By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With AS Monaco entering the playoffs and securing one of the two available EuroCup spots for next season’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, there’s only one place left for those knocking on the door of the top continental club competition without having a prior presence in it.
The four teams in the BKT EuroCup Semifinals can make their EuroLeague dreams come true and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse is the most unexpected case of the four.
London Lions represent the longtime dream of a EuroLeague team representing the British market, Paris Basketball was created with this goal in mind and hopes to capture the heart of one of the most iconic cities in the world, and Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul, while not having much of a EuroLeague past, represents one of the biggest Turkish clubs and has a basketball tradition that includes even Alen Iverson playing for them.
But what about “Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse”? That’s the full name of the club, which was founded in 1910 and has had a basketball section since 1937. Bourg plays at in the 3,521-seat capacity Salle Ekinox, representing a city of 40.000 inhabitants.
Not exactly EuroLeague material…
However, it should be noted that Bourg, despite its modest background, has the fourth-biggest budget in France per ProA’s official data and a payroll of just 630,000€ less than Paris.
Plus they will be mentioned aplenty in the next NBA draft thanks to Zaccharie Risacher, who is currently projected to be the No. 1 overall pick, while Coach Frederic Fauthoux is arguably the hottest name in the French coaching scene.
So can JL Bourg be an exception? A team beyond typical EuroLeague standards that uses the EuroCup as its launchpad and does something that has never been done before?
“We’re not denying ourselves anything,” said Fauthoux after making it to the semifinals, where they defeated Besiktas in Game 1 of their best-of-three series on Tuesday.
Of course, he was not referring to the possibility of entering the EuroLeague, but that’s the mantra of the club.
As Fauthoux explained: “This is the reward for the club policy carried out for some time, for all the work undertaken over the years by the management. To achieve results like that, you have to stay at a high level for a long time. It’s a real sign, a real reward.”
After all, Bourg made a splash also a few months ago and Fauthoux reminded everyone of this: “Last year, we made the semifinals of the French championship. Now it’s the EuroCup. We don’t deny ourselves anything, neither does the club. There is a real state of mind in this team, a squad built to win something.”
And yes, the EuroLeague bylaws are very precise on the background of the clubs that may join the competition – with Bourg lacking on many fronts – however, a mid-level club using the EuroCup as its platform to grow has value on its own. And if it somehow makes the EuroLeague, then this value skyrockets.