No break for the NBA holidays, with games scheduled almost every day between Christmas and New Year's Day. The opportunity to take a first look at the French in the league, after just over two months of competition.
Rudy Gobert
Elected best defender in the league in the past two years, Rudy Gobert continues his momentum at the start of the season with impressive stats (14.8 points per game, 13.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks). In addition to its regularity, the French pivot of 2.16m has become a member of his team with 34.4 minutes played per game. Her openness, however, disappointed despite qualifying sixth for the playoffs in the West. The Jazz are expected to be higher after the recruitment of Croatian winger Bojan Bogdanović last summer. Last season, the Jazz lost in the first round of the 4-1 playoffs to James Harden's Houston Rockets.
Evan Fournier
Evan Fournier is also part of his team, the Orlando Magic, with an average of 30.6 minutes spent on the floor per game for 19.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. The 27-year-old Frenchman has further improved his shooting statistics this season with 47.6% two-point skill, and an impressive 42.3% behind the three-point line. The Orlando Magic’s record on December 23 is pretty lackluster with 12 wins for 17 losses in the Eastern Conference, but the team is currently qualified for the playoffs with their eighth place.
Nicolas Batum
The 31-year-old winger is having a difficult start to the season in Charlotte. Injured on the finger, he played only half of his team's matches, lost his starting place and playing time for a starving personal record (3.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3 assists). Encouragingly, his coach Steve Clifford realigned him in his major five on December 22 against the Boston Celtics, but the Hornets lost 119-93, and Nicolas Batum only scored 6 points. The Charlotte Hornets are neck and neck with the Orlando Magic in the East with a ninth place and a record of 13 wins for 20 losses.
Frank Ntilikina
The 21-year-old Frenchman started his third NBA season in October. Capable of the best as against the Denver Nuggets on December 16 with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 24 minutes, Frank Ntilikina still too often shows us the worst as against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 22 with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and only 25% at the shoot. His record at the start of the season is generally very insufficient: 5.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Worse, the Frenchman lost his starting place in favor of the American Elfrid Payton. But the young leader does not evolve in the best conditions in New York where the now ex-coach David Fizdale was dismissed on December 6 after a catastrophic record of 4 wins for 18 defeats. The Knicks' record has hardly changed since, with 7 wins for 23 losses on December 23.
Ian Mahinmi
Blocked at the start of the season by Thomas Bryant and Moritz Wagner at the pivot of the Washington Wizards, Ian Mahinmi took advantage of the injuries of his two teammates to win his starting place. And the 33-year-old Frenchman continues his good performances by bringing all his experience under the racket. He averages 7.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. His team, however, is only 12th in the East with 8 wins for 20 losses.
Elie Okobo
Little used at the start of the season, the 22-year-old Frenchman has seen his playing time and statistics increase since five games for Phoenix. He even started in his last game on December 22 and performed at a high level with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against the Houston Rockets. It is hoped that his coach will give him the opportunity to chain matches to help his team lift their head in the Western Conference where the Suns are 11th with 11 wins and 18 losses.
Vincent Poirier
For his first season in the NBA, the 26-year-old winger is waxing the bench. He hasn't even come into play in his team's last six games, and has averaged just 4.9 minutes of playing time after 33 games. It must be said that the Boston Celtics do not really need him with a second place in the East and an impressive record of 20 wins for 7 losses. Only the Milwaukee Bucks did better (27-4).
Sekou Doumbouya
Drafted in 15th position last year by the Detroit Pistons despite his young age (19), Sekou Doumbouya plays most of his matches in the G-League, the NBA development league, while progressing. He still managed to grab a few minutes in the NBA like December 21 against the Boston Celtics where he scored two points, rebounded and made an interception in 10 minutes. Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey says nothing but good about his young player, so no doubt we will be seeing more and more of him on the NBA courts.
Jaylen Hoard
The 20-year-old Frenchman comes from the American university. Not drafted this summer, he signed a “two way contract” with the Portland Trail Blazers who made him play in the G-League this year. Like Sekou Doumbouya, he scraped a few minutes of playing time in the NBA as against the Knicks on December 11 where he scored 4 points and took 2 rebounds.
Adam Mokoka
Adam Mokoka, 21, also signed a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls this summer, but has yet to be used for a minute in the NBA.
