Despite one of the smallest budgets in Pro B, Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket has had a good start to the championship (4v-2d), and has also just passed the first two rounds in the Coupe de France, against SCABB (Pro B) then Feurs (NM1). Before a trip to Alliance Sport Alsace, the club occupies, after 6 days, fifth place in Pro B and playing a very pleasant game in the opinion of many observers. The statistics confirm this.
- 1er rebounds: 44.8/game (including 7.7 rebounds/game for Maxime Yomi Kemayou in 16 minutes)
- 3e at evaluation: 104.2/match
- 4e attack: 87.5pts/match
- 4e team assists: 20.2/game
- 1er at address at address for free throws: 78%
In the ranking of the best scorers, no player ranked in the top 40, but 7 players who score between 8.5 and 11 points per match!
After five seasons with Emmanuel Schmitt as coach, during which the club finished between 11th and 16th place, Aix-Maurienne called on a new coach: Kenny Grant (42 years old). Passed by Antibes (assistant coach of Julien Espinosa), by the Espoirs of Monaco, Avignon (NM1) then an interim at Denain (Pro B), he was also assistant to Hugo Lopez and coach of the Swedish national team and was the season lastly one of the assistants of the best Chinese team: the Liaoning Flying Leopards. Wednesday, the day after the victory in the Coupe de France against Feurs, he answered some of our questions, asked by Bertrand Van Butselethe former French international (15 caps) and retired coach.
Kenny, how do you analyze Aix-Maurienne’s good start to the season?
The results are positive, I am above all very satisfied with the daily behavior of the team, the commitment and the investment that the players put in every day. I’m more focused on the process and think that we play like we practice. Afterwards, no one gets excited and draws conclusions because we have only played six league games.
How did the recruitment go? How did you go about building your squad?
The managers gave me carte blanche to carry out recruitment, while respecting the budget envelope given. With the new rules, in the event of a change of players, I wanted versatile and complementary players who would allow several options and possible combinations. Only Christopher Dauby and Siriman Kanoute were still under contract.
I wanted to keep Kamel Ammour, Corentin Falcoz and Gide Noel both for their basketball qualities but also for their human qualities. Then Maxime Yomi Kemayou joined us inside after two seasons in Spain, where he gained experience. He is a player who is full of intensity and combat.
Once the French players were validated, I moved forward with the recruitment of foreigners. Jacori Payne interested me because of her qualities and her experience. Leader is a very important position for me. JaCori has had several roles in different teams, he can be more in the organization (see Nantes 2022-23) or score more (see Kocaeli BSB Kagitspor 2023-24). I absolutely wanted to sign it. Neal Quinn is a big pivot for Pro B, with good hands and a good passer, about whom I had good feedback. Gerson Gonçalves seemed complementary to our other backs and for his part wanted to try his hand in Europe. For Carlos Pepin, it was my assistant, Vladimir Nestorovic, who scouted him and asked me to watch him. It complements our other interiors and is a very good teammate.
What is the objective set for this season?
The goal is to make the Play-offs. I prefer to have this type of objective rather than just saying that we are playing for survival. For this, the club has made the effort to improve travel conditions (away from home, we will make more departures the day before the matches), recovery, among other things, in order to place the players in the best possible conditions. possible favorable conditions for sporting success. And the club is trying to develop at the partnership level.
What is your style of play?
I want a precise game, with a clear framework for the players, in which I also want to give them freedom in terms of choices. I like my team to share, to play hard, with momentum and speed. I still adapt according to my players: for example, with Neal Quinn, a tall pivot, we cannot have the same principles as with a smaller pivot, in defense, in particular.
What style of coach are you?
The relationship and the human side are very important to me, we need mutual respect. I am direct and want to be honest with the players whether it is with a Hopeful or a veteran, so that we are all going in the same direction. I remain, as a coach, as I am as a man.
What is your organization in terms of operation and content over a typical week?
For a match on Friday, we then train collectively twice on Sunday and Monday and once on Wednesday and Thursday. There is individual work, before and after the sessions, set up and managed by Vladimir Nestorovic, my assistant. The physical preparation work, collectively and in a more individualized way, is managed by Thomas Tissier, whom I rely on a lot. The work on the opponent takes place on Tuesday where the Espoirs are asked, in the form of scrimmage, to use certain plays or defensive options of the opponent: in this way, the professional players are focused only on the opponent . Above all, we work a lot on ourselves, during the week, in order to develop our offensive and defensive collective and because that is how the team will progress.
What are the strong points that you would cite to characterize your team at the start of the season?
The players are real competitors, every day, during training. And that can probably be developed a little, but you either have it or you don’t. Nobody cheats.
What are the points to be developed or the current limits of your group?
Experience: I have several players who were role players and whose status has changed. This obviously takes a little time. Winning away from home: this can also be learned…
Any last words?
As a player, I have worked with excellent people who have given me a lot and made me the person and coach that I am. I always wanted to coach and I very quickly tried to understand, analyze and ask questions. This is to try to use everything afterwards, the positive and also the negative. I would like to try to convey this to the players so that they have clear ideas and that it is useful to them. Always the importance of the human side for me.
