The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Monday as they enjoy a rare three-day break during the knockout stage of the 2023-24 in-season tournament.
After a thrilling win over the Dallas Mavericks that saw them survive a 30-0 run, the Thunder will next play on Wednesday, Dec. 6 against the Houston Rockets.
Following practice, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and starting forward Jalen Williams spoke with the media.
Daigneault talked about what separated them from the average young team while Williams retold the absurdity of winning a game despite giving up a historic 30-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Here’s a recap quick of the Thunder’s practice:
Chet Holmgren, Aaron Wiggins, and Lu Dort shooting with Thunder assistants Dave Bliss and David Akinyooye pic.twitter.com/YBmhCvITpI
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault “we aren’t like a bench unit type team. We are staggering a lot of starters so it’s hard to separate bench and starters.” Said the guys they’ve subbed with have done both of either continuing a strong start or giving energy after a slow start
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault “there are a lot of things that separate us from the narrative of young team things…a lot of the narratives that are built around young teams you can apply to all teams.”said “We are more focused on trying to be a good team rather than a good young team.”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault on Cason Wallace “he has a great nose the ball really good basketball instincts. People associate that with passing a lot but he just has great instincts with the intangibles of the game.” Mentioned his ability to cut as one of those examples.
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander “I think he has grown significantly defensively.” Said “I think some of it is just experience and learning to anticipate. Some of it is physical as you grow into your body.” Added “he prioritizes winning”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault “I have a high degree of confidence in everybody on the team including guys that aren’t playing right now.”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Mark Daigneault “the leader is the person doing the right thing…when you define leadership like that it makes it entitled to no one and accessible to everyone.”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Jalen Williams said the way the team starts the game on the road is the reason he thinks they’ve so successful on the road. Mentioned the team is aware of how hard it is to win on the road if you start slow.
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Jalen Williams “surprisingly, there was no panic” during Dallas run “everybody’s biggest talking point was just stay together” said Kenrich Williams was huge in harping on that. Said they did a good job of just focusing on being down 6 not the 30-0 run.
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Jalen Williams “we have a lot of confident players on our team”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
I asked Jalen Williams where he thinks his brother, Cody Williams, has grown the most “I think he’s gotten stronger” and mentioned it’s just natural as you grow as a player you start to figure out how you want to play
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
Jalen Williams talking about the team’s mental processes while enduring that 30-0 run by the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/dcwPx1e1WN
— 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗠. 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼 (@AddamFrancisco) December 4, 2023
Asked Jalen Williams where he thinks he stacks up in the NBA when it comes to fashion, then asked who’s fashion sense he has the most respect for: pic.twitter.com/55LsDmH5tp
— 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗠. 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼 (@AddamFrancisco) December 4, 2023
Thunder practice, Kenrich Williams and Tre Mann continuing their one on one pic.twitter.com/zioRTwolBh
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 4, 2023
