Boiling hot! The Palais des Sports in Dijon vibrated this Friday, May 27 to the rhythm of a very close match between the JDA and the CSP Limoges. The two teams in the race for the semi-finals of the Elite Playoffs fought a real duel neck and neck.
In a room full to bursting, spectators standing pushed their team who snatched the victory 70 to 68 with a decisive basket in the last seconds of play.
It was a heroic battle! -Nenad Markovic, JDA coach
On the sidelines, Dijon coach Nenad Markovic also sweated well:
“I think the worst opponent we could have is Limoges! Because we have small players, they have big ones, that’s their first advantage” he smiled. “Our strategy worked very well in the first leg but the second time we couldn’t surprise them again, at the same time we didn’t have many other options.”
“If someone had said in November that Dijon would play the semi-final, everyone would have thought it crazy. I’m very proud of my players, because they never gave up, we gave up. always beaten, we always showed a desire to improve, to work, to fight, even when things were going badly and I think this match was a heroic battle and I think we deserve this victory, I am very proud of ‘them !”
Asvel or Cholet?
And the semi-final? It will be against Villeurbanne or Cholet. It’s not settled yet. Friday evening, ASVEL avoided elimination by winning 82 to 66. It therefore takes a third match to decide between these two teams and it is played on Sunday May 29 at 7 p.m. Last year, Dijon was beaten in the final by Villeurbanne. Nenad Markovic is therefore demonstrating a cautious optimism:
“We can win the final!” he enthuses. “But not before winning the semi-final. First we’ll rest well and we’ll see who will be our opponent on Sunday. If it’s ASVEL they have the advantage and they’re a very good team but Cholet have shown that they can beat them too. We will try to prepare as best as possible to represent our club and our city as well as possible. It will not be easy because ASVEL are fighting for the title every year, it’s really cultural so it will be tough but we will try to be competitive.”
“Looking back we can be proud of what we have done. Now is the time to push to the next level to see if we can do something better, something extraordinary!”