By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The writings were on the wall since the end of the regular season, but now the verdict is obvious.
The peculiar by any means 2020-21 season may go down in the 7DAYS EuroCup history books as the year of the French revolution.
It’s been a long time coming, but at this point and with the quarterfinals starting, Monaco and Boulougne Metropolitans 92 have the home-court advantage against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica and Herbalife Gran Canaria, respectively.
That’s not a small feat. For the first time in its four EuroCup appearances, Boulougne Metropolitans 92 finished first in its regular season group and has just kept building on that momentum.
For just the seventh time in competition history, a French League team went past the first group stage as the first-ranked team in its group. Meanwhile, no French team was left behind, as both JL Bourg en Bresse and Nanterre 92 also made it to the Top 16.
But here’s what really different this year: In the past of the competition, all six French League teams that finished first in the regular season never managed to make it past the next round, no matter the competition format.
This time, Boulogne and Monaco have changed that script, and nobody can consider them underdogs at this point, especially if you look at their benches. Slovenian Jure Zdovc is an iconic figure in French basketball, having led Limoges to the top of Europe back in 1993 as a player.
A hard-nosed, cerebral point guard who was already a coach on the court, Zdvoc has created a formidable unit that has a solid 11-5 record so far in the season and finished atop of its Top 16 group, too, over perennial EuroCup contender Lokomotiv Kuban.
Montenegrin Zvezdan Mitrovic returned to Monaco after leading ASVEL in the EuroLeague, and now his team has won seven out of their last eight EuroCup games to win its Top 16 group, too. Who else will be the ideal coach to face Buducnost, the top team of Montenegro, than Mitrovic, who is also considered the top Montenegrin coach?
So, there’s no doubt that the revolution is underway and, with each holding homecourt advantage in their quarterfinal series starting on Tuesday, the possibility of seeing two French teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup semifinals facing each other for a spot in the finals is more than real.