Post by Drew on Apr 19, 2013 21:32:27 GMT -6
Paris, France - Earlier this month when it was announced that the CSP Limoges club would be joining the latest iteration of the prestigious ABCA, the Limousin city was filled with excitement. The majority of the city shut down in order to throw parades in honor of the beloved CSP club. Even with the news of a complete restructuring of the front office, coaching staff, and roster, excitement filled the streets of Limoges. A particular point of pride seemed to stem from the fact that CSP would be the only French team in the ABCA ranks, beating out former Global ABCA team, the Paris Reign. For years, despite great success in LNB Pro A, and virtually every level of European play, CSP Limoges had to live in the shadow of the Reign. Its no surprise then, that the club's decision to hire the long time Paris Reign GM, Drew Kim, has been highly controversial. Walking through the streets of Limoges today, nearly all of the excitement surronding the outlook for the storied CSP franchise seems to have evaporated into thin air.
Founded in 1929, the club is considered to be one of France's most successful basketball clubs. Walking around the city you will see many the number 691 plastered all over city bars, stores, and even worn as patches amongst the younger citizens. This number refers to the 6 French Cups, 9 LNB Pro A titles, and the 1 of course refers to the storied 1993 European championship. Limoges is an anomaly in France, with Basketball far outsripping Soccer in terms of popularity. As one local aptly put it, "this is the one French town where the Bull is certainly more important than the rooster." Perhaps it was thus a bad omen when Kim's first move was an attempt to replace the infamous Limoges Bull mascot with a dog, in order to usher in a new brand for the team. After riots took place outside of the CSP stadium, Kim was forced to issue a public apology with his tail between his legs. "I regret that my decision to move the team in a new direction was met with such strong condemnation, however I still believe that CSP will be top dog in no time." Bad puns aside, the fan base was mostly subdued, while the Limousin press beginning to label Kim as the "Reign's Runaway Runt."
Well Kim has certainly worn out his welcome even further, with the move to trade away the team's early round creation draft picks. Tomorrow's 2nd round will see the team draft 1st and 6th in the round, with no further picks to be made until the 7th round. When asked about the decision to liquidate most of the team's creation draft picks, and ultimately their shot at contention, Kim answered with the following.
"Look, I understand that on paper it looks as though I've shot our team in the foot from the get go. I hear these complaints loud and clear, and to be fair its unlikely that we have any shot at making the playoffs in the couple of seasons. However, this decision was not rashly made over night, but rather reflects a long term plan which I have for the team. We're operating with a hard cap, and while a great amount of talent exists in the creation draft, you'll be paying a very steep salary for largely unproven talent. Liquidating our creation picks the way we did, has put us in a position where we will be amongst the lowest pay rolls in the entire league. We still have our eye on a very exciting prospect with the 31st pick, who we feel will serve as a great franchise player which we can build around. From the get go we were looking to build around players from early in the 2nd round, simply due to the max-level salaries of the 1st rounders. On top of that, our scouts have been very closely watching the upcoming crop of rookies, and we are very high on a number of prospects. I know I've upset a lot of the core fan base, but I beg the CSP faithful to trust me and my staff, as this is certainly all a part of a larger plan."
With that being said, many within the Limoges community have already begun to call for Kim to be replaced. Laurent Bassols, a season ticket holder for over 20 years perhaps put it best when he remarked, "after it was announced that we would be joining the ABCA, I felt like we couldn't be stopped, like a bull running at top speed. Then just like that we have everything taken away from us, as we realize that we weren't chasing the gold, but rather a matador's fake promises."
