Boulogne Metropolitans 92 comes travels to Lithuania this week to face Lietkabelis Panevezys right before the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season's halfway mark. Its undeniable leader until now has been playmaker Will Cummings, a EuroCup champion with Darussafaka Istanbul in 2018 and a very experienced player in this competition. Cummings ranks sixth in PIR average (20.0) and seventh in scoring (17.5 ppg.) this season. He has also averaged 3.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 5.9 fouls drawn until now. Cummings has scored in double digits in all of his games with Metropolitans and credited the special relationship with his coach, Vincent Collet, as one of the reasons why he is doing so well this season. "You have a lot of coaches that are controlling. They want to make every play call and control the game, but with him, he lets you play and trusts you," Cummings told EuroCupBasketball.com. "He gives you that freedom on the court to just be yourself, and trusts you to make the right plays out there."
Will Cummings, Metropolitans: 'Coach Collet has helped me a lot'
Hello, Will. Congratulations on a great season. Was it what you were looking for when you joined Metropolitans, to lead a team the way you are?
"Oh, definitely. I mean, that was one of the main things of joining Metropolitans. I talked to Coach Collet before the start of the season and he wanted me to be the experienced guy, helping the team win as many possible games as we can and try to take advantage of our roster that they were going to build. So we wanted to come in and just have a better year than they did last year and just put ourselves in a position to do well in the EuroCup and succeed in the French league as well."
"These games are super important for us going forward."
Now that we are almost midway through the regular season, what is your take on the new format? Is it the strongest EuroCup you have been a part of?
"It's hard to say. It's different. Right now, with the new format, you don't really notice it just because you are still in the group stage where you are playing teams home and away. I think it'll really take effect in showing people different things. People notice it when you go to the next round, when it's a single game and all those types of things, you know? But I think right now, everybody is still used to it because it's the same as the pool play. You just play more regular-season games in the first stage. But right now, it's hard to say."
Metropolitans travel to Lithuania to go against Lietkabelis Panevezys, which is right behind you in the standings. Is it a critical game already in the battle to go to the playoffs?
"Definitely. All the games, for the rest of this phase in the EuroCup I mean, for the rest of the group, are important for us. These are the games that we really have to lock in and try to get wins on the road against teams that are right next to us, you know, because all that will come into play towards the end of the year when the point differential and all that stuff matters. Anytime that you can get a win on the road is really beneficial to your success in qualifying for the next round. These games are super important for us going forward."
"Coach Collet has been the guy that has helped me the most towards trying to be a more well-rounded point guard."
Your team has two very talented, yet very different centers in Vince Hunter and Miralem Halilovic. How great is it to have two high-quality centers and how different is it to play with them?
"It's great because sometimes we play both of them at the same time. They both bring two different... they are kind of the same player, but they are definitely not, you know? Mickey [Halilovic] is great on the short roll. and Vince is great in the short as well, but Vince is higher above the rim and they make it and Mickey gets the floater a lot more. But they are both high IQ players that can make reads out of the pick-and-roll, so they help us a lot on the defensive end; Vince is kind of our rim protector. Mickey's always in the right spot on defense. So with those two guys on the floor at the same time, it really helps us a lot and gets that defensive presence, trying to go on runs."
You seem to have a great connection with Vincent Collet, a very experienced coach. What is the best thing about him, on and off the court?
"On the court, the best thing is that he just lets you play. He trusts us, and me as a point guard. There are times when we call the same play at the same time and a lot of other times he'll just let me just control the game and make the calls and the reads and who to get involved and stuff like that. That's the main thing. You have a lot of coaches that are controlling. They want to make every play call and control the game, but with him, he lets you play and trusts you. He gives you that freedom on the court to just be yourself and trusts you to make the right plays out there. Off the court, he is a great guy. He's super relaxed off the court. I mean, at this stage of his career, I'm not really sure how he was in the past, but he's a great guy. You can talk to him about anything, he is a well-rounded, calm guy. You will never really see him emotional or just frantic or anything like that. He is always calm."
Most of your coaches in the EuroCup - David Blatt, Evgeny Pashutin, now Collet were point guards. How did they help you develop your game?
"They taught me a lot. I would say, so far, Coach Collet has been the guy that has helped me the most towards trying to be a more well-rounded point guard or getting your teammates more involved in balancing out scoring. So he has helped me a lot and put me in a position to succeed and develop my game even more."
Your fouls drawn average has gone up in each EuroCup season. You now rank fifth this season with 5.9 per game. Are trying to be more aggressive each season, or does it come with experience?
"I would say it just comes with experience, I think I played the same - I would say probably my fouls drawn would have been more in other seasons if I were to play more in those situations that I was in, but I would say it just comes with experience, just knowing where to be, how to draw fouls, what the referees will actually call... Those types of things come with playing, being experienced and having the referees know your game and what you like to do. So I would say that's the biggest thing, just experience and knowing the calls that the referees will make."
You had a great game against Lokomotiv in Krasnodar. How special was it for you to return to Basket Hall?
"Well, it was cool just to see my former teammates, but the fans weren't in the gym because of the COVID protocols. I think they had a lockdown. But other than that, we lost, so it wasn't too much of a fun trip, you know? But it was great to see your former teammates and see those guys that I've been with for two years: all the young Russians and some of the Americans were still there. But overall, we lost, so it wasn't too much of a great trip."
"We are really just focusing on qualifying for the next round and then... anything can happen."
Looking back to 2018, what do you remember about the EuroCup Finals and the way Darussafaka celebrated the title?
"It was great! I mean, that run was really unbelievable because we swept everybody in the playoffs and we only had to play two games against this team. That was the most memorable part. And for me, I didn't play that much through the semifinals and the quarterfinals, but Coach Blatt played me a lot in the finals and I had a really big impact on that series. We stole Game 1 on the road against Lokomotiv and then we were able to beat them again, in our home court, in the second game. Overall, that was one of the best experiences I have had in Europe with that group of guys. I still talk to all those guys today, stay connected with them. So that was, overall, probably one of the best teams I played with. I remember the big play, with the steal and that three by Scottie Wilkebin because I was thinking he was going for a layup and he shot the three. I was going to yell at him to go for the layup, but he pulled up for the three, which is normal, what he would do. But it was a crazy, crazy experience just being a part of that and playing with Scottie. I think I took over in overtime, if I'm not mistaken, scoring a lot of points and giving us that extra cushion to have a comfortable win in overtime. But yes, it's definitely a memorable experience being able to play in the finals and win a championship in Europe, just because not too many people really get to achieve that."
Metropolitans made it to the EuroCup Quarterfinals last season. What would make it a good season for you and your team?
"Right now, we are really just focusing on qualifying for the next round and then we get to the next round and anything can happen. I'm not really trying to speak on our goals or anything that we have said in the locker room, but for us, we are just trying to take it one game at a time and put ourselves in the best position to win games and keep advancing. At the end of the day, that's the goal: to keep advancing and play as long as possible. So for us, we just try to focus on these next games coming up, to qualify for the next round and then after that, anything can happen because if I'm not mistaken, it's single-game elimination after that. That's when everything gets tricky and you just want to see your draws and try to put your best foot forward for one game at a time."