before the break (10 points), “it’s more disappointment that wins because we gave ourselves every chance to win. Missing shots are things that happen against a worn out team. When you are in a position to win, you have to be even more precise, beyond the throws, you also lack lucidity. The players missed today, it’s unfortunate for us, but here we are, behind we could still do something and we lost that last ball, that’s the most frustrating thing, not having had the opportunity to take that last shot. »
Same tone in the hot proposals of Eric Bartecheky, whose zone defense, delivered at the end of December, continues to spread very good vibes. Monaco, despite the talents that abound in all its lines, lost 16 balls, without being much happier at three points (7 out of 25) to explode this type of viscous collective defense at will when the five players operate as one man .
“Overall, we disturb them in defense, it’s very good. But everything is not perfect, we lose balls, we leave James too much freedom, they take 16 offensive rebounds from us… We can’t stop everything, ”admits the Elan coach, fatalistic. And who, despite the bitterness left by his four limited failures on the throwing line, considers “satisfying to have bothered them for so long, to have remained in contact all game”. We had come there without pressure, it was in itself the achievement of a defeat, but being so close to the end without materializing… That’s how it is, let’s keep the positive and move on”, positive the one who was about to get back on the bus for a long night on the bus with a certainly very long sleep to arrive.
The last four lost
The rest takes the form of a trip to Blois next Sunday, the last of the first leg, which this time will not count for a bonus but to gain a little height in a second half of the classification which is always struggling to carafe. A pivotal confrontation as Elan no longer appreciates them, like the damaging setbacks suffered against Paris and Le Portel at home, or at Fos in early December.
The Bearnais, 14aremust keep the four losses of the weekend of the four formations which follow them in the classification (Nancy, Le Portel, Blois, Fos).
In Blois, the troop of Eric Bartecheky, certainly reinforced by a rear by then, will finally have the opportunity to drive out the demons which haunt it against direct rivals.