The Hawks locker room was in a gloomy mood after their defeat against the Bucks in the first semi-final of this NBA Cup. In full swing for three weeks, the teammates of Zacharie Risacher never managed to find their rhythm. Only Trae Young (35 points at 50%, 10 assists, 7 rebounds) survived but he was too lonely against the duo Giannis Antetokounmpo – Damian Lillard.
Zaccharie Risacher (2 points, 1/3 on shots, in 16 minutes) also came through this match, but he looked encouragingly on his team's performance. For DNA of Sports, the French winger deciphered this defeat, the way in which he experienced this NBA Cup, as well as the Hawks' good performance over the past three weeks.
Zaccharie, your path unfortunately stops one step from the finale. What did you lack today to beat this Milwaukee team?
It's complicated to respond straight away like that. I don't have a magic answer unfortunately but we will watch the video and learn from our mistakes. I think defensively we did a good job but we could have done better, it wasn't perfect. And then we know each other better and better and we know that when we defend very hard, at the back we manage to play quickly and that's where we are strong. So there will definitely be two or three things like that to watch on the video. Overall, we still had a solid match against a big team. We are obviously disappointed but we must continue to build on what we have been doing for several weeks and continue to progress.
It's true that it was your defense that kept you in the match. You never gave up. You feel that little by little, it's becoming the foundation of your gaming identity, right?
Yes that's it. We know that this is the basis of our game. This is where we can really annoy the opposing teams and it also allows us to have a counter-attack and find our rhythm that way. And then, we like to defend so it's really a solid aspect of our game. We have very good defenders, we have players who like to defend so everyone gives their all to these defensive tasks and it's true that it's becoming our identity and it suits us well.
The last time we saw each other was three weeks ago in San Francisco, after your heavy defeat against the Warriors. That evening, Clint Capela told me that he really liked what he saw from the team's defense. Behind you are eight victories in ten matches, what's more against big teams (Boston, Cleveland twice, Milwaukee). What allowed you to do so?
I'm going to follow up a bit on what Clint told you. It's true that we worked a lot on our defense in the first weeks of the season and we knew that it was going to be important for us if we wanted to exist against very high level teams. So everyone was invested because it was our number one priority. And then, as you said, it allowed us to have a good series and to continue against good teams. So, for ten matches we feel that everything is falling into place. We see the success we can have by defending hard and our offensive rhythm also comes from it, so we try to be faithful to this playing identity because it works. And then, in matches like today where things don't “go through”, if we stay true to this identity, it's still positive.
After tonight's meeting, Quin Snyder said that being in this environment of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas was beneficial for the younger players on the team, including you. What did you learn from this experience?
It made me grow up. It's an experience that unfortunately ended prematurely because we had the ambition to go to the final but it's something completely new for me. I had never experienced this in Europe or in France. It's a new format, with a lot of media, highlighting players and very strong teams. So there are a lot of things, whether on or off the field, that can help you develop as a player. So, I take away a lot of positives from it, even if there is also a lot of disappointment at having lost this semi-final.
The format is, however, modeled on what is done in Europe, whether in basketball or football…
It's true, but I was mainly talking about the media aspect because it's true that we have the Leaders Cup… But on the other hand the excitement around these matches and this Final Four is quite particular. Yesterday, for example, we trained in two different rooms. After twenty minutes of training, there were 30, 40 journalists arriving, there were cameras everywhere, interviews. Training was over but there were players who continued to shoot, others who answered questions from journalists. It was really… special.
In general, what do you think of this NBA Cup, and can you feel as soon as you arrive at the room for a group match for example that it is really different from a match which only counts for the regular season?
Indeed, it is different. You feel like everyone wants to win something and the opportunity to be able to win an NBA trophy in the middle of the season, there's nothing better if you want more competitiveness and intensity. Everyone is fighting to get this trophy. There is a lot of intensity, a lot of energy and then with this format, the matches count double in the end. You obviously have one or two big teams in each group and it’s very supported. It's different from a typical regular season game.
Comments collected in Las Vegas.
