Like every week, Westport takes stock of the past week in the NBA for our French representatives, with satisfactions and disappointments. This week, mixed fortunes for our tricolor players but with a common denominator, playing time offered (with the exception of Evan Fournier…)! Overview of our tricolor contingent in Frenchies week!
The week of the French in the NBA
Tops
In the definitive absence this season of Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes will have an important role during the fifty remaining matches. Its time has become consequent, theformer Choletais sees himself becoming a leader making his teammates play while being able to charge defensive assists on his partners. Last week, the player of Detroit Pistons had the best game of his NBA career once morest the Hornets with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. If his address is still fluctuating, Killian Hayes is becoming more and more solid in this managerial position. Even if his statistics remain in progress (15.3 pts, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists average), his team is still well engulfed in the slums of the Eastern Conference.
Part to achieve a solid week on an individual level with 13.5 points and 16.5 rebounds, Rudy Gobert was slowed down in its tracks. Victim of a sprained ankle, the center of the French team will be away from the field for a few days and joins his teammate Karl Anthony Towns in the infirmary. With a barely balanced balance sheetthem Wolves are in the hard and will finally have to start their season following the return of its twin towers.
Nicolas Batum for its part finds playing time and productivity at the same time as the 2 franchise players of ClippersPaul George and Kawhi Leonard, saw their return to the courts NBA. The Clippers facilitator is there to play his teammates while doing the shadow work on defense and rebounding. Author of a week in its standards (7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds), Batman was seen finding his role which he had for 2 years in Los Angeles.
must do better
While we imagined the playing time of Frank Ntilikina decrease following the arrival of Kemba Walker, the opposite happened! The playmaker of Dallas Mavericks (4.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2 assists) must still be violent in attack and be aggressive. If his first quality remains the defense and his partners on his post, namely the former Hornet and Luka Doncic, are players with an offensive vocation, it will however be necessary to have more success in shooting to keep his minutes.
With the return of Lamelo Ball to the squad Charlotte Hornets, Théo Maledon going to have to focus on scoring. Still too timid, the former Villeurbannais risks seeing his time reduced with the return of the best of the North Carolina team. With 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists average over the past week, Theo Maledon can do better and he knows it!
Back on the NBA courts last week, Moussa Diabate was offered playing time by the coach of the Clippers Tyronn Lue. Coming into play during the 3 meetings of his team, the tricolor interior did not deserve with 4 points and 4.3 rebounds. His contribution to the minute is very interesting and there is no doubt that the Clippers are counting on him for the future. But at the moment the player is in full development and the future (not immediate) will tell us more regarding the potential of Moussa Diabate.
Les Flops
No change for Evan Fournier on the side of New York Knicks unfortunately. Always removed from the rotation by con coach Tom Thibodeau, nothing will change for the old Magic in the coming weeks. His team remains on 7 consecutive victories, which gives reason (or not) to the decision of his coach. There is no doubt that the tricolor will be requested by franchises before the February 9, 2023and we will have to remain patient until that date.
bad news for Ousmane Dieng (Oklahoma City Thunder) who will be absent for a minimum of 6 weeks following a broken wrist. The most worrying thing is that the French player had experienced the same type of injury last summer, which deprived him of the end of the Summer League.
The stats of French players in the NBA
Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves): 14.1 pts, 12.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks in 31.1 minutes
Evan Fournier (New York Knicks) : 6,9 pts, 2,1 rbds, 1,7 ast en 20,0 minutes
Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers): 5.8 pts, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 ast in 20.9 minutes
Théo Maledon (Charlotte Hornets): 5.6 pts, 2.5 rebounds, 2.4 ast in 16.6 minutes
Killian Hayes (Detroit Pistons): 8.8 pts, 2.8 rbds, 5.3 ast in 24.9 minutes
Ousmane Dieng (Oklahoma City Thunder) : 4,4 pts, 2,9 rbds, 1,4 ast en 15,7 minutes
Moussa Diabate (Los Angeles Clippers): 4.1 pts, 4.0 rebounds in 11.3 minutes
Frank Ntilikina (Dallas Mavericks): 2.2 pts, 1.5 rbds, 1.5 ast in 12.0 minutes.
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