OKC Using the Preseason to Learn Amidst Defensive Woes

Coming off their preseason loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder are putting a focus on playing great defense for all four quarters.

The Bucks exploded for 48 first quarter points, and then poured on another 33 in the second quarter to bury the Thunder early on in their second preseason contest.

Similarly, the Charlotte Hornets outscored Oklahoma City 67-45 in the first half during last week’s preseason opener.

Considering how young the OKC roster is, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the loss on Sunday that the team will have to go through a few tough outings to hone in on the intensity they need to come out of the gates with against the better teams in the NBA.

“I didn’t think our competitive level was where it needed to be to start the game,” Daigneault said after the loss to Milwaukee. “And I thought we found that throughout the game, but against a team that good obviously you can’t search for it very long and they made us pay.”

Second-year guard Theo Maledon stressed the importance of making life hard on opposing teams, especially the elite teams in the league like the Bucks.

“Just understanding that against teams like this that are really efficient to not let them get anything easy,” Maledon said after Thunder practice on Tuesday. “We’ve got to play hard from minute one to minute 48.”

Life on the defensive end of the floor will likely be a struggle all year long for the Thunder, however.

The youthful slant of the roster already makes things difficult, as most of the members on the Oklahoma City roster are still learning all the ins and outs of defense in the NBA.

So pair that with the undersized nature of OKC’s center position, and the Thunder are likely going to struggle to protect the rim. And once teams start getting to the basket with ease, the rest of the floor opens up, breaking through the floodgates and allowing the points to pour in from all areas of the court.

Daigneault acknowledged the struggles that Oklahoma City might have early on, but he identified a few areas where the Thunder should be able to improve as they get more experience throughout preseason play.

“I mean that’s certainly top of mind and there’s a lot of different things that we can look at. We can look at personnel,” Daigneault said. “I think that (Derrick) Favors obviously will be available to us, he gives us some girth and physicality there. I think Mike (Muscala) gives us some physicality. Isaiah (Roby) went up against a lot of those guys. Jeremiah is learning.

“The second thing is you can look at committing more help from your wing spots and being maybe a little bit bigger on the wing and more physical on the wing so that you have more help.”

The guards will have to improve defensively to help the bigs behind them, but that’s something that can improve over time if the team does one thing at a high level, Maledon said.

“Communication. I don’t see what’s behind me when when I’m guarding the ball, so it’s really like trusting my teammates to make the call,” Maledon said. “And then playing with the intensity to make anything difficult.”

Wednesday and Thursday will provide another opportunity for the Thunder to learn, as they welcome the Denver Nuggets on a back-to-back in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

With reigning MVP Nikola Jokic at the helm, the Denver offense is fluid and excels at slicing up opposing defenses.

But in the face of adversity, Daigneault said the team is still focused on themselves and developing their own identity from which they can grow throughout this season.

“We’re really just trying to establish our base right now,” said Daigneault, “we haven’t really moved around.”

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