Before the round of 16 match of the French basketball cup against Chartres this Tuesday evening (8 p.m.) in Beaublanc, Massimo Cancellieri is well placed not to approach it lightly. He has trained enough in the Italian 2nd Division to know that a team at a lower level has absolutely nothing to lose in this kind of match, and can be dangerous. And anyway, after the disappointment of last Friday’s game lost at Levallois, he expects his players to continue to improve as a team.
Make progress with every game
“I want us to show that we can make progress in each of our games. Just a small step, but a step forward, not back. This is what I expect. It’s going to be tough for a lot of reasons. Because it’s close to Friday’s game, because we were traveling, we drove 7 hours, because we are training hard and I’m putting pressure on us to be better . It won’t be an easy game. Not just for them but also for us“alert the Italian technician.
A team that leaves an Elite formation in the previous round, you can only respect it
To finish convincing himself, Captain Nicolas Lang recalls a simple thing. If Chartres is a 3rd division formation, she knocked down an Elite team in the previous round. “We have been warned. They beat Portel in the previous round. It’s not like they’ve beaten an N3 team. A team that leaves an Elite formation in the previous round, you can only respect it and take it very seriously. And at home, there is an additional requirement. Especially since tactically, their coach tries a lot of things“warns the sniper and captain Limougeaud.
Chartres, a team that knows how to thwart the opponent
This obviously did not escape the Limoges CSP coach Massimo Cancellieri. “They play well. Their interiors are very good. Their rears are shooters. They are very tactical. They are trying to make you play really badly. You have to be very smart to play simple, to share the ball no matter what. We will have to set a very high tempo, run, move the ball. You cannot be static because they are very tactically prepared. If you are not ready it can be a problem“considers the Italian coach.
We come to have fun but we don’t come to get our butt kicked either
It is true that the Chartres coach does not come as an expiatory victim to Beaublanc, even if in the eyes of Sébastien Lambert, this match against the CSP is only a bonus. “We are relaxed, happy to be there and to come and represent our team and the club. It is a small gift for us to come to a mythical place. Even if it means playing outside, for a basketball player, playing Beaublanc is something special“rejoices the one whose team is currently 3rd in Pool B in NM1 behind Caen and Mulhouse with a record of 8 wins and 4 losses.
“We will try but we have no more ambition than that. We come to have fun but we don’t come to get our butt kicked either. The little luck we have, we will try to play them thoroughly and already try to outwit the opponent. To bring them on a pace that can suit us“anticipates the coach of Chartres. The Limougeauds have been warned. They will have to be as serious as in the previous round in Nantes so as not to let their opponents believe in the feat.
(match to be lived in full this Tuesday from 8 p.m. on France Bleu Limousin and francebleu.fr)