Retired from the courts for more than two seasons, ex-basketball player Alexis Ajinça is now assistant coach of the Wizards’ G-League team, the Capital City Go-Go, a privileged position to witness the emergence of the young Frenchman from Washington, Bilal Coulibaly, whose “very good attitude” he highlights.
In an interview with AFP, the former pivot of the France team and New Orleans in particular welcomes the success of the French team, with four players arriving in the NBA this season, including the phenomenon Wembanyama, “ very impressive”, and at least five expected at the end of the season.
Q: Why did you choose to start your coaching career in the United States and what is your role within management? A: “I live in the United States so I said to myself that it might as well stay here. Furthermore, in France and Europe, you have to obtain qualifications to coach, which is not the case in the United States, so it’s a little easier for me. I have a fairly broad role, in the development of players in attack and defense. And then the coach gives me the opportunity to express myself, to intervene in certain situations, I learn a lot.
Q: The Capital City squad includes players who have been to the NBA, like Hamidou Diallo, and young people who dream of playing there, what do you bring to them? A: “When we aim for the NBA and we found in the G-League, we often think that we have not succeeded, we question ourselves. The fact of having had this background, of having moved to the G-League too, allows me to help them on a mental level. I try to be as honest as possible with them, not to tell them what they want to hear but to tell them what they might be missing, for example.”
Q: You follow Bilal Coulibaly’s debut in the NBA, at the Wizards, what do you think of his adaptation? A: “He was very focused from training camp, from start to finish, always focused on the instructions of the coach and he based himself on that. This allowed him to have more playing time, to express himself offensively, he improved at three points in particular. He does very good things and above all attacked everything with a very good attitude, he really wants to learn.
Q: Another highly anticipated Frenchman is having a very good start to the season on a personal level, it’s Victor Wembanyama…A: “What he’s achieving is quite enormous, especially since he does it in 28 minutes per match, it’s still very impressive. These are statistics of players playing more like 35 to 38 minutes. We’re obviously a little chauvinistic, when we see Victor, Bilal, it’s nice to see young people rise to the highest level.
Q: The next draft could bring five new French people to the NBA, including your cousin, Melvin Ajinça, what does that say about French basketball today? A: “That we already have very good training, we does the right thing with the young teams and we train them well. But we can still improve a lot of things. Several coaches from the federation came here, to Washington, to study certain aspects of training, we welcomed them and showed them what we do.”
Q: However, success is not the same for young French basketball players, some recommend a later departure…A: “It’s difficult to consider that some leave too early, Théo (Maledon, Editor’s note) stayed a long time in France, played in the Euroleague before managing to leave, despite everything he has difficulty stabilizing. I am one of the players who left very early for example. If the player thinks he can succeed in the United States, after all it’s his career. Every situation is different, especially club situations. Bilal, for example, arrived in a team undergoing reconstruction, that helps him to a certain extent.
Q: What advice do you give Melvin to succeed in his NBA career? A: “I always push him to the maximum after that it depends: which team drafts him? If he arrives in a team that does not necessarily let him play, perhaps it is better to favor one more year in Europe or elsewhere, or on the contrary to come to the G-League, to learn the American game.
