Having moved from Real Madrid to Anadolu Efes in the summer, Vincent Poirier explains this choice which may have surprised more than one. Quite simply, the former pivot of the Blues wanted to take advantage of a bigger role.
“Efes offered me the possibility of being a more important player than at Madrid. I say that in terms of playing time and impact on the game” the Frenchman answers Eurohoops. “Efes is a team that has big goals, that tries to get back to the Final Four level and win the EuroLeague. There are also players here who know how to be a champion, who have won the championship twice. So Efes was a great choice for me, to enjoy playing basketball. I'll be honest with you, I was really uncomfortable after a few games in Madrid. I wanted to have more opportunities to show that I could do better. So I took on a new challenge. It won't be easy, but I'm not afraid, I've already changed teams.”
While his daughter remained in Madrid, and he was aware that it would be difficult to live with, Poirier revealed that he had sounded out Evan Fournier to join him in Turkey. “I spoke with him to see if he was interested in Efes. Of course, he had an offer from Olympiakos at the time and our squad was complete.”
Same level as Pro B in France
Poirier was also asked about the controversy of the week started by Juan Anderson Toscano. The latter explained that the G-League was the second best championship in the world. The former Warrior was criticized from all sides, and he had to explain himself. Precisely, Poirier is very well placed to talk about the G-League since he played there when he was with the Celtics.
“I spoke with some friends about his comments and I also saw the tweets from Evan (Fournier) and Mike James” continues Poirier. “Maybe he said that to motivate his team, but it shows how hard all the European teams play. Malaga is not even a Euroleague team, but they beat the best team in the G League. I don’t think the G League is a real league. For the NBA, I don’t know what’s more valuable: the G-League or the Euroleague? But I think the G-League is probably on the same level as the Pro B in France or something like that. No disrespect, that’s how it is, I played there too. I know players who went to Europe and were much better than when they played in the G-League. There’s a bit of everything in there.”
