Vincent Poirier gave BasketNews a French language lesson after an incredible Final Four win against Barcelona.
At the same time, three Frenchmen delivered an excellent basketball lecture for Barcelona and all the EuroLeague fans that night.
The passion, intensity, clutchness, and character were focal points of that class, which took Real Madrid to the EuroLeague final 86-83.
"Venez, on leur marche dessus!" In French, it means something like, "Come on, let's walk them over!"
That probably was said when Real started a remarkable EuroLeague title theft.
Barcelona were up by 11 with 5:19 to play in the third quarter (54-43). But Fabien Causeur scored 5 points in a row and sparked the Royal club to a 17-2 run. An experienced guard put his team in front before the decisive quarter, 60-56.
Three French players, Fabien Causeur, Vincent Poirier, and Guerschon Yabusele, scored or assisted in all 17 Real points in that stretch.
Causeur scored seven during that run, 9 in total for the third quarter, to turn the game around.
"We lost Nigel Williams-Goss very early, so I knew that our rotation would be limited. Adam Hanga got quick fouls in the third too, so I told myself I have to be aggressive," Causeur explained.
"I wasn't aggressive enough in the first half. I watched how the game would go, and if [the moment] would come, I'd start going. But it wasn't coming, so I had to get it," he continued.
Yabusele joined him, matching his career-high four 3-pointers to go for 18 points. And these were really tough shots, that required skill and guts.
Vincent Poirier brought his signature energy on the court, which translated into blocks, offensive rebounds, putbacks, and two powerful dunks that destroyed Barca's confidence in the last minutes of the game.
He went scoreless in the first half and finished the game with 6 points, five rebounds (2 ORB), and three blocks.
And when Barcelona returned to the game behind a couple of Nicolas Laprovittola threes with 2:43 to play (75-75), the unofficial 2018 Final Four MVP showed up.
