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‘It’s been building to this’: Tre Mann’s Career Night was Months in the Making

Tre Mann's growing role reached new heights with a career-high 19 points on Friday night.
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There he was, 10 feet off the ground and ready to put the exclamation point on the most impressive night of his young career.

Had he stayed in the air any longer you’d have heard a record scratch followed by the “I bet you’re wondering how I got here?” straight out of an ‘80s teen movie.

On the night Tre Mann set a career high in points (19) with floaters and spot-up threes, it was a confident drive and dunk over Wayne Ellington that overshadowed his other seven made shots.

Friday night's career high in a 116-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was just the latest step in Mann’s ascension into a key member of the Thunder’s rotation.

On a roster littered with point guards and ball-handlers Mann had to work hard to carve out a role for himself. The offensive skill set that saw him average 16 points in his final season at Florida wasn’t going to be enough to keep him on the court — Thunder coach Mark Daigneault needed to see the effort and attention to detail on the other end of the court as well.

That’s where the “homework assignment(s)” came in. The Thunder sent Mann on three separate stints with the OKC Blue in the G League to work on his game and to prepare him for an expanded role with the NBA roster.

Whatever it was that Daigneault wanted to see from his rookie guard during those assignments he got as Mann has averaged 10.9 points in 23.5 minutes per contest in the seven games, including two starts, since returning — compared to the 4.8 points in 10.5 minutes he averaged during the Thunder’s opening five games to the season.

For Daigneault Friday Night’s performance came as no surprise with the work he’s seen behind the scenes.

“When he’s scrappy and competing like that it makes you confident to have him out there,” Daigneault said.

“He’s been getting these looks and playing in this way for a while now,” Daigneault said. “So, it was just a matter of time before the ball started going in.”

It wasn’t the dunk that stood out the most for Daigneault — although he jokingly suggested drawing up some lob plays for the 6-foot-3 guard — it was the play just before. LeBron James caught Mike Muscala sleeping on defense and received a pass on a back cut that led to an and-1 dunk with Mann committing the foul.

“He got dunked which means he’s sticking his nose in the play,” Daigneault said. “I don’t think he’s going to knock LeBron James down, but he’s in the fight, and he has to be in the fight in order to be competitive and playable.”

With plays and games like this, Mann’s role looks to continue to grow as he adjusts to life in the NBA.

“I’m just glad that it’s paying off and that everybody’s being able to see it,” Mann said. “That’s something that I’ve been taking pride in … the defensive end, the scrappy plays … that’s what’s been getting me my playing time and allowing me to have a career night.”


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