Eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Betclic Elite playoffs, the JDA Dijon drew a line under its 2022-2023 season. A new successful exercise even if the conclusion was not up to the rest of the season. Sporting director Fabien Romeyer takes stock and plans for next season.
A great season, but ultimately a feeling of incompleteness. Accustomed to the top of the table and good results, the JDA Dijon has had another successful year. With a fourth place in Betclic Elite, a qualification for the top 16 of the BCL or even a semi-final of the Leaders Cup, the sporting director of the Burgundy club Fabien Romeyer could only salute the sporting performance of his team. in an interview with Bien Public on Tuesday :
“What Dijon has been doing for 4-5 years is exceptional and the fact that we are still at this level even more so. We have almost always been in the top 4 in the league, this consistency means that our season is extremely successful. Behind the two locomotives (Monaco, ASVEL) or even Boulogne-Levallois and Paris, likely to boost everyone, there are eight or nine teams of the same level as us. It is one of the most competitive championships in Europe. In BCL, the level of the pools was much higher this season, the play-in too, Malaga and Jerusalem went to the Final Four… And yet, we really thought we were going to go through to the quarters. Again, these group stages are a success. »
In an increasingly dense Betclic Elite, the Dijonnais maintain their rank season after season despite more limited means than some of their competitors at the top of the ranking (only the 11th budget in the championship). “Outperformances” which do not make us forget the fatal slumps in the ax matches, which slightly tarnish the results of the season for Nenad Markovic and his men:
“In the Leaders Cup, in the Coupe de France and in the playoffs, there is this bitterness of saying that we missed something in the cleaver matches. We were sometimes dominated in the intensity, the impact, the hardness, the concentration. In the quarter against Bourg, even if we went through two quarter-times over 80 minutes, you’re not far away, but you’re not there.«
Find a defensive DNA
Recognized for many years for the defensive DNA that has made it successful, Dijon has dropped in intensity in its half of the field this season (84.1 points conceded per game, 14th average in the championship). A priority point to be corrected on which this summer’s recruitment will be partly focused. With Nenad Markovic at the head of the team for a third season, Dijon also intends to play the stability card which has succeeded in recent years:
“We fell back against certain teams, it is really on this that we must guide recruitment to better manage these matches. By providing a superior athletic dimension. We must return to a defensive DNA that suits us and that makes us win. This year, it was not enough. The mark of the factory of Dijon, it is this defensive aspect that must be restored. […] In the construction of the team, we first pointed to the athletic volume in this defensive logic. We also want to maintain stability, especially in this dangerous championship, that is to say, to keep 50 to 60% of the workforce. We have four JFLs under contract (Jonathan Rousselle, Robin Ducoté, Abdoulaye Loum, Jacques Alingué). There are players that we want to keep, but that we probably won’t be able to. »
Despite a payroll that should remain stable next season, the JDA Dijon will try to build a team that will allow it to stay at the top of the Elite rankings. In negotiation with the emblematic David Holston to continue the adventure, the JDA should not be mistaken in its recruitment in a French championship which promises to be more competitive than ever.
Photo: Fabien Romeyer, sports director of the JDA Dijon (Tuan Nguyen)
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