By Aline Chatel
Published on
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Passed through the Caen Basket Calvados between 2016 and 2018, in a fruitful way to say the least since he experienced a rise in Nationale 1 and a good maintenance in Pro B, Ludovic Chelle will find the Sports Palace, Saturday March 6, 2021. The 38-year-old shooter, determined to celebrate his 40th birthday on a floor, joined Chartres in mid-January. He had remained without a club since his departure from Saint-Vallier at the end of last season.
“I had not played since March but I ended up missing very few games, only ten,” he said. With Chartres, which is therefore preparing to challenge the CBC, he hopes to relive a climb despite the delay taken by the Chartrains so far. The passion for the ball and for competition is still intact …
Ludovic, how do you approach the match against Caen?
Ludovic Chelle: It’s the best defense in the championship. I know Moïse (Diamé) well, with whom I played in Saint-Vallier, Bryson (Pope), and I met Flo Thibedore several times. There is also Jérémy Dorigo, who was the best French scorer last season. They have very good players. We know that it is part of the big numbers and the big teams of this championship. Between high-level teams, it’s all about the details. There will be a big opposition of styles between us, the big attack, and them, the big defense. We will see who will manage to impose his style of play. We will try to run, they will try not to make us run too much. We’ll do whatever it takes to win. We’re here to have a go. The pressure is on the shoulders of the CBC. We are in ambush, it’s not a bad place.
Despite your long career, we have the feeling that Caen will remain a beautiful passage …
Yes. I have already met my wife in Caen. But God knows I dragged my feet there! We had just moved up to Pro A with Toulon and that’s not really what I was looking for. I had had proposals in Pro B but I thought maybe I had better. Nothing had really moved. A club was supposed to sign me but changed their mind at the last moment. I found myself a little stuck. On Sunday, my agent calls me and informs me of Caen’s proposal. He specifies that there is not much time to think because they want to make me play the following weekend. He said to me: “it’s a big project, with you it will go up”. I said ok.
For the record, when I entered the coordinates in the GPS, I did not imagine that it was so far. I was in Martigues. I left like a jerk, in quotes. Caen, it was not a city that I located very well. I thought it was closer to Paris and Evreux.
At the beginning, I struggled to acclimatize, we had a few defeats. Little by little, everything is back to normal. I loved it, whether it was the city or the people I met. Plus, we had a great first season. But she was even better because I was surrounded by friends, the guys on the team. I also kept good contacts with Hervé (Coudray). It will remain in the top 3 or the top 5 of my career. The guys who made this little adventure (climb in Pro B, editor’s note) will remain in the history of the club.
“I want to reach 40 years in pro basketball”
Did you regret not having extended?
My primary goal was to stay. The club wanted it too but we struggled to come to an agreement, but I received an offer from Saint-Vallier that I could not refuse. Everything sent me there even if it bothered me because I had returned to Pro B with Caen and I knew that I could continue at that level. Honestly, I think we had a team to start the first year at Saint-Vallier. But we had some small problems internally. There may have been errors in the management of the group.
You turned 38 in January, you could have asked yourself questions when you were looking for a club …
I went through all the states. I got up at 8:00 am, I went to the playgrounds, I did 15-15, I played as much as I could whenever I could have a gym. Without showing off, as they say in the south, I toiled and at no time did I doubt. I could see that I was improving so I was working physically. I said to myself: “there is a club that will arrive, when it does, you will have to be physically good. I set myself goals. I felt it was going to fall in January, and to be honest I would have bothered not to spend the holidays with my family. At Chartes, I’m really good, the pleasure is still intact. I am no longer very young but the passion is the same as the first day. I’ve always set myself to reach 40 in professional basketball and I want the honesty to quit sooner if I don’t move forward. I put everything in place to last up to 40 years.
What will be the next life?
After that, I think I will stay in basketball. You can also change course, that’s the beauty of life. But I like it too much. I like to watch and analyze Euroleague matches, imagine myself making my changes as if I was coaching them. I’m in. I see myself staying close to the field. Coaching would be great, maybe starting with hopes.
“Maybe I’ll go back to fashion”
What about fashion?
I still love that much but I put my brand on hold. I’m so focused on this mission of reaching 40 that I don’t feel like scattering around. I impose a certain rigor on myself. When I’m not in basketball, I like spending time with Alice (her partner, editor’s note), taking care of her. It’s basketball and my family. One more hare is complicated to follow. And I don’t like to do things by halves. I had sold my little T-shirts, my polo shirts, I was glad it liked. But I had reached a dead end. It had to become my job, but I wasn’t ready for it. Do a training course, go to a fashion school, do internships… I had made contacts. It’s something that I like. I exchange a few times with Benklark, a former basketball player, I love what he does. Maybe I will stay there again. I do not close the doors. But basketball is my second love!
To finish at 40 in Pro B, that would be great!
It would be beautiful. I’ll be objective, we played Blois in a friendly. I held the game but other than giving five minutes, I don’t think I will be able to bring what I would like in a top-of-the-table team. On the middle of the table, I think I could help in rotation. The big difficulty is to stay well physically. I don’t want to be the guy who is getting older and no longer moving forward, or who no longer defends. A physically strong player can let speak all his talent, his technique and his science of the game. Me, I am happy to be able to keep qualities to defend and attack the circle, but my strength remains my shoot.
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