Cholet, between hope and regret

And the scenario repeated itself. Unlike Blois, Cholet ended up collapsing even though he seemed to be in perfect control of his subject. Against Paris, Laurent Vila’s team surprised everyone, taking a 20-length lead in the third quarter, thus defying all predictions (50-70, 26′).

There was seriousness in the execution of the systems, good circulation of the ball and especially the address from afar, like an excellent pass from Enzo Goudou-Sinha behind the three-point line (14 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists in the end).

But like the defeat against Blois on Saturday, where he conceded 22-0 at the end of the game, CB became fluent, minute by minute: 16-0 in barely five minutes, then 23-1 ( 83-75, 38′ ) , moments later, while Hruban had scored Cholet’s only point of the quarter on a free kick. ” It’s frustrating because it’s pretty much the same situation as last week, regrets Gérald Ayayi. I even think we had the game even more in hand. Once again we sank a little. But we really came with the desire to win. Thanks to this mentality, we were able to raise our level of play. This bodes well for the future. »

Also read: Cholet Basketball. The Hopes are a hit in Paris

“We found our soul”

Because unlike the match against Blois, CB did not give up without a fight as the Parisian steam drum swept away everything in its path. But at 83-75, they kept the five points in a row scored by Kim Tillie Cholet alive. Then Gérald sent Ayayi Cholet into overtime (83-83, 40′). Even with TJ Shorts taking charge, Choletais came back and even had the winning shot with four seconds left. But Campbell’s shot was too short. ” We competed well against a great team from Paris, Laurent Vila was satisfied. It’s a big team, they have automaticity in hot moments. We came close to winning the game and that’s what I want to remember about the state of mind, we found our soul. It was much better. Yes, we gave up, but only at the last moments. With a little more realism, we could have won this game. It still gives confidence for the next matches. »

Laurent Vila’s speech was meant to be positive and we can also understand the Catalan technician. No other team had been able to press Paris so hard in 21 games, all won by the TJ Shorts gang, although the Parisians had to do without Nadir Hifi, sent off in the first half after receiving two technical fouls.

Favorable results for Cholet in the battle for the top 8

In the rankings, Cholet treads water, but remains eighth. Strasbourg were beaten by Le Mans, Le Portel lost in Dijon, which is good news for CB. All that was missing was this hint of extra realism to achieve a really big shot. “Yes, we are disappointed to lose, yes, we blew another cartridge, continued Laurent Vila. But we have a different feeling than during the last match. We must continue like this and it will pay off. »

The bug no longer seems possible with only three days to go. To believe in it again, it is important to win on Tuesday against Dijon at La Meilleraie.