It is diminished that the JDA Dijon appeared in front of its public to face ASVEL, which did not seem to be sufficiently wary of the injured beast. Result, revenge victory of the locals (82 to 75).
Two teams cut off by several players faced off this Saturday evening, as part of the 22nd day of Betclic Elite, for a match that looked like a shock despite everything. On the one hand, the JDA Dijon which had to do without its winger Chase Simon, affected in the adductor and its pivot Gavin Ware, positive for Covid. On the other, ASVEL which, even with the absence of Elie Okobo (shoulder), Charles Kahudi (knee), Chris Jones (sick) and Raymar Morgan (recovery), appeared on the floor of the Palais des Sports in Dijon with a larger workforce on paper. But on the side of the Dijon players, the desire for revenge made us forget this imbalance, those who remained, against this same opponent, on defeats in the final of the French championship, in the final of the Coupe de France, as well as on a setback. at the start of the season (49 to 73).
After a great first quarter, won with a score of 27 to 15, Dijon took the lead. But the Lyon-Villeurbanne players did not let themselves go, returning to -5 at the break (43 to 38). Upon returning from the locker room, TJ Parker’s men continued their momentum, until they were 4 points ahead. But it was counting on a Kelly-Holston-Alingue trio (28 points to 8 of 13 on shots for 24 rating for the first, 20 points and 12 assists for 19 rating for the second and 11 points and 10 rebounds for 22 evaluation for the third) which allowed the JDA Dijon to go back in front and to get this significant victory. Something to annoy the Rhone coach, who spoke after the match:
“What frustrates me the most is that Dijon plays with seven and we have a lot more… We start the third quarter very well and we take the water as soon as we bring in the rotations… We were back, we were good in what we wanted, we were good defensively, we take a burst and behind that does not move. If Chris Jones is there, it’s not the same, but he was sick. We’re picking up Okobo and Jones next week. […] We tried to attack David Holston, but he is an intelligent player…”
TJ Parker, coach of ASVEL (comment collected by Le Bien Public)
In the end, ASVEL let Boulogne-Levallois escape the standings, while JDA Dijon moved to fourth place in the championship. A result that fully satisfies Nenad Markovic, who was still in doubt before the match:
“I was really hoping to be able to count on a full roster against a Euroleague team, in a full hall and with a good atmosphere, to see if we could compete in this type of match. My enthusiasm faltered a bit when I found out Gavin was positive and Chase probably wouldn’t play. But this Saturday, I said to myself ok, maybe they would be more relaxed opposite because we were not with ten players, and if you put the energy from the start… In this kind of match, it is often a question of momentum. We had the first, and the second was the most important. When they started to score easily and led by four points, we didn’t give up. We stayed in contact before taking the lead: by 2, 4, 6, 8 points… They couldn’t stop us. It was a fantastic game and a fantastic victory for us. »
Nenad Markovic, coach of the JDA Dijon (comment collected by Le Bien Public)
Photo : Nenad Markovic (Basketball Champions League)
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