The Ruthenois of <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/03/basketball-rodez-can-gain-height/" title="Basketball. Rodez can gain height”>Sagadin won (89-73) thanks to their collective and defensive strength, Saturday October 12, against Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
Rodez does not have a star on his team. Of the one who takes responsibilities and carries her training. The star of this formation is its collective strength. This was the case on Saturday October 12, managing to win by 16 points (89-73) over a team which has no other ambition than to play the climb to Nationale 2, Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
Matija Sagadin’s men had to battle in the first quarter with the demon of skill. Few baskets were scored but the defense more than held in respect an opponent who had no more success. Whether at mid-distance, in the racket, the balls were spinning, hitting the circles but not shaking the nets.
In the absence of baskets, and it must be admitted, of rhythm, Rodez squeezed the paint by keeping the two Lot-et-Garonnais interiors Rodriguez and Lawore away from the preferential zone. Even seven units behind, at the end of the first quarter, there was no need for concern, because Rodez had the legs, the heart to defend hard, high and above all well, as coach Sagadin adds : “We didn’t start as we expected during the week. The intensity wasn’t there but as the match progressed, we were able to correct that.” Like the winning shots elsewhere, Valentin Gelin, Fadele Diop, Nourdine Salhi scored their respective three points and Rodez took off with eleven units to arrive at the break with a seven-point lead.
And the Ruthenian youth took power in the third quarter. Coming off the bench, Diop and Salhi showed all their potential and offered breaths of fresh air and when it wasn’t the youngsters, the more experienced added their touches like Jérémie Ngandu, Ruthenian’s best scorer with 17 points, or even Yannis Fotso and his 13 points.
Villeneuve-sur-Lot lost too many balls, missed too many opportunities to pick up the score despite its domination in size inside and the excellent performance of Antoine Chevalier, nothing could do about it. Nothing could happen to this blood and gold collective, to this desire to fight together.
“We were able to raise our heads collectively by instilling a lot more rhythm. There is a real dynamic in this group. You just have to see the young people coming off the bench. It’s a real satisfaction”, added Matija Sagadin before concluding: “We give 89 points to a team that wants to move up, it’s not bad though!”
By signing a fourth victory against a certainly more upscale opponent, if he had been at full strength, Rodez proves all his potential. A young team, which has at times gone too far by overplaying playing time, but a team which does not give up in defense and collectively. Enough to forge an identity, build a future.
