After having managed to pull off a good victory against Galatasaray in the “play-in” of the Basketball Champions League, the Saint-Quentin players were very, very close to qualifying in Turkey…
There was also room to pass, while Nolan Traore showed his speed to make opposing defenders suffer all match. The young French prodigy finished as his team's top scorer with 20 points at 7/10 shooting including 1/2 from distance, 6 rebounds and 4 assists but also 3 turnovers.
Even if his coach Julien Mahé doesn't really like the comparison, there is a lot of Tony Parker in this ability to finish in control after using his burst of speed to overtake the opponent.
Unfortunately for Saint-Quentin, it was not enough, the French club having paid for its complicated start to the match, the Turkish domination under the circle (40 rebounds to 26) and the last approximate possessions, while the young leader missed the final layup of the equalizer which allowed Galatasaray to advance to the next round (75-73).
Photo credit: BCL
