In the archived 2006 year, the fate of black and white, like Jarmusch’s favorite films, the Le Mans team mystically intertwined with the Moscow Dynamo’s plan. Probably, the hackneyed saying "How to celebrate the New Year, so spend it." After all, already on January 3, blue and white poured into the Gallic arena “Antares” in the framework of the ULEB Cup, which was victorious for us. The hosts pulled out the fight, but could not break through the preliminary stage sieve. There was only one way to get into the coveted Euroleague - winning the French Champion title. And Le Mans got it.
In the summer, only Hussein Besok neglected the gilded team, who, together with new partners in the Polish “Sopot” last week, received friendly nuts from the same “Dynamo”. The management of the unexpected three-color emissaries for the Euroleague did not stint on signing the trinity of sensible legionnaires - Nitsevich, Bogavats and Wheeler. And he even kept the best that winter evening - center Alain Coffey.
11 points, 13 rebounds, 3 block shots and impenetrability in defense made a lasting impression on Dusan Ivkovic. The transfer broke, and Le Mans approached an intriguing start fully armed and alert. However, the French did not make their debut in the main club tournament in Europe.
Not so bad that five defeats in a row in the Euroleague seriously jeopardized the happy, and most importantly, the long future in the Le Mans tournament. More precisely, the newcomer found himself in an almost hopeless situation: either three triumphs in a row in the epilogue of the “regular season” or his head in the bushes. The first to settle on the altar of Fortune yesterday was offered just white and blue.
... "Our team was the best today!". That's the whole post-match commentary of the enraged host coach Vincent Colle. In general, you can’t argue with him: in general, the Le Mans game looked more convincing by order. Although a special basketball marathon to boast of a French specialist is still not worth it. He was not - the catastrophic 18 losses are a clear illustration of this. But on the other hand, there was cautious courage and wild enthusiasm carefully supported by the rampaging stands. It was the activity and devotion of the assembled audience that spurred the impressionable hosts.
The beginning was very successful. Coffey, like his invigorating drink in the film "Coffee and Cigarettes," served as the subject of alienation of people from each other. Simply put, amazingly blocked the boxing active in the first round of Tyson Wheeler (7 points from the first 10 teams). With a score of 7:13, the European Cup hero of the day, Duda, was forced to convene the wards at the bench - hardly to discuss a plan for celebrating the round date. The Serb’s exhortations turned out to be fruitless: the defenders were completely at a loss, Fotsis was still desperately unlucky (for example, in one of the attacks the Greek missed three times from under the ring after his three rebounds), and Papadopoulos got used to the configuration of the local rings.
Towards the middle of the second ten-minute, “-10” was amiably displayed on the scoreboard: Le Mans leaders Gregor and Campbell, kindly basked on the neck by Gill, burst out. The French non-stop passed the ball to each other (however, sometimes to Dynamo), they constantly combined and increased speed. It seemed that for the last five minutes of the first half the Gauls simply did not have enough strength. The enthusiasm subsided, and retribution came. Papadopoulos, who roam “on his mustache”, did not fail to take full advantage of the colossal superiority over his opponents in weight and dimensions (the powerful Le Mans striker Campbell truly has an Atlanta height of 194 cm!). The outbreak (17: 6) in front of the meeting equator presented a tiny spectacled handicap with white and blue - 36:34.
Reckless Gill almost became a grave digger not only of his compatriot, but also of his teammates: his three unprepared “trulniks” “into milk” in the third period helped “Le Mans” turn 51:45 pleasant for Dynamo into alarming 51:56. But no, with the exception of the infallible Papadopoulos, Ivkovic’s team sniffed peacefully until Campbell got out from under the ring less than two minutes before the final siren. 62:69, and it makes no sense to crush the bulls in an ashtray or print a second pack of frustrated Dynamo fans. But a miracle happened: the only Hansen “three” for the match, 5 consecutive points of the indefatigable Lazarus and a couple of unobvious judging decisions from which the hosts clutched their heads, brought a dubious victory in blue and white - 70:69.
The match showed that not everything is so glorious in the Dynamo kingdom, as many say today. In order to defeat Olympiacos and try to join the fight for the second line in the group, Dusan Ivkovic should conduct a detailed analysis of the state of emergency in France. And black and white, like Jarmusch’s favorite films, the game ended for Le Mans with the usual directorial longing - for the Euroleague, with which the club will have to say goodbye so early ...
Nikita GOLOVANOV