By John DentonNov. 14, 2015
WASHINGTON D.C. – Still upset about the terrorist activities that resulted in the deaths of 129 people in his native France, Evan Fournier said on Saturday that he was still too emotional to comment publicly about the horrors in his homeland.
However, the Orlando Magic guard did plenty of talking with his play on Friday night – and that resolve impressed head coach Scott Skiles and his teammates.
Fournier, a native of suburban Paris, found out about 90 minutes prior to tipoff on Friday that his hometown was under widespread attack. After checking in to make sure family and friends were safe, Fournier went out and led the Magic with 21 points in the 102-93 defeat of the Utah Jazz.
Despite the chaos back in his home country, Fournier was able to focus well enough to play a complete game with five rebounds, two assists, two 3-pointers and a steal in 37 minutes.
“We spoke after the game and those are very difficult circumstances, no doubt about it,” said Skiles, who was impressed with Fournier’s focus. “He has family issues that he’s dealing with and he was still able to go out and perform.
“I don’t know if a lot of people know it, but he’s really tough, a really tough guy,” Skiles added. “He’s tough physically and he guards (elite) players. But he’s also if not our toughest guy mentally one of our toughest guys mentally. So it was a gutsy performance.”
The Washington Wizards acknowledged the international tragedy on Saturday night, putting the French flag at midcourt and playing the French National Anthem prior to the game.
Said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, Fournier’s closest friend on the team and a fellow speaker of the French language: “It has to be tough for him, but he didn’t show any signs of it on the court. He played his game, he stayed focused and had a great game. That tells a lot about him.”
TALK WITH TOBIAS: Looking for ways to solve his recent shooting woes, Magic forward Tobias Harris sat down recently with Skiles and the forward also held talks with several of his teammates about changes in the team’s plan of attack.
The result of those discussions on Friday was the Magic sharing the ball much better and playing one of their best games of the season. Also, Harris showed signs of shedding his shooting slump and once again being a do-everything forward for Orlando.
Harris had 19 points, 13 rebounds, three 3-pointers, three assists, three steals, eight free throws and a blocked shot in Orlando’s 102-93 defeat of the Utah Jazz. The Magic led wire to wire and twice expanded their advantage to 22 points early in the second quarter and by 23 in the fourth. A part of the reason was Orlando’s much-improved ball movement – the primary focus of Harris’ talks with Skiles and his teammates.
“Me and coach (talked) and what I said to my teammates was that we have to get back to moving the ball from side to side and get into the lane and make plays for other guys,” Harris said. “We were having a lot of opportunities out there (in previous games) that we weren’t taking advantage of it and it was due to not having enough ball movement. Coach said he wanted to get the ball back to moving the way it was in preseason and (Friday night) was a great step in that.”
Harris, who signed a four-year contract extension with the Magic in July, missed his first eight shot attempts on Monday in Indiana and he forced a shot late even as he was being double-teamed. Orlando beat the Lakers on Wednesday, but Harris still labored through a five of 13 shooting night. That left him searching for answers as to why his shooting dipped to 45 percent.
“In the previous games, I had a lot of looks that were ill-advised and a lot of the shots that I was taking was as the defense was collapsing,” Harris said. “(Friday), I felt like I picked my spots well and I had a lot of open looks. Once we continue to play with that type of ball movement, the shots will come and there will be open looks. That will make us a more efficient team and that’s what everybody should be looking to do.”
Skiles raved about Harris’ play on Friday, knowing full well that the Magic need the 6-foot-9 forward’s scoring punch if they are going to keep up their winning ways.
“I thought he was great (On Friday),” Skiles said of Harris. “He and I talked and he knows what’s been going on the last two or three games. He’s one of the captains of the team and I know he addressed his teammates privately. He’s been a guy who – because he can score – maybe the last two or three games he’s forced it a little bit. I thought he looked relaxed (on Friday) and overall had a great game.”
BLOCK PARTY: Led by four swats from forward Aaron Gordon, the Magic blocked 11 shots on Friday in the defeat of Utah. It’s the third time this season that the Magic have blocked at least 10 shots in a game.
To put that into perspective, Orlando blocked at least 10 shots in a game just four times in the previous two seasons combined.
Skiles has put a heavy emphasis on Magic players rotating quickly and having “high hands” in order to block views, deflect passes and occasionally swat shots.
That defensive emphasis has helped the Magic block 6.5 shots a game – a dramatic improvement over the 3.83 blocks a game last season. Vucevic (2.0 bpg.) leads the team, while Dewayne Dedmon (1.78 bpg.), Gordon (1.10 bpg.), Jason Smith (0.83 bpg.) and Victor Oladipo (0.78) are contributing on the defensive end.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about is the verticality, but when you get in that habit it could lead to a block,” Skiles said. “And the other thing is, at this level, when (a teammates) gets beat and you’re not there quick, you have no shot. You have to be there early. We talked all the way back in camp somebody like (Vucevic), who isn’t known as a defender, but what he had to do to be a better defender was get there earlier. He’s done a very good job of that. More than anything, that’s what it is – we’re getting there earlier and that’s giving us a chance to block a shot, take a charge or be vertical.”
