From our special correspondent in Nanterre
He was awaited at the turn, both by the restless Nanterrian and Parisian supporters. Rare fact: each of the kops, although rivals, applauded him as he entered. “Juhann! Oh Juhann!” But Juhann, Begarin by name, former Paris Basketball player (2019-2023), did not have the expected impact for Nanterre. Rather, it was another player, Tyson Ward, who attracted all the spotlight. The 26-year-old American winger, 100% successful (!) at the break (6/6) and who finished with 18 points, greatly enabled Paris Basketball to win in the Paris region derby against Nanterre (98 – 67). However, few could have predicted such a gap at kick-off, as both teams have had a superb start to the season (5 wins and 2 defeats on both sides).
In an overheated Maurice-Thorez sports center, with cries of “Nanterriens! Nanterrians!” or other “Let’s go Paris!” in the imposing visitors’ park, all the ingredients were there for a close encounter. But this evening, Paris was on top. Far too strong for Nanterriens who were overwhelmed from start to finish, like a dead interior sector: Ibrahima Fall Faye and Hamady Ndiaye finishing the match with, in total, 13 points between them. Ditto at the end, where the very influential Justin Bibbins, barometer of the form of the greens and whites, did not know how to adjust the sights (4/11, 38% three-point address). Similar situation for his partner Benjamin Sene (2/8, 0% three-point address). Without forgetting a defense that looked like an open door… In short, almost nothing was going right. The only small satisfactions for Nanterre in this slump: the performances of Joël Ayayi and Desi Rodriguez (10 points each, 4 and 3 assists respectively), who struggled last week during the home success against ASVEL.
Opposite, Paris played one of its best scores, with crazy intensity. The men of Tuomas Iisalo, “the best young coach in all of Europe”, have learned the lesson of the failed match against Portel at home seven days ago (surprise defeat 86-90). In the dry cleaners and the address, in particular. As proof, four players finished at least 10 points: Tyson Ward, therefore (18), but also Collin Malcolm (10), Bandja Sy (10) and the inevitable T.J. Shorts (16). The pocket leader (1m75) won his highly anticipated pre-match duel against Justin Bibbins. Penetrations, impossible passes, liveliness: it was great Shorts tonight. All with a smile and great determination, like this reaction full of rage against the Nanter Kop after an important two-pointer at 20-37 (12′), at the start of a second quarter which will have hurt a lot to the Nanterriens, conceding a scathing 8-26 in ten minutes.
The local supporters then railed against the refereeing, a little out of frustration but nothing helped. Paris is very well in place behind, swaps, does not throw itself and punishes with three points (14/34, 41% address). The mass seems already said at the break: clear score of 54-28. Nanterre tried to recover in the last two quarters (20-23, 19-21), in vain. Paris wins and can commune with its Kop Parisii, who did not hesitate to “challenge” the local public. Intensity, spectacle, skill found in Betclic Elite: the Parisians consolidate their fine second place in the championship (tied with JL Bourg) behind Monaco and remain, this evening at least, masters of their Ile-de-France kingdom. Nanterre, for its part, slipped to sixth place in the ranking.
Pascal Donnadieu (Nanterre 92 coach): “You have to have the lucidity to recognize the superiority of your opponent. This is perhaps the team that will manage to tickle Monaco. We played eight days, Paris is not our championship. We learned a lesson, yes. Taking thirty points in a derby is not fun. Every time we tried to react, they put the lid back on. We play them 10 times today as they stand, they beat us at least 9 times. We didn’t pretend to be a big name, but a spoilsport. I’m not going to shoot myself tonight.”
Juhann Begarin (Nanterre 92 player): “We were unable to respond to the physical challenge they gave us, nor listen to the coach’s instructions. They play with a lot of pace, we tried to respond with such a fast game, but it’s not ours. We were not surprised by the aggressiveness. Tonight, I had a little more success offensively, but it was less good defensively. We must bounce back quickly. »
Tuomas Iisalo (Paris Basketball coach): “We took two steps in the right direction, between the match against Hamburg in the Euro Cup this week and this evening. Of course we can improve a few things, but what I saw was very good. It should be remembered that we have almost no training time, we are on planes a lot. It is not always easy for young people, who need time to progress, to develop. But this kind of match serves as a stepping stone.”
Bandja Sy (Paris Basketball player): “It’s a victory that does us a lot of good. We found our identity. The sequence is an important element to take into account, yes, but we were not there in terms of intensity and commitment. Tonight, that was the case.”
