What Style Will the Thunder Play With This Season?

On the second day of training camp, Lu Dort told reporters that the Oklahoma City Thunder have been conditioning really well and have been “playing really hard and set up a good tone.”

With a young team, it only makes sense to play with incredible pace and keep the motor running, especially when you’ve got 12 players that make sense in the rotation.

At media day, head coach Mark Dagineault mentioned that the Thunder will be having multiple two-a-day practices. Furthermore, the Thunder will be able to play fast early on this season. He mentioned that they begin practice with “core skills” that include securing rebounds and sprinting the floor.

Coach Daigneault, when asked about how they approach practice on the Thunder Basketball Universe podcast, mentioned that they get to playing live scrimmages early on in the season.

In terms of playstyle, Coach Daigneault mentioned that the team “punched above their weight.”

So what can Thunder fans expect from the team this year? A team that is full of grit and hustle, and they’re going to play hard for the full 48 minutes.
Last season, we saw the Thunder outlast opponents, sometimes older ones like the Los Angeles Lakers, and make a fourth quarter comeback where it seemed the motor kept going for them.

The third-year head coach explained that they’ve built the roster in a very modern way, whereas multiple people will have the ability to bring the ball down the court and push the ball in transition.

Sam Presti has done a great job at putting the right players into Coach Daigneault’s system, and they will reap the benefits of that long-term.

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