Poitiers Basket 86, also known as PB86 or simply Poitiers, are a French professional basketball team located in the city of Poitiers, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The team competes in the Élite 2 league, the second tier of professional basketball in France. The home games are played at Salle de Saint-Éloi, and the home colors and uniforms are white and blue.
History Poitiers Basket 86 was founded in 2004, following the merging of two teams - CEP Poitiers and Stade Poitevin. The club began its first season in Nationale 3 with Grégory Thiélin as head coach and ranked at a promising 5th place at the end of the season. The following year, the team was promoted to the LNB Pro B, making it the first team ever from Poitiers to play at a professional level. The 2006/2007 season was difficult for the team which finished 13th.
During the 2007/2008 season, Ruddy Nelhomme was named head coach. He kept the following French players (Costentin, Devéhat, Gomez, Guillard, Maynier) and recruited two Americans from Brest (Younger and Gunn), the experimented Thomas Darnauzan and some young players from the under-20 team (Kanté, Florimont, Dienepo, Dalmat).
In salle Lawson Body, Poitiers began its second season with the ambition of doing well in its second professional season. At the end of the regular season, the team finished third and gained access to the playoffs but eventually lost in the final against Besançon.
In the 2008/2009 season, Poitiers qualified for the playoffs once again, by finishing second during the regular season. The team won the Final against Limoges and was promoted to Pro A.
The team's first year in LNB Pro A was a success. It won its first match away against Nancy. At the end of the regular season, Poitiers beat ASVEL and became the last team to enter the playoffs. For the first time ever, the defending champion didn't qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, the club was eliminated during the quarterfinals by Cholet, the season's champion. At the end of the match, Sylvain Maynier announced the end of his career. During the 2010/2011 season, Poitiers eventually stayed in Pro A following a victory against Hyères-Toulon in the last match of the season. The team finished at the 14th place with 12 wins and 18 defeats.
For the 2011/2012 season, JJ Miller joined the team.
Ruddy Nelhomme was elected best coach of Pro B during the 2008/2009 season and best coach of Pro A the following year. He was then named Assistant Coach for the French basketball team during the World Championship in Turkey and for the EuroBasket 2011, where France reached the final.
Poitiers Basket is known for its innovative communication, becoming the first sport club to create a TV show (Vis mon Match), broadcast on the website of the team. Several thousands of people watched the show which was then shown in a movie theater for two days. Poitiers fans have been elected the most fair-play of Pro A three times in a row.
Season by season
SeasonTierLeagueFrench CupOther competitions2009–101 Pro A 8th2010–111 Pro A 14th2011–121 Pro A 13th2012–131 Pro A 16th2013–142 Pro B 3rd2014–152 Pro B12th2015–162 Pro B8th 2016–172 Pro B10th 2017–182 Pro B 16th 2017–182 Pro B 9th
Arenas The club plays its domestic matches at Salle Saint-Eloi (2,700 seats). However, some matches are held at Les Arênes and allows for a larger audience (4,800 seats).
Roster
Head coaches NameTenure Grégory Thiélin 2004–2007 Ruddy Nelhomme 2007–2019 Andrew Thornton-Jones 2020–present
Notable players
Honours LNB Pro B Winners (1): 2008–09 Nationale Masculine 1 Winners (1): 2005–06
References
External links Official Website Eurobasket.com Team Page Webshow "Vis mon match"