Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
Knicks' Evan Fournier Wants EuroBasket Changes on French and Wider Level
If Evan Fournier is looking for change, he'll be most pleased when he returns from EuroBasket endeavors with the French national team: the New York Knicks team he team he's temporarily left behind no longer features names like Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, and Kemba Walker, veteran departures that have given way to Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and draft pick Trevor Keels.
But Fournier wants some immediate change in his current European endeavors, one that would channel some of the new scheduling innovations the NBA has adopted. The French captain has taken issue with the number of back-to-back games on the international tournament's schedule, claiming the physicality of the European games makes consecutive games more tenuous.
"Back-to-backs are very hard. Back-to-backs in the NBA and back-to-back in the EuroBasket are two different things,” Fournier told Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “There (are) less games here so it’s more intense. When you play at (8:30 p.m.) you usually sleep around (3:00 a.m.). It’s a real big challenge ... It would be great if FIBA changed that to allow us to have more rest in between games.”
Fournier is calling for the change to not only alter France's schedule but the tournament as a whole. His Group B schedule features all six teams playing five games in seven days. The French have earned advancement with a 2-1 mark, topping Lithuania and Hungary after falling to undefeated group leader Germany in their opener.
France rounds things out against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday before concluding group play with a mid-week meet-up with Slovenia.
The call to widen the schedule perhaps echoes what Fournier has seen in his American affairs in recent seasons: some have made calls for the Association to cut down on back-to-backs as the trends of load management and rest days have become more prevalent. The league has already extended its All-Star break to just over a week, more or less doubling the traditional three-to-four days off traditionally granted.
That, of course, comes with the caveats of an 82-game schedule. Fournier believes the naturally compacted nature of a tournament like EuroBasket only pushes the case for more off days.
“Every game is more important. From the very first minute until the last one you play very hard," Fournier said. "Physically, it’s a big challenge. We are about to have our second back-to-back. So four games in five nights? It’s tough."
Fournier's calls for structural change in the tournament, which will run through Sept. 18 in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, and Italy, comes as he is in the midst of headlining a French redemption story. The newly-minted captain has experienced some of the most rewarding highs in team history, notably partaking in a silver medal run during last summer's Olympics in Tokyo.
But their current EuroBasket endeavors have become a bit personal: France had to wait five years to avenge a 12th-place finish in the 2017 edition, one that followed three consecutive medal efforts (including a championship in 2013).
Fournier is headlining the redemption effort, one where he's hoping there's a different kind of change, namely one up the EuroBasket leaderboard. This one, he admits, features a little less hands-on learning.
"We don't really think about it, to be honest. It's in the past, but at the end of the day it helped us to build the team that we have now," Fournier told FIBA's official site. "It was a learning experience. We definitely don't want to go through that again. The guys that were there we took it as a lesson on how to play at a EuroBasket."
Fournier, the Knicks' single-season leader in three-pointers after sinking 241 last season, leads all French scorers with 15.3 points per game through three contests.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
