By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
The 2023 Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals are just around the corner, and exciting matchups are ahead of all the competition’s fans. Among the teams that didn’t make it through the Round of 16, there is Limoges CSP as well, coached by Massimo Cancellieri.
The French team, which has a glorious past full of successes in the Old Continent, such as the 1993 FIBA European League won against Arvydas Sabonis’ Real Madrid and Toni Kukoc’s Benetton Treviso, had a great run between Regular Season and Play-Ins, but didn’t have enough fuel in the tank later on.
Despite ending the last stage at the bottom of Group K with a 1-5 record with powerhouses like Unicaja Malaga, AEK, and Galatasaray, the Italian head coach is satisfied with how his team performed until the end. “We did an incredible job. For Limoges and for the team we are, being in the Top 16 was a great result, beyond all expectations. Ludwigsburg is stronger than us and we managed to beat them. Game 3 coincided with the absence of Desi Rodriguez and that weighed so much, along with the injuries of Bryce Jones that made us win the game in Ludwigsburg but already played as injured”, he said in an interview with Eurohoops.
Bryce Jones, who was clutch for the French side in the Play-Ins, was one of the several elements who suffered injuries as the season progressed. “There began the bloodbath between the infirmary and the court, which is the worst thing to do. Having no other alternatives, we tried to manage it. This has addressed the season in a negative way, especially for the last period. We suffered the excessive use of the other guys, due to a not-very-long roster, and the lack of two players who are very important to us. That coincided with a Round of 16 a bit so and so”, he added.
“We had to make choices and adjust to that. We went very close to beating AEK, with Unicaja both in Malaga and in our home, and then we closed by beating Galatasaray. In my opinion, it is an excellent path, and excellence is contextualized to our group and our situation. We weren’t excellent overall in the BCL, but I’m fine with how we did. The group was difficult because the three teams were fighting for a spot in the Final Four: we are happy to have played against teams that until recently were playing in the EuroLeague”, Massimo Cancellieri recalled on his team’s performance in the Round of 16.
The 50-year-old, who only has Italian experiences in his resume before he jumped to the French basketball scene, fell in love with the city and the organization of Limoges. “One thing I will always be grateful to this club is that they caught me out of nowhere, giving me an amazing opportunity. It’s the most important thing to me. I will be most grateful to Crawford Palmer, the one who called me at the time and invested in me, and the club accordingly. He mentioned my name and insisted on me. Then an important thing in my transition was having traits in common with the way I feel about basketball in Italy. I trained in Biella and it reminds me a lot of the passion of Limoges, who also won a European Cup in the past. The environment is very passionate and alive: having analogies with what I lived before helped me to settle in. I am Italian, always on the edge of my behavior, and here I found people who understand it while having fun, without criticizing. This helps me be myself”, he said.
With Limoges CSP out of the Quarter-Finals, Massimo Cancellieri can enjoy the last BCL stage before the Final Four with a different perception, and it gave his takes on what the four matchups will bring on the different courts in Spain, France, Israel, Germany, and Greece.
Talking about AEK, which beat Limoges CSP both at home and on the road, the former Biella and Ravenna’s head coach has nothing but good words. “Ilias Kantzouris, the coach of AEK, has a style linked to his Greek origins: they play well, they know how to take advantage of situations, defensively they are solid. It’s a team that has shown continuity over the 40 minutes and has resources. Even if they don’t have the same quality as the opponent, they manage to make up with the intelligence of the game, knowing how to adapt to situations. They lost Strelnieks, who gave them a lot in terms of danger, and he also played as point guard sometimes. It was difficult to face them. Without him, I don’t know what kind of impact they can have, but the team’s qualities remain”, he said about the yellow-and-black team.
The Greek side, which ended Group K in second place, will face Hapoel Jerusalem, the leader in Group I following the decisive last match for the home-court advantage against SIG Strasbourg. The Israeli side, in Cancellieri’s words, is a powerhouse difficult to contain. “Hapoel is more solid and structured. They have some quite unpredictable qualities on the outside; I saw them playing against Strasbourg and honestly they made a big impression on me in terms of unpredictability. An extremely solid team structure: Dzikic knows what he does, being an important and experienced coach. It is a tough Quarter-Final, and in my opinion, the court factor in this series can count: in Athens, it is difficult to play, and in Jerusalem too. They are two hot courts, so playing outside will be difficult for both. I see enough balance, with the court factor that can make a difference”, the Italian head coach stated.
