Le Portel heavily defeated in Nanterre: Kenny Grant sounds the alarm

Le Portel ended its preparation with a heavy defeat in Nanterre (98-65) on Wednesday evening. Struggling in all areas, ESSM never looked convincing, revealing its shortcomings before the season opener against Monaco. Kenny Grant didn’t hide his concerns, pointing out a physical deficit and still fragile team chemistry.

Kenny Grant realistic about his team’s condition

Without Ivan Février and with Greg Lee still not fully fit, Kenny Grant observed his group’s limitations in Hauts-de-Seine. « I’m still looking to play a complete game and we saw in this context that we lack size. We didn’t show the physical presence needed to compete. When you lose by this much, it’s hard to find positives », he told La Voix du Nord.

After three wins to start preseason, ESSM has now suffered three consecutive losses and faces a stark reality: « We are not ready. To survive this season, we need to quickly improve our rebounding and team chemistry », added the Le Portel coach.

Ebunangombe, the bright spot

The only bright spot in Le Portel’s difficult evening was the performance of young Christopher Ebunangombe (1.96m, 18 years old). After scoring 12 points against Murcia, the 18-year-old point guard/shooting guard repeated with 17 points and real offensive confidence. « His fighting spirit and scoring gave us some weight », praised Kenny Grant.
But the defense remains concerning: after conceding 100 points against Murcia, then 88 against Boulazac, ESSM allowed 98 against Nanterre.

Nine days to correct course

With Saturday’s game against Louvain being cancelled, Le Portel won’t play again before the official season opener on September 28 against Monaco. The remaining nine days of training will be crucial to hope to raise the team’s level.