5 Takeaways From The Thunder’s First Win
By Adam Joseph
Oct 28, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach
looks at the clock during action against the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Billy D Shows His Flexibility
The constant criticism of Scott Brooks was that he wasn’t a great in-game coach who wasn’t flexible with making adjustments on the fly or being versatile with his lineups. If the preseason and season opener are anything to go by, Billy Donovan will not share that trait.
Donovan has changed up his lineups and rotations constantly, and the Spurs win was another version of that. He responded well to the Spurs runs, and early in the second half was a great example when he got Nick Collison out there when Adams was clearly struggling to make an impact.
Anthony Morrow was the first man off the bench tonight, and the likelihood is this will change depending on the matchup on any given night. He opted for Kanter when he needed baskets when the Spurs were on fire, but benched him late when he needed defense from his line up.
He also didn’t buy into the idea that Kanter must play exclusively with Ibaka, pairing him with Adams early. Execution out of timeouts has been an issue in the past, but he ran the correct play to ensure Durant would take the free throws late in the game to seal an important win.
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