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Propelled to the front line by his brother, can TJ Parker withstand such a disappointing start?

TJ Parker, here during an Asvel training, in September at the Astroballe. – JEFF PACHOUD / AFP

  • Current Euroleague red lantern, Asvel will face, this Friday (8:45 p.m.) at Astroballe, a huge challenge against Barça, leader of the queen competition in Europe.
  • Clearly reinforced this summer (Norris Cole, Moustapha Fall…), the Villeurbanne are struggling to launch their season with their new head coach TJ Parker (36).
  • Alpha Kaba and Jean-Luc Monschau, who knew the younger brother of the president of Asvel as a coach and player, confide in 20 Minutes on his tough start as number one.

“TJ is not threatened at all. “Before challenging this Friday (8:45 pm) the monument that is FC Barcelona, ​​current leader of the Euroleague, Tony Parker took advantage of an interview in The team to go to the aid of his younger brother (36), whom he appointed in June as head coach of Asvel. A prestigious promotion for the former assistant of Pierre Vincent, JD Jackson and Zvezdan Mitrovic, whose debut was surrounded by many doubts, due to a poor record in Jeep Elite (three wins and two losses), and even worrying in Euroleague with only one success in seven days.

“The current series is certainly disappointing, with matches that have changed like last week in Berlin [76-75 après avoir mené de 13 points en 4e quart-temps] but I’m not worried about the quality of the TJ Parker-Frédéric Fauthoux tandem, observes former Sluc Nancy coach Jean-Luc Monschau. Tony knows how to make the decisions that are necessary for his club, and with neutrality. “

“There was no fight on our part”

The former interior of Villeurbanne Alpha Kaba (from 2017 to 2019), now in Nanterre, is more nuanced: “We are all surprised by the results of Asvel so far. Even if it is a strange season with the context of Covid-19, it makes you wonder. One of the main ones concerns TJ Parker’s propensity to make the most of the richest squad in Asvel’s history, with 14 professional players including flashy rookies like Moustapha Fall and Norris Cole.

After the slap against the Red Star of Belgrade (68-89) on November 11, the youngest coach of the Euroleague railed against his players: “There was no fight on our part. You have to win against Saint Petersburg and Berlin if you want to exist in the Euroleague ”. Two weeks later, there was not the expected reaction, with two new defeats at stake, before grappling with the Catalan armada led by Nikola Mirotic this Friday.

“We did not blame him for this failure”

Alpha Kaba has already been able to see from the inside TJ Parker at work in the skin of number one, during an interim from January to May 2018, already at Asvel. It was after the dismissal of JD Jackson and before the arrival of Zvezdan Mitrovic. A short adventure which ended with elimination from the quarter-finals of the Le Mans championship. “We had the team to go to the end, remembers the leaping 24-year-old interior. It was his first experience as head coach and we did not blame him for this failure. He may have made some mistakes specific to young coaches, taking some time out at bad times. But as players, we were primarily responsible. “

TJ Parker, alongside his playmaker Antoine Diot. – MOURAD ALLILI / SIPA

Jean-Luc Monschau, who was able to count on decisive long shots … from TJ Parker to become champion of France in 2018, keeps in mind “a lover of the game and the competition”. This is partly why Alpha Kaba appreciated its collaboration with a coach “in the emotional”, having brought ” fun ”In training while“ pushing us to surpass ourselves ”.

He likes to be close to his players and understand them well. This is his way of operating as an assistant and he kept that by suddenly becoming a head coach in 2018. He seeks to get into the heads of players to analyze their needs or try to understand what can frustrate them. Some coaches don’t waste time with it, but he talked to us a lot off the pitch. “

TJ Parker or the anti-Zvezdan Mitrovic?

A description clearly contrasting with the Montenegrin bear that his predecessor Zvezdan Mitrovic may have been, sacked by Tony Parker in May and currently in proceedings with Asvel. The fact remains that the current Monaco coach had obtained the Jeep Elite-Coupe de France double in Villeurbanne in 2019, as well as ten successes in 28 days of Euroleague last season.

Finally, how did TJ Parker perceive his arrival at the club, synonymous with returning to the assistant box for him, in the summer of 2018, after tasting the light of a number one at 34? “Tony Parker remains his brother and I think TJ was prepared for this scenario, says Alpha Kaba. I didn’t feel any resentment from him anyway, he kept the same passion and the same attention in his duties as assistant. “This president-coach relationship between the two Parker brothers is unsurprisingly causing Asvel supporters for many seasons, and even more obviously since this resumption started in the skin of head coach.

“Never embarrassment at home in relation to the status of his brother”

“I always found that TJ knew how to handle all that well, besides that impressed me, entrusts the neo-Nanterrien. I never felt any embarrassment about him regarding his brother’s status. Anyway, I don’t know if it was out of respect or apprehension but internally no one was referring to him being Tony’s brother. “The followers of the most successful club in France have not taken so many tweezers on social networks for a few weeks, pointing to the lack of legitimacy of the new coach from Villeurbanne.

Jean-Luc Monschau finds himself somewhat in the problematic affecting his former player: “I coached my brother Christian for six years in Mulhouse then my son Stéphane for one season in Le Havre and we have always had good results. When faced with interpretations, you have to cover your ears and be calm. When I spoke to TJ, it was clear to him that he needed to ignore these behind-the-scenes comments. “Or even use it as a lever to win in the elite?

Then vice-president of Asvel, Tony Parker had wanted in May 2009 to attend the Astroballe in a match against the Sluc Nancy ... and his brother TJ.
Then vice-president of Asvel, Tony Parker had wanted in May 2009 to attend the Astroballe in a match against the Sluc Nancy … and his brother TJ. – PASCAL VILA / VSD / SIPA

“He has things to prove, in the first place to his brother”

“TJ has great self-confidence and ambition,” says Alpha Kaba. He knows he has things to prove, in the first place to his brother, and necessarily to all the bad tongues that there can be. That is a big challenge for him. Jean-Luc Monschau smiles as he recalls an improbable situation experienced during the 2000-2001 Pro B season shared with his son in Le Havre.

“After six months of competition, American players from my team came to see me to ask me if Stéphane was related to me,” he explains. Well, TJ Parker may be more likely to beat Barça than to hide from a player his family link with the president of Asvel.

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