Arrived this summer at the Knicks with stars in his eyes, in a Madison Square Garden which has always surrounded him, Evan Fournier made a complicated start to the season (like his entire team, 53% of victories after 15 games ), despite a fiery first meeting against the Celtics. A few hours away from facing the Rockets, the dunces of the Western Conference, the Olympic finalist with the France team agreed to answer questions from 20 minutes and colleagues from Figaro.
For fans of Ant and NBA, know that the Knicks-Rockets game will be broadcast on Saturday evening in prime time, at 11:30 p.m. on beIN SPORTS, as part of the NBA Saturdays presented by NBA 2K21. There you are, you know everything. The floor is now over to Evan Fournier, our favorite ambianceur who delighted us this summer in Japan.
How do you approach this match against the Rockets, in total galley at the start of the season? We say to ourselves that it is the ideal expiatory victim or, on the contrary, what would be the worst way to approach the match than to say that?
We are not in a position where we can afford to look down on our opponents. We had a very good start to the season with very big away victories against top-of-the-table teams, and losses against teams like Orlando, yesterday. [jeudi, les Knicks ont perdu face aux Magics 98-104], who are among the worst in the league, so at the moment we’re fickle. We’re trying to build something over time, so we can’t afford to look at the opponents like that. We just need to have a serious match.
On Saturday, you play exceptionally at 11:30 p.m. (French time). It is an affordable schedule for the French public. Does it change anything in the way you approach the game?
Well that’s cool for my friends (laughs), but otherwise, honestly, I don’t think about it too much. Anyway, even at 11:30 p.m., only basketball fans will be watching! It’s not prime time TV either, so no, it doesn’t change much in my approach to the game.
After a very promising start to the season, your last performances are certainly not at the level you hoped for. How do you cope with this situation?
Look, I’m in a different situation, I’m going to have to adapt. I’m going to have to think about how I can have an impact on the game, how I can play my game and how to help the team as much as possible. Because that’s the only way I’ll get my feelings back and really get back on the ground. It’s true that I’m not happy with myself, I can’t say the opposite, but it’s part of the ups and downs of a season. And then, casually, it’s only been three weeks [que la saison a débuté], but in the NBA we know that things are going very quickly. It suffices that there are two or three positive matches and presto, the machine is launched.
We talk a lot about alchemy issues in the starting 5, how do you see that from your side?
Arf, that’s a complicated question… It starts with individualities. That is to say that individually, we must manage to be more efficient, to play better, to play in a more liberated manner. But at the same time, we need to be able to play well together at the same time. Afterwards, the positive point is that we showed that we knew how to do it in the first six games. [les Knicks ont commencé la saison par 5 victoires pour une défaite], so we know it’s something we are capable of doing. It’s not like we’re new and our first 20 games have been a real pain. In these cases, you ask yourself serious questions, like “can this group do something?” “. No, this is not the case, we showed that we could play very well together and that we could do great things. You just have to move your ass and do it, that’s all.
You arrived in a team coming out of an interesting season, with a coach (Tom Thibodeau) who did well in his first year, with a big defense, but who rowed a little more in the opposing camp. Does it put particular pressure to say that we were recruited to change this state of affairs?
No. When a team recruits a player, it is so that he remains himself. I don’t need to reinvent myself, to do things that I don’t know how to do. I’m not the type to ask myself too many questions so, no, honestly, I was just happy to get to the Knicks, nothing more.
Lately you often end the last quarter on the bench. Is this something you discuss with the coach, to find out why he is making this choice?
No, we haven’t talked about it. To be honest, I don’t need that sort of thing explained to me, I’m not ten years old anymore, I don’t need reassurance or explanation. I always try to ask myself the right questions. How do I play? How can I help the team? How can I do more? I think it starts with that. And, overall, our 5 major is not playing very well at the moment. Not good at all, even… It’s not just me. We were several to finish the match on the bench, there was Julius [Randle] with me there was Barrett, there was Kemba Walker too. So there you have it, it’s something collective, we have to get our fingers out of our asses together and it will do it.
Okay, we’re still going to end on a happy note. Can you tell us about this incredible first match against the Celtics, in a crazy Madison Square Garden? We remember your tweet where you wondered where you had set foot!
What did I get myself into? 😂🤣😂🤣 https://t.co/4kujA9jYBj
– Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) October 21, 2021
Yeah, it was really a beautiful night, there was an exceptional atmosphere at Madison, two overtime, my debut against my old Boston team, pfff… It was an atmosphere that I had never experienced before ( He reflects)… Apart from maybe the semi-final France-Spain in Lille, where there were I do not know how many people, 25,000 I believe. [26.922, pour être précis]. But in the NBA, it’s the biggest atmosphere I have experienced and it will remain a sacred memory. And to be honest, I would love to relive evenings like this quickly (laughs)!