The Hawks have lost their last four games, without Clint Capela, and they are now in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. As we approach mid-season, the Swiss pivot came back with us, after the defeat against the Warriors, on this first part of the season and on what Atlanta is missing to rectify the situation and hang on to the playoffs.
Clint, after missing your fourth game in a row, how are you feeling and when do you expect to return?
Things are going well. Everyday I try to push more to see how my body responds but I’m not ready yet. I’m “day to day”, I don’t put any pressure on myself, I want to come back when I’m at 100%. I’m going to take my time because I don’t want to take any risks with this kind of injury.
Before the match, Nate McMillan had emphasized your failed debut. Despite everything, you were at -21 at the start of the third quarter. How do you explain this recurring problem with ignition?
It comes mainly from our effort. Often, we don’t start matches with enough intensity and we pay cash, like today. So we were able to come back but in matches like that, especially when you’re away, it’s very, very hard to come back. We knew how to do it but this season we also have a lot of problems maintaining our lead at the end of the match. It was a problem at home and we did the same thing tonight. I think we are at +9 with 5-6 minutes to play (note: 115-106, with six minutes to play) and they came back very quickly. Especially a team like this with such well-oiled chemistry. It’s a shame because we had made a big effort to come back from -20, and losing it like this is infuriating.
“…you had LeBron who went for rebounds, who ran faster than us, who simply wanted more”
Overall, your results have been up and down since the start of the season. Is this problem at the start of the match the symbol of your season?
It’s hard… We had a lot of major players who were injured like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dejounte Murray, John Collins… But that’s not an excuse. We clearly have a lot of room for improvement but once again, it requires above all more effort. We saw it tonight with the Warriors playing with great intensity all game. It’s obvious on their cuts away from the ball. And then they never give up. This is really the aspect that we must correct and if we manage to do so, we will be much more competitive.
For you, the lack of intensity is the number 1 problem for your team?
Absolutely. If you look at most of our defeats, the effort is not the same. For example, our loss against the Lakers in the last game, you had LeBron who went for rebounds, who ran faster than us, who simply wanted more. In such a long season, you can’t have intensity in one game and then not have it in the next game. Tonight, we fought really well and even if we lost, I hope we’ll be able to continue in the next game. We can’t give up, we have to keep fighting.
Defensively, you are better than last season, in particular thanks to the arrival of Dejounte Murray, but what does it take to take another step and enter the Top 10 of the league?
We lack regularity. And once again it goes through more intensity, more desire in the game and that will not translate into better defense on the other side. Defensively it’s the effort above all, and as I said, our biggest room for improvement, it is there. If we can rectify that, we can really change dimensions.
We know that you have the ambition to win the title of best defender or to be elected in one of the All-Defensive Teams, do you think that is possible with the collective level of your defense this season?
I don’t think… It wouldn’t be fair compared to teams that have the best defenses in the league, which are connected in defense like Boston and other teams. I would like to believe it but when I see what we do… In fact, I am THE main defender of the team but generally, the best defender of the year or the players present in the All-Defensive Teams belong to Top 5 or Top 10 defensive teams in the league. Same thing for the title of MVP for example. You can only win it if you are on the best teams in the league. But hey, I will continue to play my role. It’s part of my DNA and it’s a role that I play with great pride.
“If it finds this season, we can miss the play-in”
There is a lot of noise around your franchise at the moment with the bickering between the coach and Trae Young, questions about the leadership of the same Young, transfer rumors around John Collins. How do you handle all of this?
Between us, the players, we know that these are things over which we have no control. We hear things, we read things in the press and we are necessarily aware of it…. But all we can do is stay focused and play our roles on the pitch, whether in matches but also in training. Responding on the field and winning matches is the only way to forget what is said and to respond to criticism.
Does any of this have any effect on the lack of effort you were describing?
No, no, I don’t think so. Because our effort problem was already there last season. If we put the intensity, we are able to go for a semi-final. But when we don’t put in the effort, we just hang on to the playoffs or the play-in like last year… And if that’s the case this season, we can miss the play-in. We know it. We know our ranking but it is not what is said in the media that has an impact on our effort. When you play basketball, you don’t think about all that.
Interview in San Francisco.
