The “Prometheus” – “Paris” meeting will take place in Riga on Wednesday, November 1. The match will start at 19.00 Kyiv time.

Last week “Prometheus” visited someone outside his group in the Balkans. And after seven days the level of opposition of the Slobozhansky club will increase dramatically. If in the fourth round Ronen Ginzburg’s team played with Cedevita Olympia, who had no wins in their existence, now the Ukrainian team is hosting the French Paris, which has not yet seen defeat in the European Cup this season.

The team from the French capital was founded quite recently, in 2018, and is the same age as our “Prometheus”. From the moment of its foundation, the club immediately declared its serious goals and intention to play at the highest level of French and European basketball. The Parisians improved in the first two years, and in the 2020/2021 season the capital team took second place in the Pro B league (the second domestic level) and received the right to compete in the elite Pro A league. French section. The black-and-whites (these are the colors worn by the club) spent their first season among the strongest clubs in the country and finished only 15th.

The other example of “Paris” resembles “The Lions of London” in many ways. The Euroleague management had long wanted to see a team from the French capital in its tournament, and when an ambitious club finally emerged, they immediately began to monitor it closely. The interest turned out to be mutual and the Parisians made their debut in the second European Cup last season, receiving a wild card for the first time. In their first year in Europe, the French assembled a much stronger squad than usual and reached a new level for themselves: the quarter-finals of the European Cup and ninth place in the domestic championship.

This season Paris continued its progressive development. Finnish specialist Tuomas Iisalo, who was twice named coach of the year in Germany while in charge of Bonn Telekom and who sensationally led his team to victory in the FIBA ​​​​Champions League last season, was invited to lead the island. New heights in the Euroleague. The specialist from Northern Europe is doing pretty well so far. “Paris” is undefeated in the European arena and is in second place after nine rounds in the French championship (seven wins and two flops).

Results of Paris matches in the 2023/2024 European Cup:

October 3. “Paris” (France) – “Wolves” (Lithuania) – 105:78

11 October. “Venice” (Italy) – “Paris” (France) – 75:81

18 October. “Hamburg” (Germany) – “Paris” (France) – 69:105

24 October. “London Lions” (Great Britain) – “Paris” (France) – 102:106 (2 OT)

Tuomas Iisalo’s great influence was felt when compiling this season’s Paris squad. The Finnish coach brought with him six players from his former club (American TJ Shorts with a North Macedonian passport, Germans Leon Kratzer and Michael Kesens, Chilean Sebastian Herrera and two US representatives Colin Malcolm and Tyson Ward). Two of them immediately determined the roles of team leaders. This is TJ Shorts, who plays on the back line (average of 19 points + 7.5 assists in the European Cup match, efficiency rating – 24 points) and forward Colin Malcolm (16.2 points + 4 rebounds, efficiency rating – 20.2 points). Among the local players, 33-year-old experienced forward Banja Si and young (21-year-old) defender Nadir Hifi, who is predicted to have a great future, stand out.

Slobozhansky “Prometheus” was preparing for the match with the leader of the group, fighting against the Riga club “VEF”, one of the strongest teams in the LEBL. In a remake of last year’s final, Ronen Ginzburg’s team came out stronger and won in 70:66. However, the basketball shown by the “giants” again did not impress. Moreover, after the end of the match, the team faced serious criticism from its president Vladimir Dubinsky, so a defeat in the match with the Parisians may well begin the process of cleaning the squad of the Ukrainian club. The fact that Issouf Sanon and Davon Reed continue to recover from their injuries and the chance of seeing them on the field in the match against the French club will cause additional difficulties for our coaching staff.

The Paris match will be very difficult for Slobozhan’s team, it is not for nothing that their opponent is first in the group and has not lost yet. The Titans are still a long way from their best, but two tough victories against tough opponents last week will help the Ukrainian club become mentally stronger. It is quite possible that they will help Prometheus withstand the offensive attack of the French (the Parisians are the second European Cup team in terms of average performance – 99.3 points per game) and help them suffer the first defeat on the international stage this season.

Sport.ua prediction: I want to continue to believe in the Ukrainian club, hence the victory of Prometheus

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