The plush collection and the green hats on the players’ heads at the team presentation were misleading. The Christmas spirit quickly deserted Ekinox on Saturday night to make way for forty minutes of trenches between Bourg-en-Bresse and Paris Basketball. A battle won by JL with four seconds left on an assassin 3-point shot by Mike Isaiah (83-81). The Canadian interior brings his team back to second place in the Championship, on equal points with Parisians and Villeurbanne.
Locomotives of the Betclic Élite in Eurocup (17 wins in 20 matches between them), the two protagonists of the evening confirm above all their status as number 1 candidates to disrupt the dual domination of Asvel and Monaco erected since 2019.
Like so many other teams, JL first tasted the Parisian recipe, imported from Bonn, based on fast electrified play by dynamo guard T.J. Shorts (17 points, 5 assists). On their way to a night with 19 turnovers, Bourg gave away the baton and conceded a 10-0 burst in the second quarter (from 20-20 to 20-30).
“At half-time, we knew we hadn’t really ‘matched’ even though we were still in the fight. The coach kept telling us to stop the counter-attacks and to be physically present,” said international pivot Bodian Massa (9 points).
Led, JL eventually pounded the Achilles’ heel of Paris: offensive rebounding (9 picks, 5 conceded). To the fury of Tuomas Iisalo, his players left two easy baskets after a missed Burgian free throw. The Finnish coach ended up brandishing his fist in rage as he watched Bandja Sy blocked by the hoop and Bryce Brown grab the ball to put Bourg ahead of a 3-point shot (62-60, 32nd).
Already boiling – the stands of Ekinox growled at every muscular defense by a Parisian – the end of the match became volcanic. The refereeing trio began a distribution of technical fouls, for JL coach Frédéric Fauthoux, for his guard Jeremy Morgan and then for Paris captain Michael Kessens.
“We had fantastic solidarity,” saluted Fauthoux. Shorts and Nadir Hifi (13 points) put in some big shots for Paris, but we found some good shots by passing the ball too.” Zaccharie Risacher (7 points), sick but aligned, found the mark behind the arc (80-81, 39th) to complete an evening started with the presentation of the All-Star jersey by his father Stéphane, Olympic vice-champion in 2000 with the French team.
“It was a great advertisement for French basketball.”
Tuomas Iisalo, Paris coach.
The other representative of JL in the All-Star Game, on December 30, Isiaha Mike (14 points) finished igniting Ekinox. In a few seconds, he planted the decisive three-point dagger before offering suffocating defense on Hifi to provoke the turnover synonymous with victory.
“It was a great advertisement for French basketball. There were a lot of changes in leadership, but it ends with Bourg on top. We pay for our pathetic presence on the rebound and our turnovers,” acknowledged Iisalo who sees his troops leaving with only one win from their 100% top 4 trilogy of Betclic Élite against Monaco (62-84), Asvel (92-86) and JL.
Behind the Roca Team – “on another planet” according to the former Bonn coach – the three contenders are tied for second place. The tense first game between Bourg and Paris could, itself, have some offspring in the spring with potential reunions in the Betclic Élite playoffs or even in the Eurocup.
