FRA - More good times for Nanterre

PARIS (Euroleague) - There is a phenomenon on the basketball court in France, and it's dressed in green and white.

JSF Nanterre, just several months after an unexpected run to a first LNB title, are now underlining their status as the new powers in the country, reeling off six consecutive domestic victories in as many games to start the 2013-14 French campaign.

The club has also sprung the biggest upset of the season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, winning at Barcelona last week, 71-67.

No one should dismiss Nanterre as the first-timers try to advance to the Top 16.

"We proved that everything is possible," Pascal Donnadieu, the Nanterre coach, said.

"This win legitimates us in the Euroleague and makes us feel very happy."

Nanterre didn't stand pat in the close season ahead of their first Euroleague campaign.

Among their most important signings was Ukraine international Sergii Gladyr, a sharpshooter who was instrumental in his country's EuroBasket 2013 run in Slovenia.

The 1.97m shooting guard had the best experience of his national team career, playing with fire and determination as Ukraine finished sixth to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"We're going to play hard, and we're going to be more experienced," Gladyr recently said to FIBA.com, when asked about the World Cup.

"We're still going to be ambitious, and still young. We're going to try and do the same thing that we did at the EuroBasket, go hard every day and try to do what's possible."

This is the same attitude that can be seen with all of the Nanterre players.

Just as Ukraine had a chip on their shoulder, eager to prove they belong among the top teams in Europe, Nanterre are also driven by the need to show they deserve to be at the top table of the club game on the old continent.

Gladyr was a perfect fit for Nanterre.

What Nanterre have been able to do in France this year is capture the imagination of an entire country.

You know you've arrived when the fans of another team applaud your efforts.

Over the weekend, Nanterre played at Cholet and the local fans gave them an ovation before tip-off.

Nanterre then rolled to a 79-59 victory.

"I didn't really expect an ovation from the crowd before the game," Donnadieu said.

"It was great since it's in one of the gyms in France that breathes basketball the most."

Nanterre also heard applause as they walked off the court.

"The ovation when we walked out is one of the biggest rewards," he said.

"It gave me goosebumps and it was very nice."

Donnadieu and the Nanterre players can expect to have even more goosebumps this week when they play in front of their own fans against Budivelnik.

FIBA