AEK isn’t the only team Limoges CSP faced in the Round of 16, as Unicaja Malaga also beat the green-and-white French side twice, both in Andalusia and the Haute-Vienne department. The 2023 Copa del Rey winners are the ones who impressed Cancellieri the most. “Malaga is the team that impressed me most alongside Tenerife. They are a lot, they are solid, they play well, dribble little, pass the ball… they have a game in the low post, and can have shot with high percentages from beyond the arc. Kalinoski has become a killer in that, while Thomas is difficult to contain shoulders to the basket. They have versatility even in the big department, so they are dangerous in many areas. They play with a high tempo, and if you adjust to their rhythm with so many possessions, you lose because they can turn shots into easy baskets with practically everyone”, the former Olimpia Milano assistant said.
Just like in the 2022 Quarter-Finals, where they faced BAXI Manresa, in order to advance Malaga will need to push out another Spanish team in UCAM Murcia. Will they pull the upset against Unicaja? Cancellieri’s opinion is pretty clear on that. “Murcia is a good team, well coached by Sito Alonso. He can count on the pressure factor, which is all about Unicaja at the moment, and on the fact that sometimes starting as an underdog helps. On the scoreboard, many put Malaga as the favorite, because the quality hangs in its favor. That said, both coaches have huge quality”, he added.
Unicaja Malaga-UCAM Murcia won’t be the only Iberian encounter at this stage, as Lenovo Tenerife and BAXI Manresa will go up against each other in a last year’s Final Four rematch. However, Chima Moneke, Sylvain Francisco, Ismael Bako, and a lot more aren’t there for the Catalan side anymore, and Txus Vidorreta’s team has a clear advantage in the best-of-three series. “They played a few days ago in ACB, so more or less they have already made an advance of the prediction. Tenerife is another rock crusher, an incredible team. Another team with massive experience and quality of players… Defensively solid, offensively unpredictable: they can aim for the title if they make it to the Final Four. Manresa must face a team that aspires to the title, for sure. The core business of the series will be that. You have to make a big effort to beat Tenerife”, Massimo Cancellieri said about the reigning Basketball Champions League champions.
The last clash will be the most unpredictable one, as two forces like Telekom Baskets Bonn – undefeated in the Round of 16 – and SIG Strasbourg will face each other for a spot in the 2023 Final Four. Massimo Cancellieri may be biased because Luca Banchi gave him the opportunity of a lifetime back in Milano, but his take tells all the truth about this exciting series. “I am fond of Luca, a great coach and a person to whom I am particularly attached because I was with him for two years in Milan and he gave me a wonderful opportunity. Honestly, Strasbourg is an extremely solid team, trained in a super way. The quality they have is not excessive but they are very well assembled. Playing against Strasbourg is tough, I’ve seen them play a lot in both BCL and LNB and they are amazing: they have a strong soul, and they are a tough team to face. Bonn is a revelation, they have done a great ride and are trained well by a great coach like Tuomas Iisalo, but I do not think that in this case the court factor will make the difference. The details will decide this series: the ones who are a little more cynical in the moments that count will prevail because this seems to me the most balanced clash. Then maybe it ends 2-0 for one or the other, but on paper, I see it balanced. The teams and their attitudes are similar: it’s difficult to make a prediction”, he commented on Bonn and Strasbourg’s imminent matchup.
As previously said, Limoges played at a high level in the EuroLeague a few seasons ago but has now found its place in the Basketball Champions League, which rase its status compared to the 7DAYS EuroCup. “The difference between BCL and Eurocup has been closely matched. The two competitions are very similar, not in the format but in the quality of the teams. They’re both very interesting, and that’s a good thing. I understand that on the one hand you have difficulties in managing the FIBA-EuroLeague relationship, but this gives the opportunity to many teams to play in two European championships at a high level. Now it’s cool: playing the Champions League makes you bang your head, it’s very hard but addictive. The EuroCup is still full of fun games. If we see the glass half full, the level is similar and the two competitions are very fascinating”, the Italian head coach finally stated.
Massimo Cancellieri won’t be on the court this season with Limoges CSP to battle in the 2023 Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals but don’t count them out already for what will come in the near future. In the meantime, let them enjoy the show.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League