Limoges CSP won a precious success last Saturday on the Portel floor. A victory that could be described as historic. If the Portel is not the most upscale club in the championship and its fight every year to stay in the elite, it is the whole 1st time that Limoges CSP wins at Portelois since the Nordists play in the 1st division. This gives value and relief to the result acquired on Saturday by the players of Massimo Cancellieri. The Italian coach who did not hesitate to set up a zone defense throughout the match. A strategy that the assistant coach of Portel Arnaud Ricoux did not expect.
An area much better executed than in Strasbourg
“We expected to have a defensive team in front since Limoges is currently the best defense in the championship so we were prepared for that. But we weren’t prepared to have an area since it’s the first time this season that they’ve done it.” ventured Eric Girard’s assistant in a post-match press conference. Which is totally false! This raises questions about how Portel prepared for this match. Zone defenses, Limoges uses them virtually every game to varying degrees. the CSP coach was very happy with the way his players defended in this way because it was much better than in the matches of recent weeks in Bourg-en-Bresse or Strasbourg.
We kept our defensive aggressiveness even if we were in the zone
“We use it regularly. And I liked that we were able to play in the zone. It’s one thing to play in the zone, it’s another thing to play in the zone aggressively like on Saturday. The kids, the guys have been very good at doing it. We kept our defensive aggression even though we were in the zone. In Strasbourg, it was the opposite. We were passive. I believe this is a step forward in this area” believes Massimo Cancellieri. If Limoges has mastered his subject, it is also because most players brought like Ingus Jakovics’ hot shot when things started to get complicated or Horace Spencer’s precious match under the panels.
The captain proud of his partners
“It hasn’t always been pretty but everyone has contributed. Whether it’s Tim who starts the match very well in terms of skill, then Ingus. Hugo was good in his role as a Swiss army knife throughout the match. Pinkins who has been better for a few games. Grismay had faults. It was complicated for him. But everyone brought and was in his role“said captain Nicolas Lang after the match. A group that continues to make their coach happy Massimo Cancellieri.
They give their all when they play basketball
“The group that I train, I wish it to all the coaches. Because okay, he’s not super talented. But they give everything when they play basketball. And during the week, it’s the same thing. When the energy is there, the game plan goes after. I really appreciated what they did on Saturday. They had the focus to win” appreciated Massimo Cancellieri in a Portel press room for once spared the noise of the brass band porteloise who this time had no victory to celebrate.