Four days before the start of the EuroBasket, a mandatory squad review to introduce you to each of the twelve Blues who will try to climb to the roof of Europe on September 18, nine years after Ljubljana. At the time of these lines we are moreover on thirteen players, even fourteen with the big Fall who zone not far from the line, but not a second to lose so we get wet talking about those who should without too much concern to see their place for Berlin validated in the coming days. On the program today, Vincent Poirier, who will play the role of bully with his 2m13, his big beard and his tattoos.
- Name: Pear Tree
- First name: Vincent
- Age : 28 ans
- Height: 2m13
- Weight: 110 kg
- Posts: pivot
- Nickname: Pear, Vince, Vincenzo, Vinnie Sex Pants
- On the CV: Paris-Levallois, Hyères-Toulon, Federal Center, Baskonia, Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws), Philadelphia 76ers, Real Madrid
- Honors in EDF: bronze medalist at the 2019 World Cup, silver medalist at the 2020 Olympic Games
Can you start basketball at 18 and still find your place in the French team one day? The proof that yes with Vincent Poirier. Long before playing on the courts, Vince walked the tatami mats while doing karate, then it was on the football fields that he spent his adolescence. But a little tall and above all much less talented to be able to imitate his idol Ronaldinho, the native of Clamart in the suburbs of Paris finally chooses to abandon the white ball to take the big orange ball just before reaching majority. The following ? It’s a high speed ascent. Impacting with his 2m10, he goes through the stages one by one until reaching the highest national level, while having the honor of representing the EDF in the different categories of young people. After three seasons (2011-14) under the colors of the U21 Boulogne-Levallois, direction Hyères-Toulon in Pro B, before returning to Levallois to taste the elite of blue-white-red basketball and even the All-Star Game LNB in 2016. His rise is such that he even won a ticket for the Orlando Summer League that same year, at the age of 22. His very first experience with the NBA.
Exactly, the NBA, let’s talk about it. For all basketball players on the planet, the US Big League represents the ultimate dream, and Vincent Poirier is no exception to the rule. And this dream, he really touched it in 2019 when he signed his very first contract with the legendary Boston Celtics franchise, interested in his services after seeing him shine at European level under the colors of the Vitoria club in Spain. “I really felt something when I walked into the locker room with all the shirts in a semicircle and saw mine in the middle” remembers Vince for the Sports Daily. Except that the NBA is a real jungle where it is very difficult to find your place, even more so when you have less than ten years of basketball in your paws. Virtually never used in Boston or in his future Philadelphia team, Vincent Poirier realizes the obvious: to have playing time, you have to cross the Atlantic again and close – at least temporarily – the NBA chapter. And it’s in Spain, a country he knows well after his highly successful spell at Vitoria (Euroleague top rebounder in 2019, All-Euroleague second team member, in the Liga ACB second five that same year), that Vincent bounces back, under the colors of the great Real Madrid please. Results ? A Spanish championship title is added to Poirier’s record, which has so far included a Coupe de France and a victory in the Champions League.
Another trophy for our Blues ???? Guerschon Yabusele, Vincent Poirier, Fabien Causeur and Thomas Heurtel are Spanish champions ????????#TeamFranceBasket | #PassionatelyBlue pic.twitter.com/RR2OnuVD98
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) June 20, 2022
This is how we get to the summer of 2022 and this big European deadline with the French team. This is not Vincenzo’s first experience with the Blues, he was already present during the two great adventures at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics (as well as Euro 2017 but we prefer not to go back on this fiasco). It is therefore clearly part of Vincent Collet’s plans, but we have the impression that he is ready today to take on a more important role than in previous international competitions. Because if Rudy Gobert obviously represents the control tower of the Blues in the racket, Poirier remains on a preparation where he has asserted himself as one of the fit men of the group. Already in July, during the qualifying window for the 2023 World Cup, Vince had distinguished himself in the absence of Rudy by releasing a big double-double (18 points, 12 rebounds) against Montenegro. And during the month of August, whether during friendly matches or the opposition against the Czech Republic (2023 World qualifiers) last Wednesday, Poirier clearly did the job by turning in 10.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 interceptions at 58% shooting success, all in just 18.2 minutes on average. If he obviously does not have the deterrent force of a Gobzilla, Vincent is there to bring his activity and his presence inside the bench, which will clearly not be too much for the Blues on this EuroBasket 2022 hyper competitive.
” As per usual. As soon as we come to the French team, with the squad we have, we fight in competitions for a medal. The top 3 is always targeted. […] There was that silver medal [aux Jeux, ndlr.] , but also the bronze medal at the Worlds. We are on a good dynamic. We know our capabilities. Our ambitions are high. »
– Vincent Poirier, always there to set the tone (via Sports Daily)
In shape, a competitor at heart and well motivated by the idea of establishing his presence in the France group, Vincent Poirier has everything to gain on this EuroBasket 2022. It is perhaps he who will help the Blues to make the difference in the shadow of Rudy Gobert thanks to his rebounding qualities or his ability to be more and more productive offensively. In any case, he is one of those soldiers that a team needs to hope to go far.
*the article having been written before the meeting between Bosnia and France on Saturday evening, these stats do not take into account the last performance of Vincent Poirier (4 points, 4 rebounds).