John Marshall High School will be filled to the brim on Tuesday night at the annual Blue and White Scrimmage, marking the ninth consecutive season the Thunder has held an open Training Camp event for the Oklahoma City public. Before that, however, Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club held a practice on Tuesday morning to keep working through its defensive and offensive fundamentals.
News and Notes
- Thunder veteran forward Nick Collison said that tonight’s scrimmage will be the longest period of five-on-five that the team has played live yet. That’ll be a positive but more than anything, the event is designed to be about the fans and being a part of the community.
- This will be a chance for the coaching staff to test out different lineups, player groupings and matchups, which Donovan mentioned at practice this morning. He also had this to say about his goals for the scrimmage: “To try to continue to build an identity on both ends of the floor. That’s going to be a process every single day. The execution part of it, it’ll give us some good groundwork to get some feedback of playing in a game situation of getting up and down.”
- Donovan was asked about Steven Adams’ development on the offensive end, and while he acknowledged that most people look at scoring, it may be more important for this team to get Adams’ passing, ability to transport the ball from side to side and post-up ability into the offense. Maximizing Adams’ varied talents can be a huge asset.
- Another topic of conversation was how Alex Abrines is playing at this early stage of training camp. The young Spanish guard has been working diligently at building up physical strength for the rigors of an NBA season and adjusting to being in America. “He has good feet. He can get to space and areas to get shots off. He’s really long, has a really good basketball IQ,” Donovan said. “I’m encouraged about the type of player he can be as young as he is.”
- Collison was asked which of his teammates was setting a defensive tone on the floor so far, and he picked out veteran point guard Ronnie Price. “He’s really good at guarding the ball, sliding his feet and impacting the ball on the defensive end,” Collison said of the 12-year vet. “If they’re not getting any advantage at the point of the screen – so much of NBA offense starts at the point guard – if he can get over those screens and keep everyone home, it’ll help our defense.”
- Over the past few years, Thunder assistant coach Mark Bryant has earned kudos for his development of players like Collison, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter. This year, he has new big men in Ersan Ilyasova, Joffrey Lauvergne and Domantas Sabonis to work with. Part of the reason for his success is how physical Bryant is in practice, helping his players simulate real game experiences even when practices aren’t full contact. “He’s incredibly strong. It’s really good to not have a live practice day where you’re beating up on each other but still be able to do some game-like things with his strength and ability to get stuff done on the court,” Collison said.
- Victor Oladipo was Ronnie Price’s rookie when both players were in Orlando playing for the Magic, and Price mentioned that he’s always gravitated to the young guys on the team. He’s relishing the opportunity to be around Cameron Payne and Semaj Christon. Price’s assessment of Oladipo’s development since they last played together: “Victor has matured a lot. He’s really worked on his jumper and I think he has a better poise to his game than he did when he was younger. Now he kind of picks and chooses his spots,” Price said. “Less is more for Vic. His tempo, the way he approaches the offensive game with his tempo and speed, he’s a problem.”
- Price also mentioned how impressed he’s been by how hard Russell Westbrook works, how skilled Adams is and how creative Andre Roberson is around the rim. He talked about competing at full tilt against his backcourt teammates every day, as everyone understands that a spirit of tenacity brings out the best in everyone. “That’s what families do, and that’s what teammates do,” Price said.
Preparing for Blue-White Scrimmage, Testing Out Lineups
A photo posted by Oklahoma City Thunder (@okcthunder) on Sep 27, 2016 at 2:07pm PDT
Donovan on Adams and Abrines
Setting Defensive Tone, Working With Bigs
Veteran Price on Teammates
Be sure to check back in later tonight with updates from the Blue and White Scrimmage. There will be a Facebook Live stream of the game on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s official Facebook page.
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