Lu Dort + Coach Daigneault Post Practice Media Availability | March 19, 2024 | OKC Thunder

Lu Dort + Coach Daigneault Post Practice Media Availability | March 19, 2024 | OKC Thunder

L was asking Mark and uh just about you know the nights that you guys don’t have your fast ball but are still able to to win the game be in the game do you feel like uh there are things that you guys are doing this year and and over the

Last few years you’ve done at a higher level on those nights you just you don’t quite have it uh your best uh and what do you think some of those things are that you’re doing at a higher level um in those type of moments we just got

To figure it out um and do whatever we got to do to execute the defensively that can give us a little bit of juice or have someone do a a big play or hustle play for us to get more energy more momentum but um when we in those

Position we just got to figure it out this just got to be defense and then find a way to to to get going do you feel like there are moments of like recognition that they’re that are happening faster than maybe they were two years ago or they’re thi like

They’re Catalyst for those types of moments that are happening more frequently yeah I mean we every time we’re in a time out we regroup we talk about what we can do to Champ prove to do whatever that that King King go is going in the games and stuff like that

But it’s also the group of guyss that we have and it’s it’s it’s becoming easier to figure it out now just because of the chemistry we have with the team so yeah you you’ve been asked at length about just your change of shot selection this year comp the past years but just

Emotionally just something like that a refinement like that which I imagine you know is somewhat mental mostly mental just is that scary at all digging into that process like what is that process like mentally to to go about changing your shot selection oh my oh no it’s not

It’s not really hard it’s it’s for the best of the team and and it’s for the best of me at the same time too you know just being more efficient and and doing everything I can do to help my team you know when I take bad shots doesn’t help

My team it doesn’t help me either you know what I mean so um you know it’s just that the playing playing inside inside the game and then in our system and um you know it’s been good for me eny yeah and and so now you’re top 25 in

The league and in three-point efficiency as long as as well with a few the other guys on the team just when you think about the shots you taken this year when you look back maybe I don’t know how many of those shots hang in your mind

But when you look back at the shots you took the past year just just what do you think in terms of comparison or what not I used to take some wild shots yeah that’s that’s it that’s that simple I us take some wild shots and um

You know credit to my trainers and and the staff here watch a lot of film you know it took some times to get there but you know I’m happy where I’m at and uh you know I’m going keep taking good shots blue for the group recently the offensive rebounds the second chance

Points have gone up a little bit you’ve had a couple of really really good ones has that been an emphasis for you personally as well trying to look for those opportunities yeah it’s been one for the whole team not just for me like um like Gallo said this kind of the

Hustle plays whenever we can’t really get going and you know just um having extra possession is huge so you know we’re always going to going to send guys to to the glass and trying to get extra possession sometimes it’s not even just board like sometimes you’re just kind of

Punching the ball back out to keep that possession going just how valuable are those possessions I mean I’m going against some some tall guys where I know I can’t really get CRA the rebounds so it’s easy for me just to tap it out and um good thing there’s always someone

Back there that I can can grab it and we can get that that extra Poss and then I I wanted to ask you about K he just continues to kind of surprise people with the the way he’s able to get blocks steals deflection sometimes what have

You noticed from him in his growth this season on that end of the floor uh I mean he he he’s a dog man he got he got great hands and he got a good feel defensively just knowing when to to to Gap and and go for those those balls and

Blocks and then then you know he’s he’s he’s not that that tall the biggest gu on the court but like he’s going to hustle and and and do everything to get those type of steals or or blocks whatever so um it’s it’s it’s huge it’s

Big for the team when he does that you guys are I think second in the league and steals you all get them kind of in different ways and it seems like the ones kenrich gets are really different I think he had one in Memphis where he

Just kind of grabbed the ball out of somebody’s hands and ripped it away do you do you ever react like damn when he does stuff like that because it seems like he’s the one that’s usually making those steals very differently yeah I mean carish always going to make the the

The crazy hustle players like that where it’s unexpected and you like everybody’s like oh Kish really did that you know what I mean and yeah that’s just how that’s just who Kish is he’s always going to play hard and and compete and and and hustle you have been teammates

With Shay for quite a while now where have you seen the most growth from Shay over the years I would probably say um his leader his leadership uh just him being vocal him him getting getting us going before games and stuff like that has been has been used and just how he

Approached games at the same time is is it’s really it’s really big and and us as teammates we see that you know we just want to can’t wait to get to go to battle with him and then it’s been impressive how about you how about you’re shooting um I know there are a

