The Oklahoma City Thunder headed up the road to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play a preseason game at the BOK Center as the OKC Thunder welcome in the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder were still without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MCL), Lu Dort (concussion), Mike Muscala (ankle), and of course will miss Chet Holmgren (foot) for the entire season while the Mavericks were not at full strength either. Dallas missed Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr, Maxi Kleber, JaVale McGee, and Davis Bertans. Mark Daigneault also had to balance the minutes ahead of a back-to-back which features a Thursday matchup with the NBL 36ers. Ousmane Dieng though made the most of his minutes.
The Oklahoma City Thunder held the Dallas Mavericks under 100 points in the BOK Center and that was largely due to their chaotic team style of defense. Every player is flying around, rotating, jumping passing lanes, applying pressure to the opposition, and scrapping for rebounds. The Thunder, despite being undersized, is 2-0 in the rebounding battle.
Ousmane Dieng shines on the defensive end in the OKC Thunder loss to the Dallas Mavericks
The Oklahoma City Thunder traded multiple future first-round picks for Ousmane Dieng on draft night, and many thought the 6’11 wing would be another project player. He plays like a guard despite his size, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti even explained Dieng is a guard they have been watching since Dieng was 16 when he hit a growth spurt. He factually has all those perimeter skills on the offensive end, many figured it would take time for them to come around.
A way the rookie is going to see the floor early on is through his incredible defense. It is jaw-dropping that at the age of 19, Dieng has shown an understanding of how to use his length to his advantage on the defensive end. He was great in rotation, close-outs, isolation defense, and fighting through screens. His court awareness and anticipation are advanced for his age.
Those factors make it so Dieng will see the floor early on for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and should even find himself in Mark Daigneault’s opening night rotation in Minnesota.
Dieng did leave the contest early with an apparent ankle injury, we will update you on the injury as we have them.
Despite the loss, Dieng was a massive bright spot.