Eurocup: Paris-Bourg-en-Bresse in the final, the clash of the two worlds of French basketball
Never have two French men’s clubs found themselves in the final of a European Basketball Cup. Bourges and Valenciennes, opponents in the Women’s Euroleague in 2001, now have successors. Tuesday April 9, Paris Basketball hosts the Secular Youth of Bourg-en-Bresse for the first round of the Eurocup title, the second level of continental competitions. The match between two opposing teams makes this best-of-three clash even more exciting (return match on April 12, possible match on April 15).
Between Paris and Bourg, “These are two completely different stories.” summarizes Simon Darnauzan, consultant for the Skweek channel, broadcaster of the Eurocup, and former professional player. On the one hand, the club from the capital, brand new or almost on the scale of French basketball and with meteoric rise . On the other, the JL Bourg, centuries old (founded in 1910) and with methodical progression. Through this face-to-face, it is the two faces of men’s professional basketball which confront each other in success: that of ” nouveau riche” of the orange ball, facing “steeple basketball”.
Paris Basketball proudly displays its youth on its logo, and a birth certificate in 2018, led in particular by the American David Kahn, president of the club and former manager in the NBA, on the Minnesota side. To exist, the club paid for its place in the second division by purchasing the Hyères-Toulon license. And to take a step forward among the elite, last summer he used a recipe which had already proven itself by stripping the German club Bonn, winner of the Champions League (third European level), of six players, his coach and three assistants.
The Parisian project did not skimp on the means to take off. Above all, he knew how to combine sporting results and a dusted urban image at high speed, after the numerous failures of a major club in the capital. “It’s always complicated whatever the sport, Paris is differentdeciphers Simon Darnauzan. All of this makes sense in the context of Paris: the show they manage to put on during the matches, this very “showtime” identity… They have targeted their core supporters and it works very well.“
As proof, Paris will have home field advantage in its brand new setting, the Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle and its 8,000 seats, modeled on the model of the NBA arenas and which David Kahn presented has The Team last January like the futurebest basketball hall in Europe“.
