A return to the North for the Antibes team as they travel to Denain this Saturday (3:15 PM) for Game 1 of the Pro B final. At stake is a first victory before heading back to the Côte d’Azur on Monday. After their hard-fought qualification against Portel, Julien Espinosa’s men will be looking to secure a victory that would mean they could win at home on Monday night.
It’s the time for big events. Big evenings, big players, and major meetings. This Saturday afternoon, in the suburbs of Valenciennes, in Denain, the Antibes team has the chance to move a big step closer to ProA, which they left in May 2014 after a completely failed season (last place with 6 wins and 24 losses).
“The ideal thing is to win from Saturday (today) and finish the job at home on Monday and celebrate in front of our fans,” confessed Timothée Cabarrot after Game 3 against Portel.
The journey to the promotion final has been more than winding. A victory in three games on the court of Nantes in the quarter-finals, the same against Portel, and a great game last Tuesday, which will remain the best match of the season for Julien Espinosa’s men (winning 69-51). Thanks to an 11-0 start, the Sharks quickly got the Azur Arena audience on their side, who, for two seasons, had been waiting for this moment to explode. It was a match managed from start to finish with the unstoppable duo Blue-Mbida (34 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 blocks between them) dominating the paint, supported by a very useful Bourdillon (7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists).
“Physically, it’s starting to hurt. But we’re close to promotion, so we’re not counting. We’ll have to give everything we have left,” states Mamoutou Diarra, captain of the Azur team.
For 80 minutes, 120 minutes, or even more, Antibes faces a team they’ve played four times this season. The result is 2-2 before this famous ProB playoff final. In the championship, Denain won twice (96-86 in Antibes and 70-60 in the return game). But in the two decisive matches played, the Sharks came out on top (73-70 OT and 79-75) to qualify for the Leaders Cup final at Disneyland. A title won by the Azur team (56-46 against Souffelweyersheim).
Opposite, the Northern team will be formidable. In a totally different and even opposite style to Nantes and Portel, Denain offers a dense squad without a real star. The fourth-best defense… behind Antibes knocked out Boulazac in the semi-final, favorites according to specialists for promotion. This team, coached by Jean-Christophe Prat, is particular in having no major player but a dense collective. All players play between 15 and 25 minutes, and in the regular season, only two players had a rating over 10.
“This final will be even tougher than the semi-final. Denain is really tough defensively,” explained Tim Blue, the second-best player in ProB this season.
1,000 kilometers away from the Denain court, the club is organizing a gathering, in the handball club’s hall with a broadcast of the match on a giant screen. Undoubtedly, the expected thousand people will send strength and courage to the ten Sharks on their conquest.
Photo credit: Sharks Antibes
