Thunder coach drops harsh truth bomb on Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell preseason debut

Though the fact that the OKC Thunder won their preseason opener against the San Antonio Spurs should come as little surprise, seeing who wound up leading the charge on the night just might.

No Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luguentz Dort? It seemed like no problem for Oklahoma City, as their active running mates stepped up in their absence en route to a 112-107 victory.

Jalen Williams came out of the gates hot as he dropped 18 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 75 percent shooting from deep in the first half alone while Chet Holmgren poured in a quick 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in just the first quarter before being pulled due to coaching precautions.

However, by game's end, they weren't the tantalizing tandem fans and pundits were seen gushing over, as rookies Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell proved invaluable to the club's hard-fought win down in the Lone Star state.

Combining for impressive totals of 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, despite their lacking familiarity on the official NBA stage, Jones and Mitchell posted box score metrics reminiscent of seasoned vets.

However, looking at counting stats alone can sometimes mask the full truth of a player's impact on the hardwood, and, from an execution standpoint, coach Mark Daigneault didn't seem all that satisfied.

Mark Daigneault drops truth bomb on performance of Thunder rookies

During his post-game media session, the Thunder headman was asked to discuss his thoughts on the play of both his rookie wings. While he did admit that their poise and confidence on the floor were certainly impressive, going as far as to say these were the best parts of their debuts, as a whole he suggested that their on-court presentation could still use some serious refining.

"I thought their confidence was really high. With that said, their execution was a 'C' or whatever. It wasn't great. Nor should it be this early on," Daigneault said.

Though his stance on their execution being sub-par may seem a bit oddly placed considering they were clearly the catalysts in Monday night's triumph, it's also one influenced by the eye test rather than merely the end-game statistics.

From their happy hands in the foul department to sloppy ball-handling and distributing that led to a combined four turnovers (one, in particular, was committed by Mitchell that directly resulted in the Spurs cutting the Thunder lead down to four with roughly 30 seconds left in regulation), without a doubt there are plenty of things the first-year pros can work on moving forward.

That being said, Daigneault stressed in his analysis that both Ajay Mitchell and Dillon Jones are right where he expects individuals with their experience to be.

The most important thing for him is to see his players "go out there and really compete and play with confidence and try to do the right thing," which, in his eyes, they undoubtedly accomplished.