NARRATIVE — Before hosting London in the Eurocup semi-final on Tuesday evening (8:45 p.m.), the French leader looked back for Le Figaro on his season with Paris Basketball.
Author of a boss season when he is only 21 years old, Nadir Hifi continues to prove a little more with each match that everything is achievable. With his 35 then his 22 units during his last two matches, the native of Strasbourg has become the best scorer in the French championship (16.2 points on average). A logical progression but it was not simple. Just 4 years ago, the latter was in Nationale 3 after having suffered refusals from several training centers. It was finally last year, at Portel, that he completed a season which revealed him to the eyes of the whole world, even across the Atlantic where he registered for the NBA draft. After seeing 30 names called without hearing his own, Nadir Hifi finally returned to France to sign up with Paris Basketball for a period of 3 years.
A logical choice according to those who did not want to skip ahead after being coveted by European leaders. “Paris Basketball has been following me since early in the season last year and that’s important to me. I am aware that the club is on the rise in its history and for me it was important to take a step forward in my young career by going to play at the higher level. I had the opportunity to join Euroleague clubs but I wanted to join a club with an intermediate level like the Eurocup, I think it was perfect for me. I really felt the desire to come to Paris Basketball because it was the best environment but the best feeling too,” he declares to Figaro after training at Halle Carpentier.
In a completely new environment, Nadir Hifi was ready to take on this major challenge even if it could seem quite vague. At the time his signature was made, the Parisian club had just separated from its coach (Will Weaver, who left for Brooklyn in the NBA) as well as several senior players who made up the Parisian squad.
I think that today we are clearly one of the best backcourts in Europe, but now we have to be able to prove it at a higher level.
Nadir Hifi
«When I signed, I didn’t know which coach was going to arrive here but the club’s project was the most important», explains Hifi. It was Tuomas Iisalo, a young coach who recently won the Champions League with Bonn, who landed on the Parisian bench. With two assistants and players from the German club in his bags (Sebastian Herrera, Colin Malcom, Leon Kratzer, Tyson Ward…). At the expense of the Parisians already present? “I wasn’t necessarily afraid of that, I actually think it was better for the team that he came with several players who knew the systemestimates Hifi. On integration, we just had to (the other recruits apart from those from Bonn, editor’s note) we adapt and then it went very well like that.» In the end, there was even room for pocket leader TJ Shorts with whom Hifi gets along wonderfully.
Nadir Hifi learns a lot alongside the experienced TJ Shorts. Jonathan Rebboah / Panoramic
“I think that today we are one of the best backcourts in Europe, but now we have to be able to prove it at a higher level. I think above all that we help each other, we are both competitors, we talk to each other a lot. What makes us get better every week is exchanging and competing in training like that” affirms the French international (1 selection). If TJ Shorts, American-Macedonian, is older than him (26 years old), he sees him as a model and draws inspiration from certain parts of his game, notably mid-distance shooting, his friend’s true specialty. “I copied him a lot on that point because it’s very important. I admit that last year I was either going for a layup or just shooting a three-pointer. But I think it’s a key element that I added this year that allows me to do everything on the field now. I have increased my offensive palette. adds Hifi.
A coach he didn’t even dare to dream of
After a season full of promise at Portel (16.8 points and 3.4 assists in 30.8 minutes), Hifi had to learn a new role, that of coming off the bench. Not an easy adaptation for the main option that he has always been, but the latter understood that it was part of his road to the top. “It felt strange at first for sure, because I was always used to being a starter. But I learned over time that the high level is not like that, you can start on the bench as well as on the field. I think that being a very high level player is mainly about adapting and I think I did it quite well this year. he expresses. It was under the orders of Tuomas Iisalo that he discovered the European Cup where this role posed no problem for him (16.8 points at 38% at 3 pts, in 22 mins). He is therefore grateful for this opportunity and does not hesitate to thank his coach for the confidence he places in him.
