His performance in the win over Baskonia reminded fans of the immense talent he has
Evan Fournier is going from strength to strength at Olympiacos
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 11 of 34
Group Regular Season
w
w
w
w
w
l
l
l
l
l
No Sasha Vezenkov, no problem for Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday night. Fellow summer signing Evan Fournier calmed any potential nerves among the Reds' fan base by producing a complete performance on both sides of the court and leading the Greeks to a 92-69 victory over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Vezenkov missed out on the Round 11 clash in Piraeus due to injury, meaning that Olympiacos had to do without the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s second-top scorer (18.5 ppg.). Yet, Fournier hit the ground running on Thursday night and netted 8 of Olympiacos’s first 10 points of the game to pave the way for the hosts.
Two quick fouls from Thomas Walkup on Markus Howard forced coach Georgios Bartzokas to bench his starting point guard just 4 minutes into the game. That's when Fournier picked up the playmaking baton, dishing 5 assists to go with his 15 points in the first half. The 32-year-old forward came close to completing a double-double as he finished the game with a career-high 9 assists.
Fournier thrived on both ends, recording as many as 3 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers in less than 27 minutes for a career-high PIR of 24. Having pulled off a complete outing on the court, the France international earned plaudits from Bartzokas, who needed just 11 words to praise his player after the final whistle. "He is a hell of a player, what can I say?" the Olympiacos boss told EuroLeague TV.
The 12-year NBA veteran has recorded double digits in scoring in seven of his last eight games. In fact, he has scored at least 15 points in seven games so far this season, demonstrating that he has needed just a short period to adapt to his new team.
"I’m loving it every day [at Olympiacos]," Fournier said after the game. "It’s a privilege and pleasure to play in front of these fans, play for coach Bartzokas, play with these guys. Guys can see I’m having fun out there. Let’s keep winning, man."
Next week, Olympiacos will travel to Serbia, where it will face a Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade side coming off a morale-boosting victory in the derby against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. Vezenkov might be a major doubt ahead of the Round 12 clash in Belgrade, but Bartzokas is aware that in Fournier, he has a player he can lean on.