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After getting stuck in Tom Thibodeau’s doghouse last season, New York Knicks veteran guard Evan Fournier was unleashed in FIBA play.
Fournier scored 20 points to lead France to an 80-69 win over Montenegro on Wednesday in their warm-up game for the 2023 FIBA World Cup later this month in Asia.
Behind Fournier’s 10 points, France went off to a strong start to take a 21-15 lead and never looked back. It was the second straight win for France after their 57-point massacre of Tunisia (93-36) last Monday.
Fournier recently blasted the Knicks for keeping him out of the rotation and essentially killing whatever was left on his trade value.
“You want to spit on everyone. You have hatred. Derrick Rose and I looked at each other and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five practice, we were on the side like some prospects—uncool times. And when I realized that wouldn’t change, I took things more slowly,” Fournier told L’Equipe.
“I focused on myself and didn’t let the rest get to me anymore. I did three cardio sessions, two weight training sessions per week, a lot of travel work, [analyzing] game situations with an assistant coach Daniel Brady,” he added.
Fournier is expecting to get traded to have a fresh start away from New York. While waiting for that, he is on a mission to rebuild his value in this summer’s FIBA World Cup.
Fournier and the French national team will continue their preparation with more tuneup matches against Venezuela on August 7, Lithuania on August 9 and 11, Japan on August 17, and Australia on August 20.
Their first FIBA World Cup game on August 25 will pit him against his Knicks teammate RJ Barrett and Canada in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Julius Randle Believes His Best Year Is Coming
Knicks’ two-time All-Star forward Julius Randle believes he still has another level to go to.
“Me and my trainer were just talking about this, we were talking about prime years,” Randle said on HBO’s “The Shop: Uninterrupted” via New York Daily News. “And I feel like your prime is when your mental and physical kind of meet. And physically, I feel like this is going to be my best year. But mentally, I feel like I’ve taken a tremendous step because I’ve had to slow all the way down. I wasn’t allowed to train.”
Randle is on track to recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle two months ago. He is expected to be 100% ready for the training camp in the fall.
RJ Barrett Loses to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Shootout
RJ Barrett could not keep up with fellow Canadian and Oklahoma City Thunder’s All-NBA guard in a shootout during Canada’s first practice for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Knicks starting wing missed in the fourth round of their post-practice shootout.
The Knicks missed out on pairing Gilgeous-Alexander and Barrett as the previous regime selected Kevin Knox at No. 8 in the 2018 NBA Draft over him. Gilgeous-Alexander went three picks later.
The 25-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off his first All-Star and All-NBA First Team season.
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