2024-09-20 12:24:18
Summer magic is still here. Forty days after the finals of the Olympic games which show to what extent France is still a basketball country, and a great one, the 2024-2025 season arrives with the brilliant French championship, Betclic Elite. It is from where the last two number 1s in the NBA draft, Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher, came from.
Olympic medalists to thank
Most of the summer heroes play far from here, in the NBA or Euroleague, but there are still four Olympic medalists in the country. We can give them pause and thank them lovingly. Starting with a retired doctor in the world on the eve of the end to the United States: Nando de Colo, still in Asvel. The home team’s savior with his three-point basket at the buzzer in the group stage against Japan, Matthew Strazel is in Monaco.
The Olympic champions of 3×3 are also well represented with Lucas Dussoulier in Nanterre and Timothé Vergiat, who does not play in Betclic Elite but in Pro B with Blois, which has just been eliminated.
Monaco towards the treble
In the past, there is no doubt: Monaco, with its armada of players and its financial power, seems well equipped to achieve the treble and win the title, as in 2023 against Boulogne-Levallois in the final, and in 2024 against domestic football basket of Paris . With a budget estimated at 28 million euros, the government agency is crushing the competition.
“The goal is to dominate in France, the team has the potential,” said general manager Oleksiy Yefimov. We also want to continue to be very consistent in the Euroleague, after reaching the playoffs three times in a row. “Last year, Monaco stayed in the regions and its priority is to return to the Final Four of the Euroleague. Playing on both counts may be its only weak point, with a season of more than 80 games.
Paris and Asvel were also ambushed
The vice-champion of France, Paris Basketball seems to be equipped to return to the final. But be careful: this time is dangerous for the youth group from the capital. He will discover the Euroleague thanks to his victory in the Eurocup and will play a season between 70 and 80 games against the biggest teams in Europe. He will learn to lose more often than last year and will have to change successfully between the time of coach Tuomas Lisalo, who left for the NBA, and the arrival of Tiago Splitter Brazil, who arrived from the Houston bench.
Empty after a disappointing season, Tony Parker’s Asvel, the third thief in the Euroleague, does not want to end this season without winning a trophy. The return of Théo Maledon, unwanted in the NBA, should make it possible to revive an organization that has struggled for results for several seasons.
There are also some nuggets
Do we measure it? In the past two seasons, the French champion released the last two numbers 1 in the NBA draft: Victor Wembanyama in 2023 and Zaccharie Risacher last spring. These two treasures are gone, only a few remain, that’s the most beautiful thing. This time, the eyes of the NBA will be focused on another nugget, an 18-year-old boy who plays in Saint-Quentin: Nolan Traoré.
With the vision of Wemby, Coulibaly, Risacher, it shows the golden future of the French team by 2028. It has already been announced in the Top 5 of the 2025 book and after discovering Bourg-en-Bresse for Risacher, NBA scouts will know. Picardy. “I want to be one of the best French people. But above all I take the goals step by step. First, we will focus on time, then on drawing. Then, when I’m in the NBA, the goal will be to stay. I have big goals,” he said.
To watch the championship, go to DAZN
It is difficult to navigate from one year to another but this time, and a priori until 2029, to see all the Betclic Élite games, you must subscribe to the English platform DAZN, former broadcaster of Ligue 1. DAZN broadcasts a match on Friday evening at 8 p.m., with Saint-Quentin-Monaco opening on Friday, September 20, two on Saturday at 6 p.m. and two others at 8 p.m. There will also be two matches on the screen on Sunday at 5 pm and a final at 7 pm.
To benefit from every day, it costs 14.99 euros per month with a 12-month commitment. “We are a major player in sports, broadcasting more than 16,000 live events around the world and it seems natural to us to relocate to France,” said Brice Daumin, CEO of DAZN France. said Brice Daumin, CEO of DAZN France.
New features to stay in the game
The National Basketball League also announced this Wednesday the launch of a “Young Star Game”, held in January 2025 based on the All Star Game model and reserved for young players, and Super Cup before the 2025-26 season. This tournament will bring the Elite and Pro B champions, the winner of the Directors’ Cup and the Coupe de France in September 2025, together in the Final Four format at the Roland-Garros stadium.
The Young Star Games will be organized in Levallois on January 21, before the two NBA games in Paris between the San Antonio Spurs of Wemby and the Indiana Pacers, at the Accor Arena on January 23 and 25. The biggest events of the basketball season in France.
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