OKC Thunder: Darius Bazley shares Donovan rebounding teaching tip

Following practice on Friday, OKC Thunder rookie Darius Bazley met with the media and served up a great Donovan training tip.

With the OKC Thunder set to play their third game on Saturday and down 0-2 one would think the players would be a bit stressed. If they are, Darius Bazley certainly wasn’t demonstrating it when he met with the media on Friday. The term calm as a cucumber comes to mind.

The NBA official site on the media session offers up the full interview.  The rookie arrived at the bubble having grown several areas of his game during the hiatus. In three of the last four seeding games registered games of 23 points/seven rebounds, 22 points/10 rebounds and 21 points/nine rebounds.

In his first playoff experience, he dropped three of four 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds as one of the few Game 1 highlights. Bazley has firmly entrenched himself alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and fellow rookie Luguentz Dort as the triumvirate of the future for the Thunder. So perhaps it’s why he’s so calm.

That and he’s spent most of the season being mentored by Chris Paul who took a shine to SGA and Bazley like they were his little brothers.

The rookie noted everyone is positive as is the energy and told reporters the vets are emphasizing to take what they’ve learned throughout the season and apply it. Its sage advice as teams will typically play to their identity and the OKC Thunder has consistently been a squad who fights to the bitter end and often rises to challenges, particularly after losses.

Darius Bazley calm, cool and collected as team preps for Game 3

In fact, you’d have to go back to November 22nd to find the last time the Thunder lost three games in a row. They’ve lost two in a row on four occasions since then, but never three-in-a-row. After each of those two-game losses, the Thunder went on to win four or five games in a row. Meaning, the vets know of what they speak!

Bazley served up high praise for the return of Lu Dort noting he made a

huge difference because his presence made it extremely hard for James Harden to get into a rhythm.

Like Donovan, Bazley reiterated the message of spacing and quick decisions although he pointed to preparation and being mentally locked in.

The best part of the Q and A was Bazley’s response to how the Thunder could counteract the offensive rebounding.

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The rookie told of Billy Donovan using baseball as an analogy for rebounding especially off missed  3-pointers. The coach told him when a batter steps in the box to take cuts the outfielders don’t start midfield and run backward.

Rather they start further back and close the gap to the ball. It’s a great way to look. The trick is to close the gap between the shooter and the rim so there is more likelihood to get the rebound while boxing out the shooter.

I wonder if Donovan spoke to Bazley about this method after the hiatus. The reason is prior to March 11th, the rookie grabbed seven or more rebounds on five occasions. Including limited minutes in his two playoff games and eight seeding games, he achieved seven or more rebounds on six occasions!

Moving into Game 3 on Saturday it would be great to witness Darius Bazley getting additional minutes. The thinking here is twofold.

As a critical piece of the OKC Thunder future, the franchise should look to get the rookie as much postseason experience as possible. And, from a logistical standpoint, he’s confident right now and his length also offers an added benefit in defending that perimeter where the Rockets will camp out for the majority of their shots.

For those interested in more insights from Game 2 click here for grades and click here for three takeaways.