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Practice Roundup – Dec. 7, 2016

Steven Adams and Enes Kanter have their men pinned back outside of the paint and the opposing team’s guards have already fled into transition defense, knowing the Thunder is spring-loaded to burst out into a fast break situation.

There’s nothing to it then, for Russell Westbrook to swoop in and snag the defensive rebound, on his way to coast up the floor and get the Thunder into offense. Westbrook’s tear of six straight triple-doubles is both an incredible display of his athleticism, improvement and all-around gifts, but also a measurement of the team-first mentality that he and his opponents display. Right now, what’s best for the group is the primary focus for each player.

“No one cares. We’d rather it be him,” Adams said about the rebounds. “I like it because I can actually box out my dude. It’s good that he gets to come in and take them.”

Thunder Talk: Steven Adams

There’s an ecosystem to the Thunder’s defense, rebounding, transition and offensive games. Guys are in the right spots, performing their job to play within team schemes and to recognize the tendencies of its opponent’s personnel. The rebounds fall where they may due to great box outs, and oftentimes its Westbrook who pushes the ball up court either to find streaking players at the rim or spaced out to the corner, or to get into a pick and roll to read the defense and identify the open man.

“They all have a job to do,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said. “Russell wouldn’t be able to get those numbers unless guys were doing things that were allowing him to get those numbers and our guys wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing if they weren’t receiving the ball from Russell in certain situations. I look at it more as a chemistry, a team and a group connected where everybody is trying to play off of each other.”

Thunder Talk: Steven Adams

- At practice, Donovan praised the job that rookie Domas Sabonis has done so far this season. The stretch forward has been asked to play a very different role than the one he played in college, less around the basket and more perimeter oriented. It’s going well so far, although the team would like to incorporate more of Sabonis’ ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim on closeouts. On the other end of the floor, Donovan has been pleased with the way Sabonis has improved his verticality around the rim, which has resulted in fewer fouls and more missed shots for the opposition.

- The Thunder closed out its win in Atlanta against the Hawks by forcing a desperation three to miss with an airball that fell short of the rim. On the play, every Thunder player was supposed to switch on any screening action, and the team executed it correctly. From there it was just up to Victor Oladipo to play tough on-on-one coverage.

  • “We did a great job of maintaining our man and it was just one on one defense after that for me,” Oladipo said. “Luckily I made him shoot a tough shot. That was nice. It was great that we got to finish it out on defense because we’ve been focused so hard on getting better at it.”

- That end-of-game defensive effort resembled what the Thunder put together on both nights of its back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday. Over the past week, the Thunder has really honed in on the defensive end of the floor- recognizing when to help, when to stay home and what types of shot it will have to live with giving up. Sometimes, the only way to get on the same page with those issues is to practice.

  • “It’s our timing and awareness of what’s going on. We’ve brought to light and defined what it means to go over and help, and if they’re in a really bad position. It worked out well,” Adams explained. “What we saw is that we’re over-helping. That’s allowing opportunities for offensive rebounds and corner threes. Once we got that cleared up, our rotations were efficient.”

- There were some highlight plays on the offensive end of the floor as well in Atlanta, including an incredible two-handed, double-clutch dunk by Victor Oladipo. It was reminiscent of the type of dunks that Dominique Wilkins used to send through the hoop , which was ironic given that Wilkins was in the building on Monday night in Atlanta. It turns out that Wilkins has been pulling Oladipo aside for years to give the young guard some advice.

  • “I saw him before the game. It’s funny. Throughout the years since I’ve been in the league, every time we play the Hawks I take time to talk to him and get advice,” Oladipo said, before laying out what the NBA legend has told him. “Just to continue to play my game and be aggressive. The biggest thing he taught me was my spots on the floor. That’s where he said he made his living – getting to his spots anywhere he wanted the ball, where he was going and how to get there. I’m going to continue getting better at that.”