The French try and look Forward not Back

By: Slam

Last year was a disappointing one for the French teams in the Euroleague.  After the ten game regular season the French teams Sluc Nancy and Le Mans both finished tied for the worst record in the league at 2-8.  This was not the type of showing that the French were looking for and now the French League Champion Asvel Basket look to turn things around for the country in 2009.

Asvel Basket is coming back to the Euroleague after a four year hiatus.  This offseason has been one of many moves for a French team that is looking to stay in the Euroleague for the long haul.  Let’s use some quotes from Asvel Basket president Gilles Moretton at the Regular Season drawing to see how they relate to the Asvel offseason with some sprinkling of Slamalysis.

“First of all, we are happy to be back in the Euroleague. We had a very good draw. Even though all the groups are strong, playing against Barcelona, Siena, Cibona, Fenerbahce and Zalgiris is a good chance for us.”

Gillies Moretton is trying to be nice to his opponents but inside he was giddy like a French school girl at the start of summer because he knew his team had just walked into the best possible draw.  Out of all the groups, Group A looks right now to be the weakest with Barcelona, Siena, and Fenerbahce the only teams that have had any success this offseason.  Asvel could easily slide into the fourth or third spot in this group and move on to the Top 16.  Not only did they walk into a good draw but the Final Four is going to be in Paris. The tides are changing in France.

“We are working on putting together a good team, strong enough to compete against them. When we last played the Euroleague two years ago, the team was not ready to compete at that level.”

You worked on putting together a good team and you succeeded Gillies.  Asvel has had a very productive offseason with the signings of Continue Reading…

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