Practice Report
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The biggest news of the day is D.J. White will miss four to six months after undergoing surgery on his jaw next week. You can read more on that in the post directly below this one.
For Friday’s paper I wrote about the team’s surprising amount of depth and how it could help win games.
The team used Thursday’s practice to put in a few more offensive sets. The additions are expected to be on display Friday. “I don’t know how good it’s going to be but at least we’ll have a couple of more looks,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. “We’ll get more stuff in even tomorrow at the shootaround.”
Some notes…..
* Jeff Green said his left ankle is fine after he rolled it midway through the third quarter Wednesday by landing on Al Jefferson’s foot.
* P.J. won’t start either Chris Wilcox or Nick Collison Friday night, choosing to separate them to allow Johan Petro and Chris Alexander to play with a more natural power forward rather than alongside another true center. P.J. didn’t like playing Chris and Johan together because they’re both big centers and not accustomed to playing next to someone so similar.
* P.J. also plans on changing a starter at one of the wing positions. He wouldn’t say who but my guess is Desmond Mason is inserted for Jeff Green. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave Russell Westbrook a start over Earl Watson, but P.J. specifically said “one of the wing positions” and point guards generally aren’t referred to as wings which makes me think Mason gets the nod Friday.
* Joe Smith practiced the entire session Thursday and should be a go Friday as long as his feet are fine come game time. He could be inserted as the starting center for Nick Collison. Or not. I really don’t know what P.J. is thinking. I don’t think he does until dissecting all his options. He said he plans on changing two or three starters every game for a while.
* P.J. said Thursday he still hasn’t figured out how he’ll handle playing time in the Oklahoma back-to-backs. “Some of the decisions might get made for us, how Joe Smith plays, things like that. I’ll just wait and see. If everybody’s healthy, we’ve got a long plane ride on Sunday to figure that out. I don’t think we’ll make that decision probably until Sunday on the plane.”
* Robert Swift still is not participating in full-contact practice. He’s doing more drills but primarily using his left hand. “Until he’s able to catch the ball and shoot the ball with his right hand he can’t really participate in practice,” Carlesimo said. ”He does a lot of conditioning, but he’s not really practicing.”
* Kyle Weaver didn’t practice Thursday. He was listed with a strained groin for Wednesday’s game.
* Mo Sene took part in 5-on-5 play for the first time Thursday, which could be a big boost to the team’s thin frontcourt. That’s assuming Sene can provide quality minutes. There are still several question marks about where he is in his development and whether he can contribute.
* The guys who didn’t play Wednesday – Joe Smith, John Lucas, Derrick Byars and Kyle Weaver – will either see some game action Friday or Saturday against the Warriors. It’ll most like be Saturday. “But between tomorrow and Saturday we’ll get everybody in,” Carlesimo said.
* P.J. said he will try and do a better job Friday of keeping everyone in the mid-20s in minutes.
* Desmond Mason said he prefers to start this season but isn’t opposed to coming off the bench. “Everybody wants to start in the NBA,” Mason said. “You always want to start in the NBA, and I’ve been a starter for the last six years. But I want to do what’s going to help the team win basketball games.”
He continued…
“My role when I come into the game, whether it’s as a starter or coming off the bench, is to bring energy, get guys picked up on the defensive end of the floor, score when I have my opportunities to score and then also bring veteran leadership to some of the young guys. Whether I start or come off the bench, I’ve played both positions, I understand both positions, I just need to go out and be able to be efficient in whatever role I get.”
And that response from Mason should effectively answer anyone’s question about why the Thunder traded for him.
* Kevin Durant said he was disappointed he didn’t make more than 3 of 13 shots in the team’s preseason opener. But he said his focus going into tomorrow’s game is still on team defense and playing team basketball.
* Following his 1-for-7 shooting performance Wednesday, Earl Watson spent a little extra time shooting mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers after practice with assistant coach Paul Westhead.
-DM-
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Hey Darnell! I watched the Thunder on TV Wednesday (I can’t believe I watched a preseason NBA game on tv. my kids think I’m a loser). While you are on the road you might tell the television crew that the score and clock graphic is pretty lame. I know that’s kinda harsh but I felt like I was watching a Montana High School game on a local station. It covered have the screen and when a shot went up the ball would disappear.