Lot of factors that didn’t you know getting makes you um get better but uh is there anything actually that the chip give you some advice chip I mean yeah well chip has so many stories and advice to give on the shot and uh you know he’s

Been doing great with all the guys here on on some little tricks or little things to to change and Men chips out down a couple times and we spoke about you know my shooting and we worked on it too so it’s been uh while chipping my

Trainer FS too so it’s been great I mean I can’t can’t complain I feel I feel way more confident and comfortable shooting the ball Lou as the season winds down you guys are going to the playoffs contention for the one seed how do you sort of balance like getting prepared

For that making sure you guys are well rested enough also like chaseing on uh we scoring game by game you know we we focusing on the next game wherever we play we going to focus on them uh I know it’s getting close to to the postseason but we still got to we still

Got to finish season first so we’ll focus on that and uh we got the Utah next tomorrow especially with what happened sorry especially with what happened to to Chad last year there’s a lot of different ways that this first year for him could have gone uh the fact

That it’s gone this well did you have a sense that that would be the case getting to know him last year uh was there anything were you even sort of Uncertain heading into the year what it would be like what what did you think about I didn’t I didn’t have a sense you

Know you never know what can happen but uh just the the fact that uh I saw him sideline the whole the whole year last season and he couldn’t really do anything but he wanted to be out there with us and to see how he can wait to be

Out there so now it’s it’s just great that he really attacked the program he did everything in his recovery stuff to to be able to play that many games this season so you know I’m really happy for him it’s it’s it’s not cool when you miss a whole season but it’s great when

You come back even stronger and better and you play a Dem near full season I’ve had nights where you haven’t had your fast ball are there things that you guys are the controllables that you guys are doing at a higher level this year to keep you in games than maybe you had

Last year or the year before um well I think that’s a mark of a good team is you know there’s going to be Knights and fastball really refers to shot making you know it’s there’s a variance to shot making and uh we’ve shot the ball well

For a lot of the year that’s contributed to having a good season but there’s also been nights where we haven’t and that’s where defense um winning The Possession battle um getting getting manufacturing shots like getting a couple easy ones maybe um that’s where that stuff shows up offensive rebounding defensive

Rebounding have there been catalysts or or moments or players that have contributed to that maybe at a higher level this year it would be hard to single anybody out I think everybody has shown a pretty good commitment to those types of things in their own way um for some guys it

Might be you know car Williams it might be going to getting an offensive rebounds uh for Wiggins it might be a cut um for Shay it might be a deflection you know it’s it’s different for everybody but everybody’s contributing or because you’ve already played so many

Games I imagine a lot question that need to be answered can only be answered in the postseason but I I won’t be presumptive is there anything you’re still looking for in these last you know I many games well I mean the first thing is just like firming up our habits you

Know and making sure that the screws are tight there U that’s a never- ending battle um in terms of fighting against slippage um and making sure that you know our our stuff is really really tight you know something as simple in the Memphis game uh we had four or five

Fouls at the end of possessions a guy would drive and we have like a hand discipline file we just reach in slap the guy put him on the line or give him an N1 and that’s like literally the first thing you do in training camp

Every day um or every year and so uh even that in game 67 or 68 or whatever you know is still not where it needs to be uh so you tighten that back up and then you know there’ll be another leak and so that’s a never- ending process

But I think the more we can firm those things up uh the tighter we get with our habits that’s the main thing U and then tactically looking at some different different things lineups looking at some different things continuing to you know uncover everything we can about the team

But um building the habits is is number one always yeah and just looking at this final stretch it’s it’s one of the tougher remaining schedules probably in the league you know you haven’t played the bucks at all you still have them on on the state I just wonder when you see

These final how many games what what you see well every game’s a different challenge I mean um we’re going to play teams that are out of the playoffs um that are eliminated and that’s a challenge cuz you’re playing against a loose opponent that um has a lot to play

For in the game against us uh and then you’re going to play elevated games against teams that um are playoff bound and that uh are also trying to sharpen their blade uh and those are awesome games for us you know because usually they have uh an elevated field to them a

Lot of teams are jostling for position I thought the Dallas game felt like that the other night it was a motivated opponent that’s schemed for us um and that felt like an elevated game and those are good games for us to play in you know to continue to test ourselves

Learn about uh where we’re we’re strong where we’re vulnerable uh and continue to push forward at this point in the season just with having three days without a game just how much value does that hold with with this group it’s mostly for rest we had a really good

