OKC Thunder: Lu Dort makes immediate impact on Team Canada

It took all of one half for OKC Thunder wing Luguentz Dort to make his presence felt on his National Team. Although he had a bit of a shaky first half, to be fair Dort unlike most of his teammates had no experience playing FIBA basketball. There is a learning curve for players (and fans) new to the international game.

If you caught Canada versus Greece on Tuesday some differences stood out while others were a little less obvious. While Canada and the United States employ more of the NBA strategy of pushing pace and ball movement the majority of teams play with a more methodical, half-court style.

In fact, there are numerous differences to FIBA compared to the NBA game. Quarters are 10:00 minutes long instead of 12:00, balls can be tipped in while resting on the rim (or rebounded), the 3-point line is shorter and even the actual ball is different.

Arguably, the two major differences of the FIBA game are it’s far more physical and most European clubs have roster constancy with the same players being involved with their National teams on a yearly basis.

The latter is a factor at the tournament as every team except Canada played exhibition games and are extremely familiar with each other.  It’s why not having SGA available is disappointing since he not only knows Lu well but also his cousin – Nickeil Alexander-Walker. In contrast to the other teams in the tournament, the first time the Canadians played an opponent was the match versus Greece.

Understandably, it took that first half for the team to find a rhythm, and head coach, Nick Nurse was clearly still tweaking his schemes and lineups as the game progressed.

Canada agog over OKC Thunder wing Lu Dort’s performance on National Team

The initial major adjustment Nurse made came in the second half when the coach elected to put in Dort instead of sticking with their two bigs. That meant the only big on the court was Dwight Powell, while Lu was tasked with guarding anyone and everyone.

Knowing how much Nurse loves defense and players who have prowess in that area the move wasn’t that shocking. Dort rewarded Nurse by making huge defensive plays in the win. The OKC Thunder wingman’s box score from the Greece match isn’t that exciting but if you watched the game or like the narrator caught the local postgame coverage Dort was getting accolades from everyone.

Because I watch all the OKC Thunder games I’m familiar with Dort, but I underestimated the fact not all Canadian fans or broadcasters are aware of his talents. It was amusing to hear each media personality rave about Dort and how he impacted the game.

The CBS crew specifically credited Dort for the team’s overall defensive improvement in the second half versus Greece. They were correct as his energy had a palpable effect.

The major weakness of this team is their lack of bigs. Although the wings all have good size, Canada simply doesn’t have a wealth of centers or power forwards available. That led to Nurse electing to play essentially four guards/wings with Powell especially in clutch time with Dort being the player he repeatedly turned to.

It paid dividends, as Dort forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. Specifically, versus Nick Calathes he got him to dribble the ball out of bounds. In another possession, Georgios Papagiannis was in the paint and because Canada was switching everything Dort found himself defending the 7-foot big man, but intercepted the lob inside. At game end, with Greece pressing, Nurse subbed Dort back in to pressure the ball handler which also led to another turnover and cemented the victory.

In the match versus China, the Canadians won by 30 points looking much more comfortable on both sides of the court. Dort also seemed to settle into his role, playing better offensively scoring 11 points including hitting half of his 3-pointers (3 of 6). Social media (at least in Canada) blew up as fans and media alike raved about Dort’s defense.

While it’s clear Andrew Wiggins and RJ Barrett will be the main scoring threats for Canada, make no mistake Lu Dort is already the player Nurse is going to depend on in key moments.

Coincidentally, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s cousin Alexander-Walker is quickly becoming the other x-factor for Nurse. He singlehandedly kept Canada in the game versus Greece early and provided another strong effort versus China.

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Nurse is balancing NAW’s limitations defensively by bringing in Dort with him as the first substitutions off the bench.

With the two victories, the Canadians have won Group A which means they’ll face the second-place team from Group B in the semi-finals on Saturday. That opponent will be either the Czech Republic or Uruguay.

Assuming Canada wins that match they’ll likely face Turkey in the finals on Sunday with the winner cementing their spot in Toyko.

Each of those three clubs has depth and size upfront. Powell will be tasked with the heavy burden of defending the big men, but Dort will be called upon even prior to Trey Lyles, Andrew Nicholson, or Aaron Doornekamp. That speaks to how big of an impression Lu has already made on Nurse and his teammates.

If all goes to plan, then Dort and his team will head to Hawaii in preparation for the Olympics. ESPN Plus is airing the games from the tournament in the U.S. And for those lucky enough to have access to the CBS broadcast I highly recommend it as you’ll get to hear the announcers wax poetic about Dort.