OKC Thunder: Practice Round-Up 23-2-17
In the second practice for the OKC Thunder at the INTEGRIS Thunder Development Center since the All-Star break, the media spoke to Billy Donovan and Andre Roberson.
Billy Donovan
OKC Thunder coach Billy Donovan was quite pleased with practice today. Even on trade deadline day, where several OKC Thunder names were thrown up for trade, the team was focused.
What Donovan centered on as a team was again how good the Thunder were at getting points in the paint and getting to the free throw line.
Source: OKC Thunder – Billy Donovan
Donovan wanted the team to concentrate on stopping their opponents from being as good as the Thunder in these areas.
Donovan wants the team to continue playing to their identity. He stated that the Thunder needed to defend the kick-out and be consistent in transition defense. In the half-court situation the Thunder are defending really well, but need to be more focused in late clock situations.
RELATED CONTENT: NBA Coach of the Year: The Case for Billy Donovan
On offense, he once again stated that they needed to take care of the ball and create good shots. He praised their ability to get points in the paint but also good at getting non-paint two’s. Obviously, a team with Russell Westbrook running it is also good in transition offense.
The media asked Donovan about how Enes Kanter was progressing. He informed the media that Kanter had participated in more contact drills today. Donovan preferred to wait until after shoot around to make any call on the status of Kanter.
Related: Enes Kanter Injury exposes Thunder offense
Off camera, members of the media asked Kanter whether he would play. His response was playful. He told reporters that it was a secret and they would have to wait to find out. If he does play, I would expect Donovan to assign an assistant coach to Kanter, stopping any potential chair hits.
Andre Roberson
Andre Roberson gave as much away to the media today as he did to Carmelo Anthony last game. A little bit, but not too much.
Source: OKC Thunder – Andre Roberson
Roberson talked about the tone of the practice. He talked about the team knew what they needed to do and that the coaching staff had gone through what was going well and what was not.
More from Thunder News
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
When asked about the injured ‘Stache Brother’, Roberson let slip that Kanter was pushing off other guys in practice. This is a good sign for the potential return of the center. However, if there is an issue, the big man will sit out. According to Roberson, Kanter has the best interest of the team at heart.
I can, and do, believe that to be true. Kanter has only done one act which has truly cost the team. It was the pure frustration with the way that he was playing that caused Kanter to react like this. I can’t wait to see Kanter back on the court. To see him playing next to Taj Gibson is something that I am looking forward to a lot.
I am also looking forward to the next practice round-up. The player interviewed is sure to talk about Gibson and Doug McDermott and their fit with the team.
Stay tuned by downloading the FanSided app and selecting Thunderous Intentions. Either visit the app store or click the link here.