Practice today but uh we rested Sunday and then uh we we had a very light day yesterday as well so a lot of it was just trying to put gas back in the tank um and then a sharp day today but um you know we have a a tough schedule coming

Up not only with opponents but uh it’s pretty condensed down the stretch uh with a lot of road games as well and so uh we’re just trying to like you know get everybody you know feeling good heal the bumps and bruises that come up through the course of the Season

Everybody practice today you know we have a healthy team which is great at this point in the year so and I wanted to ask you about jdb he missed that game with that ankle injury but since then two games with 20 or more points but really just allaround impact on the game

Just what have you noticed about him over these last couple of games yeah he hit the ground running he wasn’t out long enough to really like decondition or anything so I actually think it gave him a little bit of a blow um and also allowed the the ankle to heal uh fully

He probably could have played on it um you know the game he missed but it was wise to hold him out of that um and he came back you know in really good form he’s obviously played very well go ahead some of Ken’s steals are just him straight up ripping the ball

Out of people’s hands it’s kind of jarring in comparison to a lot of them are they jarring to you at all when you’re standing there on the sideline uh he just plays with great intensity you know he just brings great intensity to every possession uh and energy and uh

It’s he’s got a contagiousness about him that the team feeds off of and has for a long time he’s just he’s a Fearless competitor he’s willing to get scored on he’s willing to get beat um there’s a vulnerability to the way that he plays that I think is kind of the essence of

Competition and that’s an example of it you know it doesn’t matter who he’s guarding he’s going to go in there and really trust try to um really try to you know impact the game impact the ball but looking back to to train C speaking to Cas um when you guys first brought him

In did you imagine that he would be you know the type of player that can in his first season you know close games be that type of you know Riser as the game goes off you never really know you know with a player I think it’s just um you

Know we obviously evaluate them and acquire them and Sam does a great job of that but then once they get here a lot of it’s about baselining you know figure out where they’re at to start um what they’re doing well where they’re falling behind what they can add how they impact

The game and then you know they they dictate kind of where they start and then that’s where you start the process of developing and and building from there and um he started at a pretty high floor uh because of his competitiveness his defense his reliability um and has developed he’s a

Quick study as well and he’s develop quickly but um the player sets the pace of that you know we we don’t necessarily set the pace of that and so uh he’s cleared a lot of hurdles this year and you know has been tested in a lot of

Ways and has cleared those um pretty well and even when he when he slips and when he has a bad game or um makes a mistake you know he he’s pretty quick to recover and get it back on track and so he’s had a very impressive uh first

Season he’s off to a really good start yeah and and I don’t know the exact numbers on this but you guys have been one of the healthier teams in the league I imagine just the starters alone hav’t Miss probably combined more than 15 games just do you talk about that all

With the guys you framed that at all in terms of the league landscape and and what that’s meant for for the season um I mean there’s there’s two things that go into that there’s luck and then there’s uh you know diligence and and work and you can’t control the luck you

Know shett sitting over there he gets stepped on has a fracture in his foot he’s out for the season that’s bad luck you know there’s really nothing you can do there um and so there’s there’s that’s part of it um dub steps on the cameraman the other night ankle spraying

Misses a game bad luck but um there’s a lot you can’t control and our players uh have high commitment levels uh they follow the plan they put in a lot of extra work uh to activate before they play before they practice um they do their recovery they lift 10 times a

Month uh in season sometimes after games for some guys they work incredibly hard to to tilt uh the luck in their favor uh and you know that combined with good luck this season and we’ve had a great great availability probably one of the best in the league Mark where do you see

Gordon’s conditioning right now and and and also how is he progressing within the system his conditioning look fine um yeah I think he’s he’s kind of got a steady energy on the floor you know so um he looks about in form right now um and I thought he’s done a good job in

The system I mean he’s done a good job of being additive without um you know being over aggressive uh and you know he’s really really done a good job of trying to fit into what we’re already doing uh I think that was a bit of an adjustment for him stylistically this is

Different for him uh than the different systems he’s played in different teammates he’s played with uh and then he’s doing it mid-season so there’s like it’s different when you have a training camp and you can practice 15 times and have preseason games and there’s a very natural training Camp’s designed for

That buildup so a player like case Wallace you know the the camp is going to catch him up and he’s going to be on the same Pace as everybody else when you add a person mid-season they don’t get that you know they had that somewhere

