SACRAMENTO – There is a mandate for the Thunder tonight – be defensive minded.
As Head Coach Scott Brooks’ team takes on the Sacramento Kings in the back half of its two-game Northern California road trip, it will have to play its brand of man-to-man defense for the full 48 minutes. With Darren Collison at the helm for the Kings and DeMarcus Cousins on the block, the Thunder has to both prevent dribble penetration and not allow Cousins to get position low and near the rim.
Sacramento is one of the best teams in the league at drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, so forcing them to become a jump shooting team as opposed to attacking the rim will be essential for the Thunder tonight.
“We’re going to have to defend without fouling,” Brooks explained. “We have to make sure we keep those points off the board and make them earn it with a tough shot.”
“Cousins is a handful,” Brooks said. “We have to make his touches tough. We can’t give him easy points around the rim.”
Tonight is also an opportunity for the Thunder to continue to gel on both sides of the ball as it returns to health and tries to develop a rhythm. The beginning of the season was disjointed for the Thunder as it lost Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and many others to injuries, shaking up the flow of the normal development process a team goes through. With the season approaching the halfway point, the Thunder has to keep grinding away and finding ways to get better as a unit on offense in the variety of ways that it scores and on defense as a cohesive five-man unit.
“We’re only going to continue to improve,” Brooks said. “My job is to help the group continue to move forward.”
“We’re not just about scoring,” Brooks continued. “We want to continue to compete on both ends. We want to continue to build our ways of scoring also.”
Waiters Joins the Team in Sacramento
48 hours ago, Dion Waiters was in his home town of Philadelphia, getting ready to play in a game with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Just two days later, he had been whisked away to Oklahoma City for his physical then out to Sacramento to join the team. In the NBA, things move quickly like that. It was visible on his face during shootaround, that even through the whirlwind, Waiters is excited about joining the Thunder and going through the process of finding his role.
“I’m excited to be here,” Waiters said. “I get to come here and play for the city and the fans. I’m excited to get going.”
“I get to come to an organization that has been to the Finals with young, talented guys,” Waiters said. “I love being a part of something like that.”
Waiters will play tonight for the Thunder coming off the bench, but it remains to be seen how many minutes he will get. The package offensively will of course have to be a bit simple for Waiters as he integrates into the group, and the defensive calls and coverages will be something he’ll learn with time. Brooks, however, is thrilled to have another physical, tough perimeter player who can score when the ball swings to him on the weakside or as a ball-handler in pick-and-roll situations.
“We’re excited to have him,” Brooks said. “He brings a toughness, he brings a scorer and he brings a competitor. I like guys who are going to compete when they’re on the floor.”
"He can play with the basketball in the pick and roll and he’s a guy who can space and attack off of drive and kicks," Brooks continued. "He can make shots."
Broadcast Information
Tip-off: 9 p.m. CT
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: Thunder Radio Network, WWLS the Sports Animal