French basketball is actually pretty good.

In the newspaper a while back there was an advert for the Disneyland Paris leaders cup. What is the Leaders Cup I hear you ask? It's a mid-season basketball tournament organised by the LNB (Ligue nationale de Basket) replacing the semaine des As. So I grabbed a ticket for the final, and thought it would be something quite fun to go see.  Turns out, I was hooked throughout the entire 3 day competition.  So essentially it's a tournament which begins on Friday with quarter finals, then on sunday moves to a semi-final stage before the final on the sunday. It's pretty intense and lends itself to who is the best at recovering after a game.

Upon discovering the teams invited (Le Mans, Roanne, Gravelines-Dunkerque, Lyon-Villeurbanne, Strasbourg, Orléans, Paris-Levallois and Chalon-Saone) I took to Paris being a local team. They did pretty well but got knocked out in the semi-final round. The matchup I would be seeing was Gravelines-Dunkerque vs Strasbourg.

I arrived nice and early to the Disney Event Arena (where the competition would be taking place), and pretty quickly discovered that directly behind my seat was the buzzer. Everytime it went off, I would be getting gradually going deaf. Hurray! Second thing I noticed, the angle of seating was very strange. If the person in front of you stood up, you'd be seeing diddly squat.

I then happened to be sat behind Strasbourg supporters, who had those wacky party hooter things. 40-50 of those going off near you hurts your ears. To be honest, I wasn't cheering for anyone especially, but I went for the slight connection of Dunkerque being the closest team to where I am from.

A few notes about the event: Whilst it was being held at Disneyland, it wasn't overly Disney. They played the parade music a little bit, and the half time show was High School Musical dance troops.  But other than that, pretty normal. The match was not as competitive as the final scoreline would suggest. Dunkerque was always the better side, at half time it was already looking like the result was decided. Credit to Strasbourg for never giving up, or their supporters (Ear ache). Dunkerque took the early points, extended an early lead and then whenever Strasbourg scored a point, Dunkerque reacted with the same.


Conclusion: French basketball is highly competitive with an enthusiastic crowd. I had a great time and I reckon I'll probably attempt to go see a Paris-Levallois game before the end of the year.