Julien Mahé, Saint-Quentin Basketball completed a good first half of the season….
Yes, that’s the least we can say (he repeated it). If we are Saint-Quentin, second season of Betclic ELITE, we will only be satisfied in terms of pure results. I don’t know if many of you (the media), or even us, predicted us 8-6 at the end of December. After that, I’m waiting for a better way of playing, I’m waiting for us to improve, to compete in the second round with big teams.
In the game, there has been a defensive evolution since last December. What changes were made after the defeat of Chalon?
We changed the way we defend pick and rolls. I am very satisfied with it and I think it suits the team better. We made some changes to the defensive rotations on the pitch and we also decided to change the players more quickly.
“To improve, we need to strengthen some aspects of the game”
It is often said that the second season of a promoted player is the most difficult. Is this a cliché or is it true?
I don’t know if it’s harder or harder than last year. In terms of results, we are better than last year at the same time. What is certain is that we play a different game, we have a different team, we have different projects. We are very young in some positions and we have to accept what comes with that, the good and the bad. Having a young team means giving yourself the opportunity to develop potential, individually and collectively, throughout the season. I hope we will improve but to do this, we need to stabilize some aspects of the game we still lack the discipline to play with these top teams. For example, in our last match against Bourg we again saw lost balls without meaning.
Julien Mahé and Saint-Quentin are expected Tuesday night in Galatasaray Istanbul for the play-off of the Champions League (photo: Cécile Thomas)
You start the year 2025 by qualifying for the Top 16 of the Champions League then for the Leaders Cup…
(he cuts her off) Very nice…
Is it important for SQBB to participate in the Leaders Cup?
Absolutely not. But this is a bonus. Nice bonus. The priority goal is to maintain itself and then collect bonuses. We must not be ashamed of ourselves. We start January by playing a play-in match 1 in Galatasaray and then host Strasbourg to play the qualifier for the Leaders Cup… Did you realize that?! These are wonderful moments that we experience. You have to play it hard and come back from the break with great motivation to get there. But playing for a ticket for the Leaders Cup at home is good.