[Translation] Interview of Evan Fournier by First Team : The Knicks, his new life in New York, Julius Randle & Tom Thibodeau

 

The French Media, First Team , published the 6th of March on their Youtube channel an interview of Evan Fournier. The interview seems to have been recorded the 15th of February, before the All Star Game. Here is a full translation of the interview for the english-speaking Knicks fans.

First Team: Hello Evan, thanks for welcoming us in your apartment in Manhattan. You made the choice of living your New York experience form the heart of the Big Apple.

Evan Fournier: Yes, we wondered for a while with my wife because you get into a specific rythm once you live in a house and you have more space, a garden... We spent 7 years in a big house in Orlando and the training facilities are in Westchester where it is more residential. But we said, ''Come one let's do it. We don't know how long we'll be in New York, we might as well live the New York dream''. For me that's the real new yorker experience and it's a blast.

FT: When you signed for the Knicks, there was the professional opportunity but also the personal one, because it seems like you really love NYC...

EF: It's my favourite city in the US. Actually, it's my favourite period, outside Paris. There is something different here, an energy, a vibe. First time we visited NY with Laura, I remember her telling me ''I hope one day we'll get to live here''. Having my son growing up here, playing in MSG, my wife building her life here, it's a golden opportunity. We hope it lasts as long as possible.

FT: You mentioned MSG, and you just told us you go to the Arena in your electric scooter...

EF: I live so close, it's a 7 minute ride. It's a bit cold to be honest. I do not have a parking spot in my building and by the time I get to my car, plus traffic, it's just way faster. I put on loads of layers, hat, balaclava and so on and here I go!

FT: It's been 6 months since you signed here, di you regret your choice? Is it everything you had expected?

EF: I do not regret anything at all. Everything about the city is exactly how I pictured it. Now I won't lie, I had hoped the team would be doing better., but we love it here. It is just different to live here compare to just visiting. You can definitely enjoy the city in a new and better way.

FT: About this Knicks season. Watching it from France, we expected better. Are you disappointed yourself?

EF: You can't be happy. Specially after our strong start of the season. We had big goals as a team and clearly we are far from them. There is still a little under 30 games (at the time of the itw, editor's note).

FT: The season started with that crazy game against the Celtics at home...

EF: This was special. During warm up you could sense the atmosphere was electric. Everybody was there. Stephen A was courstside, all the stars. I could tell it had nothing to do with any game I had played before. I keep a very fond memory of it. The fans really welcomed me in with that performance and it gave me a lot of confidence about playing in MSG.

FT: By the way, do the Celtics owe you money or what?

EF: Coincidence, I think it's a coincidence. Maybe the way they play defense that suits me well. A lot of reporters kept asking me the same question and I really don't know.

FT: Going back to the court, how do you feel being a partof of this team? Do you understand your role?

EF: It took me a while to get my bearings. I was very inconsistant at the beginning. And I was insconsistent because the way we all played as a team was inconsistent. So it was tough to find my rythm. It's often the issue with teams that have to incorporate a lot of new players. Kemba and I entered in the starting five, and even Mitch (Mitchell Robinson, e-n) who was injured last year. It's three players to add to a starting unit and it takes time. I am currently playing my best month of basketball so far this season, I am starting to find consistency and rythm. That's my take on it, it's going better and better for me. Now I just want us to win.

FT: Correct me if I'm wrong but when you signed this summer, you were meant to be the 2nd offensive option. We struggle to see the kind of systems and looks you were getting in Orlando where you were the clear 1st or 2nd option with Vucevic. It does not seem so clear with the Knicks.

EF: That is why I keep saying we lack rythm. If you look at our starting five, we can all score. Kemba Walker, RJ Barrett, myself, Julius Randle that did an amazing season last year... But we can't get the best out of the group at the moment. We are taking turns, if one guy is hot he will get fed... I think that's the key to our season to maximise out potential: understand we can all play well together and make each other better. Again, adding important players to a roster will do that. Not exactly the same situation but when you take a look at the Lakers this season you see a lot of that. We all know Russell Westbrook is a better player than what he is showing this year. But they cannot seem to work together well.

FT: Is there a real hierarchy behind Julius Randle?

EF: This is not a thing. In 10 years in the NBA, I have never heard ''this guy is 1st option, this guy is 2nd option...''.

FT: So that's a media creation?

EF: You create a hierarchy indirectly. With the minutes and the play calls. Once you are out on the court, we all are dangerous NBA players, pretty much all of us have proven we can be. The court is the court, if you get a good look, you take it. I've never seen a hierarchy, it's something that comes naturally and that evolves along the season.

