Having reached its first European final, the French club now hopes to make it to the EuroLeague
Bourg’s ascent shows no sign of slowing down
What a time to be a fan of Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. The club may be 114 years old, but Frederic Fauthoux’s men have done something that no other group in Bourg’s history has been able to do: make it to a European final.
There have been several stories of French clubs rapidly rising to the upper echelons of European basketball over the last few years, most notably AS Monaco’s jump from the French second tier in 2014-15 to becoming one of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s major forces less than a decade later. Paris Basketball, Bourg’s opponent in the BKT EuroCup Finals, was also playing in the second division as recently as 2020-21, too.
For Bourg, it has been on quite the journey. From a team that could not even make the second division playoffs 13 years ago, it now finds itself in uncharted territory as it looks to do something that has long seemed unthinkable: make the leap to the EuroLeague. Although a tricky best-of-three series with Paris awaits, Bourg has been on the right track for some time now, with its progression having been accelerated since the arrival of Coach Fauthoux in the summer of 2022.
Julien Desbottes's project at Bourg
But first, let’s go back to 2012. Julien Desbottes had just become the president of Bourg and the club had experienced back-to-back years of failing to make the playoffs in the second tier. Promotion soon arrived in 2013-14, then Bourg hopped between the first and second divisions before returning to the top flight in 2017-18, where it has been ever since.
The only major title that Desbottes has been able to witness Bourg win since becoming president was the second division trophy in 2016-17, when the club won the league, although he did see the team lift the second division version of the French Cup in 2015-16.
That’s not to say Bourg hasn’t come close to lifting more silverware. The club got to the French Cup final – the first division version – in 2018-19, its second consecutive year back in the first division, but it fell to Strasbourg, 98-97. Then, in 2022-23, it again reached the final but came up short once more, losing 74-83 to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Nevertheless, the club was making noise.
That second French Cup final appearance came in Bourg’s third season in the EuroCup, having debuted in the competition in the 2020-21 campaign. Playing continental basketball in addition to domestic hoops requires more investment, but also a greater demand on everyone involved: those in the front office, the coaches, the players, and even the fans. Yet, it is the only way in which a team can truly take a big step forward.
EuroCup basketball in Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg made a fleeting impression on its first voyage into the EuroCup, going a decent 6-4 in the regular season before a dismal 0-6 in the Top 16. The following year, 2021-22, was rather forgettable for Bourg as it finished second from bottom in the 10-team Group B with a 6-12 record. But things would soon change, with Laurent Legname being shown the door and Bourg president Desbottes taking a chance on Coach Fauthoux, who had just spent two years working as TJ Parker’s assistant at ASVEL, some 80 kilometers down the road.
Sometimes, a coach and a club can be a match made in heaven – and that seems to have been the case for Bourg and Coach Fauthoux. Following a 9-9 regular-season record in 2022-23, with Bourg finishing fifth in Group A, it went on the road and lost at Promitheas Patras in the EuroCup Eighthfinals, 89-75. It was not the result that the club was hoping for, but it was a good test in a single-legged playoff encounter. Domestically, Bourg finished fifth in the French top flight, its joint highest finish, having also come fifth in 2019-20 and 2020-21 – all of which have come under Desbottes’s reign.
And now we come to today. Bourg finds itself fourth in the French first division standings, level record-wise with ASVEL, a club with a budget that is almost three times bigger. In fact, almost everything about ASVEL is bigger: its trophy case, its arena… hell, even the city it plays in. Those in Bourg-en-Bresse, a city with 40,000 inhabitants, have always had to live in the shadow of the half-million population of Lyon, but basketball is firmly putting it on the map.
Courtesy of winning Group B with a 14-4 record, Bourg was able to bypass the eighthfinals, meaning it had already made European history before its quarterfinal tie with Prometey Slobozhanske had got away; never before had the club reached the last eight in European competition. Then, having home-court advantage proved key in the semifinals against Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul, as the decisive Game 3 took place at Ekinox and the 3,540-strong crowd pushed their team on to victory.
Bourg has long been known for being a club from a small city in France, but it now gets the chance to test itself against a highly ambitious team from the capital, Paris. However, all of the pressure is going to be on Paris heading into the EuroCup Finals, which is just how Bourg will like it.
Desbottes put a plan into action 12 years ago and is now seeing the results of what can be achieved with hard work, good decisions and a winning culture. We’ll soon find out if that’s enough to see Bourg win the EuroCup trophy and, with it, secure promotion to the EuroLeague.