By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Revamped ERA Nymburk neared a berth in the Quarterfinals of the Basketball Champions League by defeating Nanterre 92 on Tuesday.
Before taking a closer look at the champions of Czechia presenting yet another bid for an extended run and how head coach Francesco Tabellini motivates his players, it is all about extremely rare scoring showings setting the pace for possible offensive records.
For a second straight away game, Nymburk hit the 100-point mark. After pouring in 106 points against Falco Vulcano Szombathely in Arena Savaria, Tabellini’s players scored exactly 100 points in Nanterre’s Sports Palace. Over 47 previous games on the road, the longtime loyal of the Champions League produced 100 points only once. Furthermore, Nanterre conceded 100 points for the first time over 24 showings.
The ongoing campaign featured only Manisa at the end of multiple triple-digit scoring displays, but Nymburk made it a two-team club. Prior to the 2024-25 season, only Sidigas Avellino and Hapoel Jerusalem tallied at least 100 points more than once in a single season, both in the 2018-19 edition of the BCL. Nymburk now needs one more 100-point effort to match a joint-high of three between Manisa, Avellino, and Jerusalem in a single season.
“Being able, here, to outfight them, because I think that was the main reason for our win,” noted the Italian head coach of Nymburk in a postgame press conference following the win in France, “We had more rebounds, I think we won most of the 50-50 balls. That was the purpose for us.”
“We played with a chip on the shoulder, which is extremely important for us. It’s really connected with our identity. I believe that was our biggest mistake in last week’s game, playing a little bit light or soft,” he said, referring to the losing effort in Gameday 3 of Group L of the Round of 16.
“I’m not the smartest coach in basketball. We are pretty systematic. We are trying to play our game at our best,” Tabellini replied to a question about his side playing a perfect game, “The plan was being way better than last week.”
Perhaps not perfect, but a crazy sequence with the away team prevailing in all clashes of Nanterre and Nymburk was indeed extended to four games. They also exchanged wins on the road during the Regular Season of their 2017-18 continental journey, before the improbable repeat.
“It was a good comeback game from last week to pick up where we are supposed to be and just bring the energy, the way we play, and just be confident in ourselves,” described former Texas State standout Nighael Ceaser after tallying 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal for Nymburk in France.
Bouncing back with a brilliant showing on the road improved the W-L tally to 3-1, with two games left in the double-legged round-robin schedule. Nanterre fell to 2-2. UCAM Murcia sits at 3-1 before facing winless Szombathely on Wednesday. In Gameday 5, Nymburk welcomes the Hungarian outfit in Prague next Tuesday, leading into the finale of the Round of 16 and visiting Murcia on March 26.
Martin Kriz was there
Starting from the inaugural edition of the Champions League, Nymburk went from postseason action and heartbreaking eliminations in 2017 and 2018 and an early exit from the Regular Season of the 2018-19 campaign to reaching the Final Eight and the Quarterfinals in 2020 and 2021. From being reduced to brief continental campaigns in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and missing out on the 2023-24 season, the Czech club is on track to return to the BCL Quarterfinals.
Experienced forward Martin Kriz was there for the entire ride, through all successes and disappointments. Specifically, on Tuesday, he became the seventh player in league history to play his 90th game.