Both teams are 3-0 to start the season and have impressed in the first few weeks of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup campaign.
EuroLeague dreamers London, Paris face off in the English capital
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5 Mins read
Nothing beats derby day, right? Well, on Tuesday night (20:30 CET), the latest installment of the rivalry between the London Lions and Paris Basketball takes place at Copper Box Arena, with both sides having gone 3-0 to start the new BKT EuroCup season.
Unlike many of the other rivalries in Europe, this one has a twist as the two teams are from different countries. Despite that, they have more similarities than differences, as both London and Paris are highly ambitious clubs that have their sights set on a place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in the not-too-distant future.
The London Lions vs. Paris Basketball rivalry
The first edition of this new derby took place on December 21, 2022, as London hosted Paris in the English capital. That night, 5,297 fans packed out Copper Box Arena, with popular influencer Yung Filly acting as the host, rapper K-Trap performing at halftime and the likes of Maya Jama, Elz the Witch and Julie Adenuga all in attendance.
On the court, things did not quite go to plan for London. Paris outscored the hosts by 23 points in the second and third quarters, making it a 20-point ballgame, 57-77, entering the final stanza. The visitors, then led by Will Weaver, took their foot off the gas in the fourth but still came away with an 80-93 victory. The first derby officially went into the books and it was 1-0 Paris.
Just over three months later, the two teams faced off at Halle Georges Carpinter in front of 800 people in the French capital. There was not much riding on this Round 18 contest, with both squads having already secured their spot and seed in the playoffs, but it was a chance to see Episode 2 of this derby.
London came firing out of the blocks, opening a 19-29 lead after 10 minutes, before putting the game to bed in the second half by outscoring Paris 36-47, which allowed it to win 85-96. There may not have been the pressure of the previous Round 9 matchup, but London had done enough to even its head-to-head series against Paris.
Lots of change over the summer
London and Paris may both have made it to the playoffs in their first-ever EuroCup seasons last year, but the two teams now have new head coaches in Petar Bozic and Tuomas Iisalo, respectively. In the case of Iisalo, he joined Paris after leading Telekom Baskets Bonn to the Basketball Champions League title last season, while Bozic replaced Ryan Schmidt in London.
Looking at the playing rosters, London can still call upon several of its players from last season, including Sam Dekker, Jordan Taylor and Josh Sharma, but the signings that it has made have catapulted the English side to another level. So far this season, Matt Morgan, Donte Grantham, Gabe Olaseni and Conor Morgan are all proving to be hits, as is Coach Bozic, which certainly makes London a more dangerous proposition.
It is a different story at Paris, however. From last year’s team, there are just three players still at the club – Gauthier Denis and youngsters Mohamed Diawara and Jean Noba – after an offseason that saw Coach Iisalo put his fingerprints on his team. Of Paris’s 11 new player additions, six followed Iisalo from Bonn to the French capital, including 2022-23 Basketball Champions League MVP TJ Shorts, who has been on fire so far this season.
A battle between potential MVPs
One incredibly exciting matchup that everyone will be tuning in to see at Copper Box Arena will be the clash between Matt Morgan and Shorts, as the two first-year players are already in the discussion to be the 2023-24 EuroCup MVP. While Morgan has posted 17.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and a 19.7 PIR, Shorts has averaged 17.3 points, 1.0 rebound, 8.0 assists, 2.7 steals and a 25.0 PIR. Whoever comes out on top in this battle may end up also being on the winning side come the final buzzer.
London and Paris remain undefeated through the first three games, but only one team will continue with a 100% record. There’s no way that you will want to miss this game, so make sure to tune in from 20:30 CET. It’ll be worth it.