Mark Daigneault Has a Method to His Rotational Madness in OKC Thunder Playoff Game
The Oklahoma City Thunder have done things unconventionally since Mark Daigneault arrived as the Thunder bench boss. Including during Sunday's playoff game. There is a reason for that.
Conventional wisdom takes over in the postseason. The lights get brighter, talking heads get louder and coaches are critiqued harder. With that platform comes a more rigid routine. No coach wanting to swim against the current and falling in line with historical NBA norms.
However, Oklahoma City Thunder sideline pacer Mark Daigneault has been bucking trends since he was put in the saddle. From his position-less style to his CVS receipt rotations, few things about Daigneault scream "traditional."
That outside-the- box thinking, relatability and willingness to go against the grain has quickly turned the Thunder into contenders. Even before their 57-win season, while barely scrapping 24 wins anyone truly watching came away with the same opinion. "That is a well-coached team."
Not only is that the highest compliment you can give a head coach, but for it to come during low-win seasons shows how much of a standout the bashful bench boss truly is. Typically, coaches are judged only by how they handle playoff series when we diagnose every possession and split the atoms of series typically through the prism of "What went wrong?" rarely itching to give away flowers.
In his NBA Playoff debut, Daigneault stayed true to himself and didn't care what history suggests he does. The Thunder deployed 11 players, seven making their NBA Playoff debut, on Sunday in Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I didn’t think there was a guy in the game that was like red alarm. I understand there’s norms but we want to expose ourselves to being the best team we can be. We’re willing to do things a little differently," Daigneault said after being quizzed on his substitution patterns on Monday.
With a willingness to adjust to the playoffs, Thunder fans should take solace in the fact they do not have another robotic relic on the sidelines just mimicking what coaches of yesteryear did before them.
There are advantages to going deeper into the bench in the postseason and it is part of the adjustments. It is far more dangerous to predetermine eight players who should see the floor 90 minutes before tip-off and never be willing to course correct.
“There’s advantages to having depth… There’s probably like a subtle pressure to cut it down arbitrarily but they all played well last night… You never know what a series is gonna deal you in terms of the hand you have to play. If we (played) 8 guys last night, and we had to pivot to 1 of the other 3/4 that didn't play. Now you're like dusting them off. They haven't gotten in a game yet. They haven't touched the floor yet. They haven't gotten a taste yet. And now you're going to them and it's somewhat reactive," Daigneault explained on Monday.
The expectation is that the Thunder might tighten the rotation the deeper this run goes, maybe 10 guys instead of 11, potentially only nine bodies are needed for certain games. However, I'd caution against thinking Daigneault will get the contagious itch to be conventional.
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