Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. note that the Thunder are going to need better perimeter shooting if the team plans to win it all again.<\/p>\n
Check out the full conversation on \u201cThe Dunker Spot\u201d and subscribe on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> or wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n View more<\/p>\n Video Transcript<\/p>\n Well, so we’re gonna start with the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n Top of the standings right now.<\/p>\n Sixty-two and sixteen.<\/p>\n Per cleaning the glass, sixth in offense, first in defense, still first in net rating, better than plus twelve per one hundred possessions on that front.<\/p>\n For me, Steve, the obvious one is health, like who’s going to be there, and thus what the rotation’s gonna be.<\/p>\n But I think the thing that I’ve been thinking the most about with this Thunder group, it’s loosely related to Shai, but it’s more of a, like a coaching thing.<\/p>\n I’m curious to see how Mark Daigneault handles the Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso triumvirate in a playoff setting.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Because we know what all three of those guys could do defensively.<\/p>\n Lu Dort still takes on your number ones.<\/p>\n Cason Wallace can do it too, and he’s played at an all-defense level.<\/p>\n Alex Caruso is an absolute madman that can defend a little bit of everyone.<\/p>\n But on the other end, as we saw in last year’s playoffs, as we’ve seen during this regular season, and especially in some marquee matchups, teams are getting more and more comfortable and more and more audacious with how aggressively they’re helping off those guys from the three-point line.<\/p>\n Is this a new problem that the Thunder have never faced before?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Absolutely not.<\/p>\n But for a team that has won sixty-two games amid all kinds of injury things, I know they’re very good.<\/p>\n They just won a championship last year.<\/p>\n And so for me, as the Thunder have, like recently added Jarrett McCain, you have Isaiah Joe, you have other shooters, I’m just curious to see what the hook is going to be like once we get to the playoffs.<\/p>\n If we get more teams being willing to say, “We are putting a big on Lu Dort,” like the Nuggets have done with Nikola Jokic.<\/p>\n “We’re gonna put a big or our best off-ball defender on Cason Wallace or Alex Caruso, so he can roam around and muck things up.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The half-court offense for OKC has been very good overall this year, but in their worst moments, the spacing gets cramped.<\/p>\n We are sending even more bodies and more attention to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n We’re cross-matching in a way that can turn some of the Shai-Chet things into switches, and then we’re still helping off of the non-shooters.<\/p>\n So like how much grace does Mark Daigneault give Dort, Wallace, Caruso with how teams treat them and try to muck things up for Shai and to a lesser degree, Chet, is probably the biggest question I have heading into the postseason with OKC.<\/p>\n Well, I think it’s an interesting question, but I think it kinda ties into the Oklahoma City ethos to a degree, and they’re the standard for a reason because of how they’ve built this as far as having different combinations, being able to throw different lineups out there, feeling like they can navigate with their versatility throughout different matchups within the playoffs.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n And so when you listen to Mark Daigneault talk, you know, he’s always talking about trying to learn the lessons from wins and losses, get to the next one, do what we do, build our muscles and then flex it.<\/p>\n And I think last year, you know, when he was talking about expanding the rotation throughout the playoffs.<\/p>\n Like usually most coaches, most teams are trying to shorten the rotation.<\/p>\n Here are our guys that are gonna play.<\/p>\n It may change one or two, but de-depending on the series.<\/p>\n And he was like, “Nope, we’re gonna just make sure we have the optionality.”<\/p>\n That’s why you get A.J.<\/p>\n Mitchell in the finals last year.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n You know.<\/p>\n It wasn’t a massive stint, but he got a swing of the bat.<\/p>\n So I think is it gonna be a hook or is it gonna be, we need this, I know this lineup can produce that, we’re gonna be good to go.<\/p>\n