Coach Daigneault Examines Lu Dort's Defense

Oklahoma City is coming off a tough loss to Minnesota and quickly turnaround to play Denver tomorrow. This is Coach Daigneault’s first practice back since coming out of health and safety protocols. He felt that this practice would be a good reset for the team.

“It’s a good opportunity to get out there and go and watch the taste out of our mouths from last night,” Mark Daigneault said,”I think sometimes coming in and just competing and sweating together as a way to turn the page.”

Last night marked Tre Mann’s second game back with the Thunder returning from health and safety protocols. Clearly he is still getting back into the rhythm of the offense as he finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Daigneault said,”I thought these last two games he's kind of relapsed a little bit in terms of having some opportunities to rip some cash and shoots where he's not quite doing it.”

The Thunder went into last night’s contest with the sixth best defense in the league, but that defensive performance did not match their ranking. As the team’s best defender Lu Dort shoulders more defensive responsibility for OKC and was very self critical in the post-game.

Even though he thought his help side defense has room for improvement, Daigneault said today that his defense is still a big strength.

“He tends to get locked into his matchup and take such pride in his individual matchup that there are possessions where he drifts away from our system concepts, but I think it's well intentioned,” Daigneault said.

Another player that always is a positive contributor, especially defensively, is Kenrich Williams. He has become a cornerstone for the Thunder and is the pulse of this team coming off the bench.

Williams has developed into a player that opposing teams despise and teammates gravitate towards.

“I think the eye test tells you that he enhances teams, with his toughness and with his intelligence,” Coach Daigneault,”he is a smart, tough player that's easy to play with.”

The Thunder will face the Nuggets tomorrow in Oklahoma City at 6pm.

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