FT: Let's talk about the Kemba Walker situation as you know him well from your time in Boston. He started the season, then was out of the rotation, then came back and played well. How did you feel about the way the Front Office handled it? As a player, didn't you think to yourself ''What the hell are they doing?'' ?

EF: When we signed Kemba I was super happy because he is now a good friend of mine. It wasn't easy seeing him on the bench. You know the player and what he is capable of. Everybody was like ''his knee is gone, his knee is gone'', but last year with Boston he was scoring 20 ppg next to Jaylen brown & Jayson Tatum. So I think he was doing ok. He came home and this was a good story. Now I think it's been even harder for him to adapt. He is the point guard but he is not really playing like he was in Charlotte or Boston. He is not playing as much and therefore lacks rythm. It's very hard to ask a player to do something he has never done before, with a limited playing time, and expect him to be perform and be efficient. It's cruel but also, it's what the NBA is about. You'll be judged on the way you play for the amount of time you get. That is how you realise that a very efficient role player who plays 15 minutes, it takes real skills. If Kemba gets back into a rythm, he would make us better for sure.

FT: At the Point Guard position, you had Kemba, Thibodeau tried Alec Burks, there is also Quickley who's a loose cannon, and I mean it in a good way. There is no floor general that you would like to have on your team.

EF: I've never played with that type of PGs anyway. Nowadays most are scoring PGs. The only point guard that I played with that was really an initiator was Andre Miller but he wasn't playing much.

FT: But isn't there an issue at that poisition?

EF: No there isn't. Our PG is Kemba, he is one hell of a player isn't he?

FT: But was he what that team needed?

EF: Yes! We just need to figure out a way to play well together. The only organising PG in the NBA today, that's Chris Paul and he is one of a kind. You need an agressive point guard that can score and take big shots. If not, no one will guard him and you won't get any mismatch. You can get your offense in rythm without that old school type of PG. We are in an  era where everybody can take a pick'n roll, everybody can be agressive. It's down to every single player to make the right play, make the right pass, the right skip... There is more and more combo guards and more players that can play multiple positions on the court. You just got to make the right reads. When I am in the French national team and I share the ball with Nando (DeColo, e-n) and Nico (Batum, e-n), there is no real point guard but we can all read the game well. And that's what we need to aim for with the Knicks.

FT: With Team France, I have never seen you open on the wing waving your arms like you do often this season. 

EF: To be honest, I needed time to adapt to my teammates and they needed time to adapt to me too. Now they know if I am open in the corner, I don't need a lot of space to shoot. I am starting to create a good connection with Julius and our two-man game is getting better. In the NBA, we all love to score and be agressive so sometimes we mess up. It has to be within reason that's all.

FT: Talking about Julius Randle, from afar it's a bit concerning. He had a huge season last year, maybe touching already his ceiling. It looks like he struggles to live up to it. And his connection with you seems complicated.

EF: Really?

FT: Yes!

EF: Why?

FT: Some gestures, passes that should get to you but don't. It really looks like something is not clicking. And I would love to hear your version.

EF: It's funny you say that because I get along really well with Julius. Without him, I would get way way less opportunities. So I'm really happy he plays and that we have a good relationship. He creates a lot of good looks for me. We are starting to get a very interesting two-man game. You have to put yourslef in his shoes. They finished 4th last season, with home advantage in the Playoffs. Yes they lost, but they finished 10 games above .500. He is an All Star, All NBA Second Team, every possession goes through him, it's his best season by a mile. And we sell him the project of bringing more talent to improve the team, but he ends up losing, getting less looks and be less efficient. It's only natural that he is frustrated. I think you are thinking about the time he pushed me at half time of a game, is that it?

FT: Not only that because that can happen, but overall on the court...

EF: To be honest, Julius has a lot of heart. He is very emotional. Everything he feels you can see in his body-language. And you know me, I am not the type to stay quiet if I see something, I talk to him, tell him to move on... And he reacts to it that's normal. So I find it funny you would have that perception.

FT: Do you talk to him about that added pressure of being the go-to guy of the newly ambitious Knicks?

EF: We did not talk about this season. He is so committed and attentive to every single detail, he wants to win, the team to play well... He might actually be trying to do too much, maybe he should block-out some stuff. Also, the fact that he got booed a lot his first year here, I think it might have...

FT: This season too..

EF: Not that much, compare to what he told me about his first season. It's borderline a trauma. In the locker room I remember Taj (Gibson, e-n) saying how he got booed about to take a free throw to win the game. I think he kept that in him and that drives him to always do better. And as it is not going the way we wanted, it's tough.