“I have a very good relationship with him. He knows what I can do and he is aware of my talent, of what I can bring to the team. But today he wants me to become one of the best players in Europe so it’s normal that every mistake he makes is on my back. In fact, he wants what is best for me and that is what I need today. I couldn’t have found a better staff and a better coach than them, especially at that point in my career. So I would like to win a lot of titles with this coach and also grow with him because he just started his career not so long ago, so I would really like to do big things with this team and him and his staff”, admits the young rear.
Under the orders of Tuomas Iisalo, Nadir Hifi discovers the Eurocup this season. Kevin Domas / Panoramic
He has already won one title this season. The prestigious Leaders Cup, won against Nanterre after eliminating Monaco in the semi-final in particular. But Paris Basketball always aims higher. Tuesday evening (8:45 p.m.), in their new home at the Adidas Arena, the Parisians host the London Lions for the first leg of the Eurocup semi-finals. After having partially filled the Arena for the matches against Nancy (113-71) then against Limoges (101-77), the club hopes to be full for this European shock. The two teams have already faced each other this year in the group stage and Paris had won each of these confrontations. But if the first leg was one-sided (93-72), the return was much tighter with a double overtime, where the Parisians still won (106-102). In these two matches, Nadir Hifi always kept a cool head and never lost confidence, as in every match.
Even on nights when he found himself struggling with his shot, he never lost this famous confidence and managed to always think about his next shots rather than those he had just missed. “I just have to tell you that the match is very long, a match is 40 minutes. It’s part of my character, of the person I am, to never give up and even if for 37 minutes I wasn’t in it, if the last 3 are to help the team win, I will do it. I always have confidence in myself. I work on this all year round. Above all, it’s work that you have to do on yourself and I’ve made a lot of progress on that. And if I want to be a top level player I have to get as close as possible to perfection. he admits.
Even if he was not selected in the last NBA draft, he takes some positives from this situation and does not regret not having withdrawn his name. Not selected during that of 2023, he will therefore no longer be able to appear for the next ones, but remains free to sign a contract with any franchise. “I thought it was the best time because I wasn’t going to grow up (in size, editor’s note) especially since I was not sure of my playing time and my performances during the season which was arriving in Paris. But in hindsight when I see the season I’m having, maybe I should have taken it off. But hey, it was a choice and we all make… (He cuts himself off) No, I don’t think it was a mistake but hey… Now I have the advantage of being able to be signed by 30 franchises whereas last year it was only going to be decided by one franchise.
I didn’t necessarily have the time to realize what was happening to me and how my career was evolving.
Nadir Hifi
This choice therefore had no incidents on his progress because he even had access to the doors of the French team during the qualifying windows for the next Euro, an experience from which he draws positives despite reduced playing time . “The objective of the France team is to be with very high level players around you. Afterwards we didn’t have much time to work but I know that this first selection will help me take a step forward in my career and my level. I learned a lot of things. The objective was to win two matches, we did it and I am very happy. First points and more”, he confesses, laughing. This meteoric rise is the result of countless hours of work, and he still has a little trouble achieving everything that happens to him.
“Everything happened quickly, I didn’t necessarily have time to realize what was happening to me and how my career was evolving. But I think it all happened through work. I worked so hard, I never thought I could be here today but with hard work and dedication you can get to places you never imagined you would be and that’s the beauty and that’s also why I love basketball,” he admits.
“We don’t have time to celebrate yet. Today we have not achieved all of our objectives. When the season is over, then I might be able to celebrate and enjoy on vacation but until the season is over, I can’t relax yet. We have to stay focused,” he adds. Against London on Tuesday evening, the entire Paris team will be focused on getting their first foothold in the European Cup final, for only the second participation in its history. The second match of this series will be Friday March 29 in London, before returning to Paris for a potential epilogue on April 3. In the meantime, Nadir Hifi intends to keep its status as the 3rd best scorer this season in Europe to ignite the Parisian public who are just waiting to explode behind their favorite free spirit.
