Author of 8 points at 2/6 shooting, Evan Fournier was, despite himself, drawn into the general offensive slump of the Blues on Friday evening against Serbia (79-67). Like Nicolas Batum in defense, the former Knicks and Pistons winger nevertheless tried to set an example for his young teammates in the second half.
But the collective performance given by the Blues is far too lacking to deserve even an average, on this test. For Evan Fournier, the attack is still a huge, even worrying, project two weeks before the opening of the Games.
Evan, what is your assessment of this second defeat in a row, a defeat that was hard to swallow but logical in the overall match?
We are far from the mark. We are being dominated, we are not playing as we should. There are many things to say. The problem is clearly the attack, the set-up, the installation, the rhythm, the decision-making and the guys who are in bad positions. The real problem is in attack.
We sometimes feel that you are indecisive in attack, hesitating between individual risk-taking or collective play. How do you feel in this group that is still in formation?
Physically, mentally, I feel good but I'm trying to adapt to what we want to offer. I'm going to have to keep working, to focus on what needs to be done. For me, I have to go up another notch, to be even more aggressive and to unblock situations by myself.
“We don’t know each other enough, we don’t talk to each other enough!”
We have the (bad) feeling that, like last year, the team still lacks cohesion and strong connections within it. What do you think is wrong?
At the start of the campaign, we are insisting a lot on the desire to play inside, but for us to be at our best, we will need a lot of alternation. We, the outside players, must do a better job on the installation. But the inside players must help us so that we give them the ball. [dans de bonnes conditions]. I don't think playing directly in the low post is our strength.
What did you think of the performance of your opponents this evening, Serbia?
Serbia is very strong. We know they will be there. The Germans [futurs adversaires de la France en phase de groupes]Canadians too. Actually, apart from one or two countries, everyone can claim the podium at these Olympic Games. And it's very good that we're playing Serbia now, to see what we have to do.
What's not working in attack? Does the fact that you've brought new players into the team (including three in the starting five) still disrupt the balance?
Offensively, it was poor from A to Z. It's true that there are new players but that's not an excuse. We have an installation problem [du jeu]announcement [des systèmes]we don't know each other enough, we don't talk to each other enough. There is a problem with setting up screens, a problem with marking out, the fundamentals in fact!
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