Toulouse. The TBC must impose itself to keep its distance
> The essential
The Toulouse, 8th with 27 points, have an interest in confirming their victory in the first leg (85-81) if they want to distance themselves from eleventh place (before the match tonight they have a two-point lead), from which, at the end of the first phase, the teams will participate in the play-downs in the spring.
> TBC’s chances of victory
They are not negligible. In the first leg if Mohammad Diop (whose leaders were still looking for a replacement) was present, the TBC was deprived of its interiors Ladji Meite and Cédric André who will be good on the pitch tonight.
He had imposed himself thanks to his courage, his fighting spirit. We saw against Poitiers last week that the truce of the confectioners had made it possible to recharge the accused. So we don’t worry about that side for Toulouse. It is certainly to be expected that Maxence Dadiet, decisive in October with 31 points scored, will be the subject of more defensive marking.
But Samir Meklab, Olivier Yao-Delon and Thibaud Gottin, the proteo player of the TBC, at their top, have the means to compensate for a drop in efficiency of the Ivorian international, who will also have to be careful not to get lost in disputes. unnecessary arbitration.
> Rueil has started 2023 well
The Altoséquanais, who had ended 2022 with an away defeat against a top team (79-72 in Chartres), resumed 2023 with a great victory over another team from the leading quartet (88-85 in Challans ) which they will seek to confirm against the TBC.
They have players in their squad capable of making a difference, like the most consistent of them, Steven Ricard, currently in the top 10 of the best players in the division and stuck in the scoring rankings (16.1 points average per match) between Toulouse’s Maxence Dadiet (5th, 16.4) and Cédric André (7th, 16).
Without forgetting the experienced Tarnais, passed among other elite clubs by Elan Béarnais, Limoges and Boulazac, Jean-Frédéric Morency.