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A new derby begins as London takes on Paris

A new derby begins as London takes on Paris

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20 December 20223 Mins read

Geoff Gillingham

A new derby begins as London takes on Paris

A pair of 7DAYS EuroCup newcomers with aspirations of reaching the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague face off at Copper Box Arena on Wednesday night, as the London Lions take on Paris Basketball in a first-ever meeting between the two. The first installment of this derby brings a lot of intrigue for basketball fans around Europe.

Both of these EuroCup newcomers made plenty of headlines in the offseason as they took their projects to the next level. London opted to revamp its entire roster and bring in a higher level of talent, while Paris kept faith with its existing young stars but nevertheless looked to improve by adding more ready-made players ahead of its EuroCup debut.

The signings of former NBA players Sam Dekker and Kosta Koufos by London were heard throughout Europe as a sign that the club's EuroCup project is for real. It wasn't just the arrivals of Dekker and Koufos that caught the eye, however, as Vojtech Hruban, Tomislav Zubcic and Ovie Soko also joined one of the most eye-catching rosters in the competition.

Paris, meanwhile, felt confident in the trio of Kyle Allman, Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate, who had featured together for the team in the French League last season. To add some experience to the mix, the team moved to sign France international Axel Toupane and ex-NBA player Tyrone Wallace. Like London, there were plenty of people were eager to see how Paris would do in Europe's second-best basketball competition.

Fast forward a few months and the two teams are currently in the playoff places in Group B. Paris occupies fourth position with a record of 5-3, while London is in seventh place after going 4-4 in its first eight games. It has been a curious start to life in the EuroCup for both Paris and London, as the French side are 1-3 at home but 4-0 on its travels, whereas the Lions are 2-1 on their home court and 2-3 on the road. It should be interesting to see how they react in this Round 9 matchup, as both teams lost last week after three-game winning streaks.

Paris fell 71-74 at home to Promitheas Patras in Round 8, one day after London got blown out in Turkey against the leader in Group B, losing 102-74 to Turk Telekom Ankara, but with plenty of players performing well at present – Dekker and Koufos for London, and Allman, Begarin and Kamagate for Paris – there is the opportunity for one of the teams to get back on track with a win.

It remains to be seen if either London or Paris can do enough to reach next season's EuroLeague, but the first edition of this derby could be the start of a beautiful rivalry between two teams looking to make a name for themselves in European basketball.