NEW YORK CITY – The energy wasn’t quite right in the Thunder’s loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the team responded.
In a lively practice session at John Jay University in Manhattan, the Thunder got its blood pumping and juices going to shake off a poor performance against the Knicks as it tries to get back on track before flying out to Memphis on Friday to square off against the Grizzlies on Saturday. Head Coach Scott Brooks’ club uses practice as a way to get in some great work against competitive players who want one another to succeed. While the x’s and o’s moving forward are crucial, the Thunder’s true goal on Thursday was to get the effort and intensity back to its typical, high levels.
“It was a spirited, competitive practice,” Brooks said. “We have to continue to build on that and focus on what we do in practice and transfer it over into games.”
“We just tried to bounce back after a tough loss last night,” forward Serge Ibaka explained. “It’s always about bouncing back. That’s why we gave everything we had today to get better and be ready for the next game.”
As it moves forward over the next two weeks before the All-Star Break, the Thunder wants to do a better job of locking in on the defensive end to execute its defensive coverages. On the other end of the floor, Brooks and his staff challenge the team to generate high percentage looks at the basket each time down court. Thursday’s practice session was a good chance to further both of those missions in a live setting where players could challenge one another and work together to either create baskets or get stops.
“We just worked on a few things offensively and tried to stay connected with one another,” Brooks said. “We know we didn’t play well last night. We talked about that and some of the things we could have done better. We tried to implement it in our practice setting.”
“We work on the same things every day, but sometimes the energy is important to the team,” Ibaka said. “We’re going to practice together and learn.”
While the game of basketball is complex, with specific situations calling for different lineups or rotations and certain matchups calling for particular offensive sets or defensive coverages, for the most part the Thunder wants to simplify and stick to its core values. If the Thunder plays for one another on the offensive end, attacks or passes immediately on the catch and puts pressure on the defense, points will naturally come.
Where the team must devote its mental and physical energy the most is on defense. Both in transition and in the half court, the Thunder cannot afford lapses for entire games or even stretches. If teammates have one another’s back at all times and individuals are committed to doing their job of staying between their man and the rim, the Thunder’s shell can hold firm and the team can use those defensive stops to produce easy offense.
“It’s to focus on defense and on offense, just play basketball,” Ibaka said. “We just need to do a better job of playing defense and team basketball.”