Reinvigorated by their victory in the South West derby, the TGB is going to challenge Angers, one of the teams in form at the moment and direct competitor in the race for the play-offs.
It’s up to the TGB to negotiate the “match after”. The hard-won victory won by Les Violettes on Sunday against Basket Landes (72-67, after extra time) opens up good prospects for the end of the season. It is therefore a question of not spoiling this evening in Maine-et-Loire, against a UFAB which remains on two victories and has the same record as that of Tarbes (see opposite). “Winning against a direct competitor on the outside can be a pivotal moment, advances François Gomez. If there is victory at the end, then we can talk about a click because there will have been a confirmation.”
Post-derby decompression
The opposition is not without stakes in a very open play-off race. Quite a rare fact to be underlined because the hierarchy is very often clearly established five days before the end of the regular phase. Which is not the case this season: the TGB can claim a 5th place as well as a 10th place… at all, continues the Tarbais coach. We are in serenity rather than excitement and this week, we deliberately let the sauce fall after putting a lot of pressure on the Basket Landes match.”
A meeting that the TGB won mainly thanks to its mentality, and not on the quality of its collective game, Carla Leite and Isabelle Yacoubou providing more than 60% of the scoring between them. “What is certain is that we will have to find the offensive quality that we had been able to put against big players like Bourges or Lyon (despite the defeats at stake, editor’s note)”, estimates François Gomez. It will take at least that to keep up with a UFAB very focused on the outdoor game with the Americans Jasmine Bailey, but also and above all, Alexis Peterson, the offensive weapon n ° 1 of the Angevines (16.4 pts average) .
In the first leg, the TGB had won easily (71-59) without Isabelle Yacoubou. When you know the current form of the captain of the Violettes, there is reason to be optimistic to press where it hurts in the racket.