Else um and so they kind of have to jump on the train while it’s moving uh and he’s done a good job of that and and looks more and more comfortable and confident he’s playing well in his minutes I’ve been impressed by how he’s handled it you guys have improved as a

Pre-point shooting team over the years what do you just think of Chip England’s impact there over his time here um I mean he’s got a lot of wisdom um he’s got a very simple uh approach to it uh he works very intimately with a few

Players and I think has done a great job there uh but it’s the cumulative effect of a lot of things and you know some of it is the individual Improvement guys have made um the staff that has worked with the players hasn’t been limited to Chip and all of our players work with

All of our coaches all of our coaches have worked really hard to uh learn more about skill acquisition which you know shooting is probably number one on that list and then some of the shooting Improvement is shots were’re not taking you know like there’s everybody talks about the Improvement of the shots you

You’re taking and making but um you know a guy like Lou Dort uh you know we’ve talked at nauseum about but he’s shooting 40% as much because of his Improvement as a shooter but also because the ones he’s laying off of and I think we’ve done a really good job as

A team of identifying what a good shot is for us uh and being committed to those uh cross and so I think that’s had something to do with it as well Mark Shay finished fifth last who are you I’m the new guy yeah Shay finished fifth last season for MVP he’s going to

Finish no lower than second this year I think the main case for him is just the win loss record this year compared to to last year but besides that number like do you see tangible ways in which he’s even improved his value to your team from where he was a year

Ago um yeah I mean independent of like I will say this with the award season and all that you know what he’s done in his career to this point and what he’s done for our team this season doesn’t need to be validated by an award you know it stands

On its own two feet if he wins it uh great and that’s Downstream of of you know our team and him uh but if he doesn’t win it you know it it doesn’t take anything away from the impact that he’s had or the player he’s turned

Himself into um you know so we’re not really attached to those things you know we’re we’re more attached to our work and our process but um you know he’s what he’s done defensively the last two years hasn’t just been this year you know the last two seasons he’s taken a

Major jump as a Defender um he has continually honed his efficiency you know year over-ear he just becomes more and more efficient so as the usage goes up or as the points per game go up the efficiency doesn’t drop you know that’s very impressive he’s not just collecting

Numbers um and then the other thing I’ll say is he’s done all of that in a way that has allowed the rest of the guys to elevate you know he’s not played in a way that has diminished the team as a whole or other individual players you’re seeing other individual players rise uh

Alongside him which is what I think great players do is they allow not only do they make other people better but they allow other people to be better with the space they create uh both interpersonally with the team and with how they play and he’s done that not

Only with I know I think when I say that people think of you know guys like chedd or dub but he’s done that with almost everybody is having a great season you know in the role that they’re in uh and space has to be created by the guy that

Has the ball the most and he’s created for that space so for our team uh Major Impact in those areas not to mention what he’s done chemistry-wise off the floor with the guys Ju Just to follow up on the defensive point you made seems like with with like simple box score

Stats like steals it seems like sometimes we overvalued them but now there’s a lot of like prominent people in the you know analytics community that thinks we’re undervaluing Steel and just how important they are do you have any thoughts on that just as far as Shay leading the league in that category yeah

I mean I will say how many does you have you know 2.1 2.1 per game you know so um we’ve played 60 games you know so 62.1 is 120ish he probably has I mean that’s like more than a full game of the season that have ended on zero points

For the other team cuz we have the ball you know like that’s a full game you know there’s 105 possessions game he’s got 120 steals so one full game of defense is represented with them getting zero points at the end of The Possession cuz he’s stolen the ball that’s the

Value of a steel whereas with shot distribution you’re trying to play for percentages you’re trying to take a 40% three-point shot and lower it to 37 and the cumulative effect over that over the course of the Season makes you a better defense but when you steal the ball you

Know it squashes down to zero you’re not like playing on the margins and so steals are valuable you know when a possession ends with z Z points for the other team um and we’ve led the league in turnovers or we’re up there um so winning that battle has been a huge part

Of our defense it’s given us some margin for error in other areas um so that’s huge it’s also not the only thing if it was the only thing we would just be out here teaching how to steal the ball you know and and we don’t necessarily design

Our system uh to yield that we design our system to be disruptive and to uh Force teams to plan B and we think that if we do that we’ll lower the efficiency of the shots lower the quality of the shots where they’re shooting them from who’s shooting them and then we’ll

Hopefully turn people over as well

Listen to Lu Dort and Coach Daigneault following today’s practice.

Lu Dort 0:00
Coach Daigneault 6:49

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