Broadcast Information
- Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. CT
- Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
- Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network
In the 48 hours leading up to a game, when the Thunder isn’t faced with a back-to-back situation, Billy Donovan pours over film. He’s writing down notes and analyzing how they upcoming opponent is defending. He’s assessing what offensive actions can be effective, what to make the team aware of and what’s going to happen in certain situations. He determines what matchups to be aware of and what plays the opponent is running and how his squad can effectively and efficiently guard in the best way.
A game like Thursday’s against the Boston Celtics is a prime opportunity for Donovan to maximize that information gathering process, since the Thunder has had three full days at home between games. Yet, to paraphrase French philosopher Blaise Pascal’s famous yet misappropriated quote, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter”, the more time Donovan or any coach has, the more concise and effective he can make his lesson plan.
“You want to keep it down to three or four things you know in the game you’re going to have to do that you know are important so that players can see those things,” Donovan explained. “The most important thing is how do you consolidate all of that information where the player is not overwhelmed with so much stuff and they’re able to really concentrate and get isolated on the main things they have to do.”
The players are watching film on their own time as well, but it’s not until film sessions with the team and then transferring that instruction into on court situations that things begin to crystallize.
“It’s mostly drills and stuff that we’re going to see. Not necessarily their plays, but actions that they’re probably going to use and just trying to get familiar with it, trying to tighten up,” Adams explained.
Watch: OU Medicine Game Day Report</strong
As for the Celtics, there’s quite a bit to prepare for, and the challenge of distilling the entirety of what Boston does into three or four salient, digestible bullet points must have been a tough one for Donovan and company this week. The Celtics can play big with a traditional frontcourt, with four perimeter players and freely with all five players on the floor able to handle, pass and playmake with the ball. They can also get out and run, meaning that the Thunder will have to be sharp in transition defense.
“The challenge for us is that we’re such a good offensive rebounding team, but what we’ve got to understand is that there’s certain times where it doesn’t make sense to go offensive rebound with a particular player based on where that player is positioned on the floor,” Donovan noted, referencing the Thunder’s league-leading 16.3 offensive rebounds per game.
With All-Star level players like Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford, Boston has the dynamism to contend with a trio like the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Steven Adams. But the Celtics also have a host of youngsters in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier who can put pressure on the opposition on any given play, while also defending at a high level. In order to pick up win number one this season, the Thunder is going to have to match Boston’s effort, guard one-on-one and get out to the three-point line to contest shots.
“They’re well-oiled. They pass the ball. They play with all five guys,” Adams noted. “That just means rotations, potential threats for rotations, drives… Constant cutters, off the ball cuts are really good. You just gotta take away their initial actions and play it from there to be honest.”
“We gotta be ready tonight. They’re a helluva team,” said Dennis Schröder. “We just gotta be prepared, we gotta run back and try to take individual pride.”
Watch: Practice Report - Oct. 24
News & Notes
- Alex Abrines participated in portions of practice on Wednesday and Donovan said the Spanish shooting guard is “expected” to play against Boston.
- Something that the Thunder must do against the Celtics is defend without fouling. Currently Donovan’s club has racked up the fourth-most fouls per game, at 26.3, and its opponents have taken 30 free throw attempts per contest. Those aren’t sustainable numbers moving forward, particularly with the NBA officials’ point of emphasis on defensive holding.
- “There’s going to be times you’re trying to be physical, there’s contact at the rim and an official calls a foul. You’re going to live with those kind of fouls,” Donovan stated. “But when you get a reaching, slapping foul, a guy shot fakes and you jump through the air, those kind of fouls add up. Those are the ones you’ve really got to eliminate, then you’ve got to figure out the ones you can really be physical with, and doing it in a way that’s technically correct and legal.”
- The Thunder’s shooting woes have been a topic of conversation thus far, after just three games, but there’s reason to feel good about the way the offense has generated open shots. Donovan’s group is 5th in the NBA in “potential assists” per game at 47.3, meaning that a pass was made to a player and that after receiving the ball, the player took a shot within one dribble. Despite shots not falling, the Thunder is creating the types of shots that it wants. Eventually, the ball is gonna drop.
- “As long as we’re getting good threes, good looks, we’ve got guys that can knock it down,” said forward Paul George. “We’re struggling to shoot it right now, but we’ve got guys that can knock it down. As long as they’re good shots. I think where we get in trouble is where we have those open looks and we try to create more. We’ve just got to shoot those with confidence.”
- “We just gotta play our identity,” said Schröder. “We just gotta keep playing, keep finding our open guys. I think the shots are going to fall.”