Bourg-en-Bresse beats Monaco 88 to 63

Bourg-en-Bresse is known for its chickens, Monaco for its princesses and billionaires… Two cities, two cultures, which clashed Sunday, November 7 on the floor of the Ekinox in the French elite basketball championship. On the one hand, JL Bourg, its modest budget (6 million euros), its training center and its values ​​(sharing, getting involved, supporting). On the other, AS Monaco Basket, its record (a Eurocup won last season), its stars and their record salaries.

“AS Monaco Basket is a juggernaut. The formula is signed by Pape-Philippe Amagou, quadruple French basketball champion and consultant for France 3 Régions. “It is an invincible armada, a contender for the title, which has offered itself a workforce to make the double championship of France / Euroleague”. And, in fact, the “Roca Team”, as it is nicknamed on the Rock, caused a sensation in the offseason by doubling its workforce and its budget: the latter went from 7.5 to more than 14 million euros. (+ 87%). Even more strikingly, the wage bill increased by 150%. The president of AS Monaco, Ukrainian businessman Sergey Dyadechko, notably offered the services of the American Mike James, who now receives the biggest salary ever paid in the French championship (900,000 to 1 , 4 million euros for the season according to estimates). Other luxury recruits, the Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas, the American Will Thomas or the French Léo Westermann.

Bourg-en-Bresse’s development plan is much more modest. The club increased its budget by 4% to 6.4 million euros, and its main recruits arrived from… Dijon: it is the new coach Laurent Legname and playmaker Axel Julien. Above all, JL Bourg prefers to invest in its training center and has created the first school of rear leader in France.

Bourg / Monaco. Two cities – the prefecture of the Ain department on one side, a city-state on the other – two cultures. And a beautiful opposition of style for the 7th day of the French elite basketball championship this Sunday, November 7.

From the height of his 2.07 m, the pivot of AS Monaco, Jerry Boutsiélé, tries to be lucid: “It’s a trap match. We know that we are eagerly awaited by all the teams. We must not relax ”. It must be said that, in just over a month, the Roca Team has already played 13 matches, 7 in the Euroleague and 6 in the French league. High intensity encounters against formidable opponents, such as Barça or CSKA Moscow in the European Cup or Dijon and Paris in Betclic Elite. “We can not complain, we are there to play both competitions thoroughly,” said winger Yakuba Ouattara. And it is true that, with two to three sizes in each position, the Monegasque coach Zvezdan Mitrovic has the means to make rotations. “I’m especially looking forward to seeing Mike James at work,” smiles Pape-Philippe Amagou. “He is known for his bad character but he is a top player, we will see if he regains his status as a leader and a big scorer”.

JL Bourg, it has only 5 modest Americans in its pro workforce. The team is mainly made up of French people, even pure local products, like the young leader Hugo Benitez, from the club’s school. The start of the championship was promising, with a victory over Strasbourg 65 to 57 on October 9. But since then, the Bressans have not won, neither in the championship, nor in the Eurocup. “It takes time for the mayonnaise to set,” said Pape-Philippe Amagou. “It’s true that Bourg alternates the good and the bad, especially in the offensive sector. But the integration of new players is going slowly and the group is progressing ”. And, indeed, Bourg returned to victory this week against the Greeks of Patras in the Eurocup, the first of the season in this competition.

The replay will be online for 30 days