It has now been 16 games since Toumani Camara established himself in the Blazers' top five. Because the Belgian rookie from Portland has become the defensive specialist for Chauncey Billups' team.
Since the start of the season, he thus defended on 22 All-Stars : from Luka Doncic (49 possessions) to Lauri Markkanen (42) via Stephen Curry (40) or Kawhi Leonard (31) and Anthony Davis (20).
Yesterday, in the victory against the Suns, his first mission was to slow down Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
“I like it, especially as a rookie. It shows the level of confidence he (Chauncey Billups) has in me, like all the staff and my teammates. These are guys that I trained with all summer, defended all summer. I know a little bit about what they do, I've watched videos of what they do. That's what I do against every opponent: I focus on the task I've been given and what I need to do. »
Because like Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara faced his former team. The native of Brussels had in fact been chosen by the Suns (52nd choice) during the last Draft, before accompanying the pivot to Oregon.
A Summer League catching up on your workout
Frank Vogel also confided that he had “beaten a lot” not to include the rookie in the exchange…
” I love it. This was one of the difficult elements of the exchange. As a rookie, on a team of veterans, we had the feeling that he was going to bring us this youth, this energy, to balance things out. We really liked him as a prospect. We tested him, we drafted him. And when we had him in the gym, and we saw him in Summer League, we were even more excited. But hey, in this league, to get something good, you have to let go of something good. We wish him the best. »
For his part, Chauncey Billups admitted that Toumani Camara had not made a very strong impression on him during his workout in Portland, before the Draft. But he regretted having passed over the Belgian after seeing him play in Summer League. “I was like, 'Damn, this kid is good, he's really good. He's active, he sees things well, he's tough.' I hadn't seen that during the workout but that's why you can't bet everything on the workouts, you have to see the guys play. »
Error repaired, now, thanks to the transfer between Deandre Ayton and Jusuf Nurkic.
| Toumani Camara | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2023-24 | POR | 25 | 25 | 41.0 | 29.5 | 67.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.4 |
| Total | 25 | 25 | 41.0 | 29.5 | 67.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.4 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