FT: Maybe the coming of age of RJ Barrett, that seems to be the natural future franchise player, is messing with him too?

EF: You're reaching. I think you're overthinking it. The player that creates the most for us is Julius. Then again what the Front Office has in mind, we don't know. They can do whatever they want. It's like trade rumors, you can't be bothered by that.

FT: You were in a lot of trade rumors yourself for someone who was there only 6 months.

EF: What difference does it make if I am here 7 years or 6 months? You hope you won't get traded because you like it here and you don't want to move with your wife and your kid. In Orlando the last two years, I was in every trade rumor too. This type of things leave me unimpressed, really.

FT: Back to RJ Barrett. He is having a great year, it really feels like he is becoming a real good NBA player.

EF: Yes he really is. Tough for me to assess how big a leap he made because I wasn't there last year. But he's got better month by month at creating his own shot and staying efficient. But his game is still revolving a lot around driving, his left hand and his strength. Where he clearly can become way better is his outside shot, it's not a secret. When he is going to be able to create his own shot without pick'n roll and all that, that's when he's going to take a big step. He is having a great season so far. He is productive, agressive on defense and also he is a great kid.

FT: Speaks French too.

EF: Yes he does speak a bit of French. Overall, I am very happy for him.

FT: The team is missing its former 2011 MVP, Derrick Rose. We know he is the quiet type, but can you tell us about the type of leader he is?

EF: D-Rose is one of a kind. If you were to meet him tomorrow and you don't know who he is, you'd think he is a nobody, because of how discreet he is. He is never showing off when the man is an MVP, the youngest MVP ever. He is a unique personallity. When he talks everybody listens and he always has something very interesting to say when you go talk to him.  It's great to be able to be around him, see his routine. He's a great guy.

FT: I see alot of offensive-minded players on this roster, but you have a coach that is famous for being the apostle of Defense. Did you perceive this in his approach?

EF: That's all we talk about so, yes. That's his signature as a coach. He has that philosophy, fight on the 50/50 balls, hustle plays... That kind of warrior spirit. He's got the persona that goes with it. The big voice, the big body.

FT: A defensive coach with a lot of offensive-minded players, can it really work though?

EF: I would say 75% of my coaches were like that. Scott Skyles, Clifford, Frank Vogel, Thibs...  The only offensive coach I had was George Karl my Rookie Year and I didn't play much. But I love this type of coaches, they're tough and they tell you things the way they are, with a certain charisma. The most important thing in the NBA is to be able to adapt. You have to understand the situation you're in and make the most out of it. This year I am asked to do a lot of catch & shoot. Would I prefer having the ball more in my hands? Well I guarantee if you ask that to 250 NBA players, they will all say ''Yes give me the ball''. So when I saw that, I decided to make the most of it. I got better on my catch & shoot with little space. There is always opportunity for growth as a player.

FT: The All Star Game is approaching. Do you feel like you are getting better as a team?

EF: In our offense yes, but we are playing bad defense at the minute. It's usually like that and it's a cycle. We have to put it together for 48 minutes. We need to be good on both sides of the ball. Like we did in Golden State, you don't beat the Warriors in their home without playing good defense. We need to find our cruising speed, a way of playing that's sustainable. Every team can make a one-day upset but the longer term is what's difficult. Sometimes, it's very small things. When you see Cleveland this year, they're having a great season. But they're not as talented as us.

FT: When things go bad for the Knicks, it's way tougher to deal with than in any other team in any other market. Do you agree with that?

EF: No I don't. But then again, I don't read the press, I don't listen to what people say and focus on what I have to do.

FT: What relationship do you have with the New York media then?

EF: I always try to understand their perspective. They have a job to do. As long as your questions are thoughtful and respectful, I will always answer. The only times I would get angry would be someone who disrespect me. But they are all pros, some are here for 10, 20 years. They deserve a professional answer.

FT: Today, you are outside of the play in. Do you still hope of finishing in the Top 6?

EF: Top 6 seems complicated now.

FT: You realise that?

EF: Yes, we are taking it game by game. It's the cliché game by game, important thing is the 3 points... (european football reference, e-n). We need to win.

FT: So everything for the play-in?

EF: Yes, again Top 6 seems out of reach. In early March we have another big road-trip. It will be complicated but it's possible. Last road trip we lost against the Lakers in OT, Utah we lost after leading the whole game, Portland we were up 22... We're close. We need to be more consistant. Game by game. Don't talk to me about play-in. Tomorrow it's Brooklyn and that's it.

FT: Thanks a lot Evan.