Eurobasket presents opportunity for Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic to deliver

For the Orlando Magic, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic have struggled to translate production into wins. Eurobasket gives them a chance to prove they can.

For most of the year, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic are toiling in Orlando for the Orlando Magic, trying to take this rebuilding franchise back to the Playoffs.

The two team leaders for the Magic have taken plenty of criticism in the last three years. The Magic, despite their best efforts (both patient and fool hardy), have not taken that next step. For players like Fournier and Vucevic, it has been very frustrating. The blame has fallen largely on them.

Maybe they are in egotistic denial. It might be they believe in themselves so much they think they can be the ones to deliver the Magic to the Playoffs. Perhaps they still can. And every player needs a bit of irrational belief in themselves.

Every player deserves the chance to push their talent as far as it can go. The Magic, mired in this rebuild, have given both players the chance to do that.

As the offseason waned on, both Fournier and Vucevic expressed their frustration with how the season went. It was a disappointment in themselves as much as a disappointment in the season. They both, as long-standing members of the team, feel a responsibility to the fans and the organization to deliver. And there is no doubt they will keep trying — as long as they are on the team.

Both players may feel that pressure again as they don their national team jerseys beginning Thursday at the 2017 edition of Eurobasket. The pressure is just as high for their teams and their roles are just as big and important.

France is playing this tournament without Tony Parker (retired from international play), Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum. It is a transition phase for this European power.

Fournier is probably the best NBA player on the team. With Nando De Colo and Boris Diaw to handle a lot of the playmaking and passing, Fournier is going to play a role that fits him. And he should put up some big points.

But like with the Magic, where he averaged a team-high 17.2 points per game albeit on a relatively inefficient 50.8 percent effective field goal percentage, his individual play will not matter as much.

This is a tournament after all. And France has long expected to win Eurobasket.

It may be going a bit far to say France should win the tournament. Croatia has a star-studded group, Spain is still incredibly strong and Serbia has played extremely well in previous tournaments. Greece even without Giannis Antetokounmpo will be a tough out. But France certainly expects to compete for a medal. Those expectations for the program do not go away. Even with a relatively young squad.

That puts Fournier directly in the crosshairs. All those familiar pressures will be present.

Nikola Vucevic and Montenegro play with a little less pressure. The team is not expected to do very much in the tournament. And Vucevic is the only name casual fans will recognize on the team.

Montenegro’s group features tournament heavies Croatia and Spain. The Czech Republic is good too. But Vucevic said his expectation for Montenegro is to finish in the top four in the group and advance to the knockout round.

For a small country that does not appear in every Eurobasket those are big goals. Vucevic averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in Montenegro’s last Eurobasket appearance in 2013. That was a long time ago and Vucevic has certainly grown as a player.

Eurobasket tends to be more guard dominated and so Vucevic will need help from guards like Tyrese Rice (an American-born player who plays for FC Barcelona). But Vucevic will be the focal point for the team. Like with the Magic, his individual production should look good — and he will get plenty of defensive attention — but the ultimate question is how his team plays and performs.

Orlando Magic

This is the reality for these young veterans in both their worlds — for club and country. Their careers have come to the point where their individual numbers are not as important as team results. That is the natural progression for every player. And for the next few weeks in Romania, Finland and Turkey, both Fournier and Vucevic will face this familiar pressure again.

Eurobasket is not a perfect translation for the NBA. The teams are obviously different, as is the style of play. But the pressure is the same — maybe even greater considering the nationalistic passion Eurobasket inspires.

Magic fans looking to check in on how Fournier and Vucevic are developing for this season will see them play roles that will be similar to what they are likely to play when the Magic pick up in the fall. So these games will be instructive.

But what Magic fans — and the Magic themselves — probably want to see more than Vucevic and Fournier putting up gaudy numbers is that other intangible. How do they help their team win? Can they guide their teams to meet not only expectations but exceed them where necessary?

This is really what everyone wants to watch. Can these two key players turn their stats into wins? That has been the question haunting them in Orlando. And it will be the question hovering over them throughout this tournament.

These are legitimately intense games. The atmosphere in the stadium creates real pressure. And for many of these players, playing for their national team means a lot. No one will be sleepwalking through these games. These are high-intensity games.

This is not Summer League, in other words.

The Magic will have winning aspirations this coming year. And Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic will play an important part in fulfilling that goal. Everyone at this point knows they can put up big numbers. Their skill is not a concern.

The question they have tried to answer the last few years and have not been able to is whether they can help their teams win.

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Eurobasket provides an opportunity for them to do just that. They, like they are with the Magic are now judged on how their teams perform.