NBA – Well established with the Clippers, Nicolas Batum returned to Basket USA on the arrival of Russell Westbrook, the density in the West and the case of Thomas Heurtel in the French team.
Before this new setback, “Batman” also spoke about the density of the Western conference, the advantage that the Nuggets have, but also the reasons for his support for Thomas Heurtel, whom he wants to see again selectable in team of France.
Nicolas, you have welcomed four new players since the “trade deadline”, and despite the defeats, some of them very few, what do you remember from these matches?
Offensively, we are not bad! It was a bit intriguing because when you bring in four new players, who play a real role for us, it will take three, four, five games to set up. And it’s a bit frustrating, because apart from the game against Minnesota where we ran out of juice, Sacramento you’re +11 with two minutes remaining, Denver you’re one rebound from beating them. over there. In addition against a full Denver team when we hadn’t had a lot of practice to put things in place. So it’s not alarming because these are only the first games, and we still have time to set up our team. Ty Lue also needs to find his rotations, because that’s also to be found. When you have a lot of players who can play, you have to find the right rotations. It’s an implementation that will take a few games but it will be fine.
Before these arrivals, since the start of the season, you had to deal with injuries, and in particular the management of Kawhi Leonard. As there are less than twenty matches left to build a collective, aren’t you worried about the difficulties of creating automatisms, and finding a certain chemistry?
There’s nothing to worry about because you still have a lot of veterans. The top ten players are pretty much all veterans, and most have reached at least one conference final. They therefore had big games, long playoffs. So, no, I’m not necessarily worried because we know what to do, we trust the coach… When everyone finds their role, when we have our rotations, we know we can be pretty good… But it’s sure that it’s going to take a bit of time all the same… and that we don’t necessarily have too much time.
The other side of this equation is obviously Western conference density. Does it require a different approach than usual, both personally and collectively, since many games, like tonight’s against the Warriors, count double in the standings?
Not necessarily, you know the West, it’s always been like that. When I was in Portland it was more or less the same, so I’m used to it. But no, you don’t necessarily have to worry about that. You just have to play hard to get the matches. Of course it’s more convenient when you win, given the ranking.
“The most established team, the most in place, is Denver”
Is this last month of the regular season similar to the playoffs before the hour since many teams are fighting to qualify?
After the All-Star Game, you are really in the race, you are focused on this race because normally you have finished all the “road trips” in the other conference. So you’re really focused on your conference. And then this year, it’s almost only games against direct competitors when you play the first 10-12 in the conference, and that’s good because it also prepares you for the future.
Does it make the end of the season more interesting as there are very few teams that have nothing left to play?
Of course ! It means that you are part of a team that plays for something. So it’s better to be in H24 competition mode, you don’t have “off” matches. As you said, it’s so tight… Apart from Denver, which has a small lead, the rest is tight. From Memphis… to the Lakers, Portland or OKC. There are twelve teams out of fifteen who will play for something until the 82nd game!
The West has strengthened with the arrival of Kevin Durant in Phoenix, Kyrie Irving in Dallas. Do you see the Suns as the big conference favorite or do you think the media and fans are disrespecting what the Nuggets are doing?
That’s the problem, actually. Since you brought KD on a team, it puts you on top very, very quickly. Afterwards, I think that the most established team at the moment, the most established, and it shows, is Denver. It’s a team that has a collective now in place for several years, they haven’t necessarily changed much. They hardly made any exchanges, I believe. They added Reggie Jackson, and Thomas Bryant but the base of the team did not change. So for Phoenix, yes you have to integrate KD into a group but when it’s a player like that, it will happen. They will of course be in the running. Today, the most established team is Denver, but of course Phoenix has all the arguments to take this favorite cap.
“We know very well who Russell is and we know very well what he will bring”
Back to the Clippers, and its flagship rookie, Russell Westbrook. For several years, we have often pointed out his faults, but how can he improve your team?
Already it is a very good rebounder. On the rebound, he brings something for his position and size. He’s a guy who plays hard all the time, and you can’t blame him for that. It will bring 150-200% every time. So yes, sometimes there will be some risky passes or shots, but you can feel he’s been trying to make the right decisions since he’s been with us. He really tries to be careful and I don’t ask him for more. We know very well who he is, we know very well what he will bring. And anyway, there is no perfect player and I have the impression that with him we focus a little too much on that. Everyone has weak points but he will bring us a lot. In three games with us, he averages almost 10 assists so he brings a certain “playmaking” to the lead. Defensively he is strong. He can take that pressure off compared to PG and Kawhi. It’s not all about him, we’ll also have to learn to play with him and vice versa, but it’s only been three games. Each time, we are not very far and against Denver he is very good. He is very, very good, against Sacramento too… It will come.
Before his arrival, Ty Lue had opted for a rotation without a real leader. What do you think of this experiment and did you think you needed a “training” leader to help you achieve your goal?
The race of leaders, pure leaders, there are still a few, Chris Paul, Trae Young… but I think that now you need above all a good “ball handler”, who can manage but also score. You don’t have John Stockton anymore… What Russ or even Bones Hyland brings us is something different. There’s punch, energy, aggressiveness, and that can give us a dimension that we didn’t have until then.
“I’ve always said: Thomas Heurtel, you have to take him because he’ll give you the quarter-time that will save you your competition”
Speaking of playmaker, you spoke in favor of a return of Thomas Heurtel in the French team. Do you think the federation can reverse its decision last summer?
I don’t know, but I saw Isabelle Yacoubou’s intervention (on the show Hype)… It was very, very good, I think. Personally, I was not there last year with this charter business. But the reason I said that is that he made a personal choice. We put things on his back, we know very well that he is against it, he is not for Russian aggression in Ukraine, let’s be in agreement… You shouldn’t be stupid either. If I said that, it’s because once again, we only see the negative points whereas this guy, he’s been there for ten years. When called, I never heard a refusal. In 2014, he released the match that saved us against Spain, and in 2015, he missed the Euro in France… Did you hear him at that time? No ! Behind, he comes back, he says nothing. And every time he comes back, he does the job. And each time, he saves us. I’ve always said it: Thomas Heurtel, you have to take him because he’ll get you the quarter-time that will save you your competition and sometimes that’s what happened. So it’s just for that, even if he made a personal choice, we must not question everything he did for France because he is one of the rare guys who has always been present. And he never said anything, even when he hadn’t been taken for a competition. And I respect that a lot.
As captain, do you have a say or is it a decision reserved for the leaders of the federation?
I wasn’t there last year so I don’t know…
Certainly, but you are not just anybody. Your opinion weighs, I imagine…
I don’t know what will happen next, for this summer. We also saw a lot of new players who did good things, especially at the end… So it’s a funny debate and it’s a shame to have come to this.
Interview in San Francisco.
