Stiles Points: Organizational Synergy Reason for OKC Thunder Success

The Oklahoma City Thunder's G League affiliate, the OKC Blue, brought home the NBA G League title. Afterward, it was made evident why the Thunder and Blue have found success this season.

As the Oklahoma City Blue took the stage to hoist their first-ever NBA G League Championship trophy, General Manager and former Thunder player D.J. White took the microphone and credited the team's success to "stacking days," a message he attributed to Blue head coach Kameron Woods.

Though, OKC Thunder fans might be more familiar with that phrase being uttered by Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault including after Sunday's victory over the Mavericks that clinched OKC the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, it goes to show the level on synergy in this organization from top-to-bottom.

Consistency is more than just a company line, it is something the Thunder (and Blue) put in to practice day in and day out, on the hardwood and off. As just a second-year head man, Woods was able to capture a G League Championship in his first playoff run, how did he do it? The consistency throughout the organization.

“When the alignment is as good as it is, it’s easy to weather the storm that naturally comes with the season. No one is looking over their shoulders wondering if the message has changed," Woods told Inside the Thunder following his 117-100 Game 3 win over the Maine Celtics to clinch the G League Championship.

With such a young group of players, who have bounced in and out of the lineup due to injury and being needed at the big club, Woods credits a steady model for the players buying into the team throughout the long season.

“If you kill them with consistency, they open up more to be themselves and know that’s okay, that really helps the connection you have…they just continue to see and feel the same things and it really helps build relationships.”

The parallels between Woods and Daigneault are off the chart, these quotes are as relatable to the OKC Blue as they are their parent club who are about to bark on their first postseason run under a young coach.

While Daigneault might not be able to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy in his first trip to the postseason, the success this season can be ascribed to the steady nature of his style and the comfort, confidence and collectiveness the players feel because of it.

No one thought the Western Conference's No. 3 seed in the G League playoffs would win their first-ever G League trophy, especially after their rigorous travel schedule, the Thunder are attempting to pull off a similar feat as many doubt their No. 1 seed legitimacy.

Stiles Points:

• The OKC Thunder will return to the practice court on Tuesday in preparation for Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs.
• The NBA Play-In Tournament gets underway on Tuesday with the Western Conference up first. The Winner of the Pelicans versus Lakers contest will go on to take on the Nuggets while the loser will have one more shot at the big dance by hosting the winner of the elimination game between the Warriors and Kings.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was nominated for the Western Conference Player of the Week honor that went to Nikola Jokic.
• Mark Daigneault won the Coach of the Year honor voted on by his peers and is in line to win the award given out by the writers.
• OKC Thunder 2022 Lottery pick Ousmane Dieng takes home the G League Finals MVP award.

Song of the Day: (What a) Wonderful World by Sam Cooke.

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