Having romped to the finals, Paris will now face one of two teams it has lost to this season.
Near-flawless Paris knows well its potential EuroCup Finals foes
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Paris Basketball steamrolled into the BKT EuroCup Finals with a comprehensive run in the playoffs, having beaten Jovtentut Badalona 86-70 on home court in the quarterfinals followed by an impressive 2-0 sweep of London Lions in their best-of-three semifinal series.
The French franchise, which is aiming for its first trophy in European competition, brushed aside the Lions 99-86 at home and then 85-93 on the road, having fought back from a 45-39 halftime deficit in Game 2 with a vintage second-half performance that drew heaps of praise from head coach Tuomas Iisalo.
The 41-year-old Finn, who took over at Paris during the off-season after spending the previous two years at German side Telekom Baskets Bonn, highlighted that the fightback epitomized a team mindset that had been instilled from day one of his tenure.
"We've worked for this very hard since August and the guys put in an enormous amount of effort," Iisalo told the post-game press conference after his team forced the Lions into submission in Game 2.
"We were in a hole today and it feels even better to do it that way because it gives us a lot of confidence. We've done that several times already, it's been an incredible season for us, and now we've got to find a way to get two more (wins).
"Offensive rebounding has been one of our biggest strengths this season but in the first half, London dominated us with 7 offensive boards. In the end we caught up and solidified our defense in the second half. At halftime we were pretty [disappointed] because we all felt we had a golden opportunity here, but it was an incredible second half as the guys locked in and started getting one stop after another."
Next up, Bourg or Besiktas
In the best-of-three finals, Paris will clash with either compatriots Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse or Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul, which are locked 1-1 in their semifinal series ahead of next Wednesday's tie-breaker in Bourg.
As it happens, both sides have been banana skins for the seemingly invincible Paris.
Besiktas gave the French team its sole blemish in the EuroCup with a 63-68 victory in Paris during the regular season. Paris won the reverse fixture 72-95, with TJ Shorts leading the way on 23 points as the visitors got sweet revenge for slipping up the first time round.
Paris also has met Bourg twice in the French League regular season, wining 83-78 at home before losing 83-81 away against a team that would clearly constitute awkward opposition just as much in the EuroCup final.
Volumes of character
Last but not least, Paris will also be wary of the experience of outgoing champion Dreamland Gran Canaria, which lost to Bourg late in the regular season and then crashed out in the eighthfinals with a shock 78-80 home defeat by Besiktas.
Iisalo has plenty of reasons to be optimistic though, as he kept his feet firmly on the ground after a job well done against London, refusing to get carried away by his team's rock-solid performance in the series.
"We are very proud of being a very strong collective, on and off the court," he said. "These guys get along incredibly well and it comes from a mutual experience of very tough training. They trust each other and are able to lean on each other in very tough situations, [the Game 2 win over London] being a very good example of that."
Iisalo made it clear that his team will be practicing just as hard with the extra time earned by its semifinals sweep in order to be fully ready for whichever finals opponent it faces.
"Big credit to the London Lions, they are very talented and play hard. They are an extremely tough opponent and very well coached. Those are the teams that tell you most about yourself," the Paris boss said. "They expose your weakest links and it's then up to the training process to fix that. We've shown a will and resolve to win as this team has volumes of character and never backs down."