There’s something different in the air when the first week of the regular season arrives.
After a long, challenging month of U.S. Cellular Thunder Training Camp, Head Coach Scott Brooks’ team is fully ready to embrace the rigorous 82-game regular season schedule. At the INTEGRIS Thunder Development Center, the team took to the court for practice once again after resting on Sunday, getting in another session of work as Brooks and his staff nail down the starting lineups and rotations for the season opener in Portland against the Trail Blazers.
“It’s coming,” Brooks said. “It’s definitely right around the corner. It’s another day to improve on what we need to do going into the first game. It was very competitive. The guys were locked in.”
There have been a run of injuries on the Thunder roster this preseason, most notably the Jones fracture to Kevin Durant’s right foot, but also an MCL sprain for Anthony Morrow, a broken foot for Mitch McGary and some other bumps and bruises up and down the roster. There’s quite a bit in flux at the moment for Brooks’ squad, which is coming off of a 59-win season and came into the preseason with the core of its roster in-tact.
Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison will be called upon in Durant’s absence to be both vocal and visible on and off the floor to set the tone for younger teammates. In the early going the Thunder may experience some growing pains as the team gels and finds a rhythm, and it will be crucial that the players and staff stick together and battle through any adversity that presents itself.
“We just have to be great leaders,” Perkins said. “We have to be mentors when we’re on the court. We have a lot of young guys that are in. When you’re on the court, you have to be teaching and also doing your job.”
“Being a leader doesn’t mean yelling at a guy when he does something wrong,” Perkins explained. “It means you have to put it into action. If you expect a guy to be helping on the nail, you need to be helping on the nail. It’s showing, not necessarily just talking all of the time.”
With guidance from veterans, players like Andre Roberson, Steven Adams, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones will potentially have an increased role in the first few weeks of the season. While playing time might be more than in the past, what is expected of them is no different.
There’s no pressure to play outside of their own capabilities or take on responsibilities outside of their comfort zone. The only desire Brooks and his staff have for players who will have to step up is that play hard, play for their teammates and bring energy for a full 48 minutes.
“They have to play consistently,” Brooks explained. “That’s what you want as a coach. You want consistency. As a teammate, you want to know the guy is playing as hard as he can for the team, consistently night-in and night-out. Playing well is hard to do in this league. It’s hard to make shots. It’s hard to win games. But you have to put yourself in a position to do those things if you play hard.”
That continual, high-intensity play is required first and foremost on the defensive end. Brooks and his staff felt that there was a lot of room for improvement on the performances the Thunder gave on defense in the preseason.
Execution, energy and focus are all necessary in the Thunder’s defensive scheme. As Perkins, one of the premier defensive players in the league, explained on Monday however, it’s about combining the physical with the mental.
Westbrook has the length, strength and athleticism to bother opposing point guards and Ibaka has the leaping ability and instincts to be one of the best shot blockers in the NBA. The key to their success though, according to Perkins, is that they have the competitive will to bring it on every possession and communicate with one another throughout a defensive possession. Those two factors will be essential for the Thunder to have success this season, starting on Wednesday.
“Communication is 80 percent of playing defense,” Perkins said. “If you communicate your defense and you anchor your defense, everything else will cover up for itself. You don’t have to be the most athletic guy to play defense. When you think about it, defense is all mental. You only have to slide your feet three or four steps. The quickest guy can get beat off the dribble.”
“The effort has to be there,” Perkins continued. “We have to make sure we have guys on the court who are going to give 110 percent effort and communicate the defense when it needs to be talked through. A lot of times you talk your way through defense. We definitely have to be locked in on that end.”