Practice Notes & Quotes
Accountability and attention to detail continue to be two key points of emphasis Thunder coach Scott Brooks is stressing throughout the first full week of practice. On Monday, Brooks drilled home those two components by forcing the players to police themselves.
Immediately after dividing the roster into three five-player teams, Brooks instructed his assistants to not coach during the two-minute scrimmages. Brooks then told the point guard for each squad — Russell Westbrook, Eric Maynor and Royal Ivey — that he would be in charge of coaching his respective team.
At one point, Brooks had to remind new assistant Maz Trakh that he isn’t allowed to coach after Trakh could be heard barking basic instruction in from the sideline. Then, less than five minutes into the scrimmaging, Brooks interrupted play just before James Harden attempted a free throw. Harden’s blue team was ahead 7-6, and Brooks wasn’t satisfied with how the players stood quietly while waiting for the second attempt.
Brooks stormed into the lane. He pointed at players. He proceeded to toss out every scenario that could potentially unfold in the simulated late-game situation. He challenged his players to formulate offensive and defensive sets while standing at the foul line and to communicate those plans as well as any adjustments that needed to be made or wrinkles that needed to be watched.
From that point on, players grew much more vocal, filling the gym with shouts of such things as defensive assignments and warnings on forthcoming picks.
“Coach Brooks lets me and Russell call plays on our own,” Maynor said. “He just wants to get a feel for us in here and get the confidence in us in here. If he can get that in here then he knows he can just coach during the games and we can call the offense and he won’t have a problem with that.”
Maynor learned that being in Brooks’ shoes isn’t as easy as it might seem.
“It’s good till you get down to like five seconds and then you got to draw up your own play,” Maynor said. “Then you get up there in the huddle and everybody’s paying attention to you and you got to draw up a play to win a game. And (Brooks) is over there looking at you, too.”
Brooks later poked fun at his floor generals for their chaotic crunch-time leadership.
“Gosh,” Brooks finally said after exhaling. “They should never complain about my game board. I don’t have the neatest penmanship, but I thought Eric was disastrous. It was bad. He didn’t even know how to hold the pen.”
Brooks then turned serious.
“It helps when you have good players,” he said. “If they’re good players on the court, usually no matter what you put on the board it’s going to work out. But it was fun seeing it. It’s a great drill that makes our players communicate with one another. You need dialogue and that helps. In certain situations, everybody has to know (what’s happening), and the point guard has to be the one on the court that’s doing the most communicating. And I thought all the point guards did a good job.”
- Harden was cleared to return to practice today, and he had a few strong drives to the rim. Daequan Cook, meanwhile, was still saddled with what the team is calling concussion-like symptoms. Serge Ibaka walked off the court just before the end of practice and later emerged from the training room with his upper right thigh wrapped in ice. No word on whether it was his groin or hamstring, but it didn’t appear serious but still will be worth watching going forward.
- Jeff Green was spotted wearing big, black knee pads on both knees today. He wore only one on his left knee by the time the media was permitted into practice late last week. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong. But it is an interesting look. Royal Ivey and Mo Peterson also had both knees covered in black protective sleeves. But both players could have always played with sleeves over their knees as far as I know.
- Some near fireworks nearly went off when Westbrook and Ibaka almost went at it during the mini-games. Ibaka appeared to take exception to what he deemed a cheap shot by Westbrook during a fastbreak. Ibaka began yelling at Westbrook on his way back down on offense after taking the ball out. It looked like the two were just horsing around, jawing back and forth, until Ibaka set a screen on Westbrook with bad intent. Ibaka raised his arms near Westbrook’s head, and Westbrook then took exception, barking at Ibaka to not elbow him. The sequence clearly showed how these guys can be great friends off the court but are all business on the court. Westbrook and Ibaka have bonded since Ibaka arrived last season. Westbrook was a mentor of sorts to Ibaka last year. But that all went out the window for a brief moment. And Brooks will tell you that competitive fire is a good thing to see on the practice floor.
- Kevin Durant struggled with his shot big time today. If there was a shot chart to be studied after today’s scrimmages, it would be cluttered with a lot of red Xs. He missed from everywhere, even coming up empty on a trip to the foul line. Not surprisingly, though, Durant still supplied the highlight of the day with a crossover move on Elijah Millsap that buckled the rook’s knees and sent him tumbling to the ground. Durant capped the play by draining a pull-up jumper from the right wing as the gallery filled the gym with approving oohs and ahhs. Also not surprising is Durant later told someone that he likely would spend three hours in the gym later today working on his shot.
- Aside from the embarrassing ankle-breaker Durant put on Millsap, the rookie camper had another strong day. With his white team down 9-6 in the closing seconds, Millsap recovered a loose ball near the right corner and tried to go up for a 3-pointer. There was contact on the play, preventing Millsap from getting up an attempt, but debate ensued over whether the rookie deserved the call. The ref said yes. Brooks said no. Durant, from the sideline, even shouted, “He’s a rookie.” But Brooks ultimately sided with the refs original call. Millsap calmly netted three straight free throws to tie the game with one second remaining. After Green missed a baseline fadeway as time expired, Brooks had Harden shoot a win-or-lose 3-pointer from the top of the key. Harden missed and Millsap’s white team won.
- Millsap was put in a similar position in the next game, stepping to the line with his team down 4-2 in the closing seconds. This time, Millsap missed the first of two free throws and was forced to intentionally miss the second. The rebound, however, bounced into the hands of the opposing team. But it was the way Millsap ended up at the foul line that defined his day. Once again, he made a hustle play, jostling for position in the paint before grabbing a missed runner by Ibaka. “Hustle plays are what wins basketball games, and guys that are trying to make it that has to be your DNA,” Brooks said. “You have to be a hustler, scrappy kind of guy. And he does that. He does it every time.”
- Brooks ended practice by putting his players through a 100-pass drill designed to improve, well, passing. But it also drills on ball security and communication.
-DM-
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[...] Great note from Mayberry on yesterday’s practice: “Some near fireworks nearly went off when Westbrook and Ibaka almost went at it during the mini-games. Ibaka appeared to take exception to what he deemed a cheap shot by Westbrook during a fastbreak. Ibaka began yelling at Westbrook on his way back down on offense after taking the ball out. It looked like the two were just horsing around, jawing back and forth, until Ibaka set a screen on Westbrook with bad intent. Ibaka raised his arms near Westbrook’s head, and Westbrook then took exception, barking at Ibaka to not elbow him. The sequence clearly showed how these guys can be great friends off the court but are all business on the court. Westbrook and Ibaka have bonded since Ibaka arrived last season. Westbrook was a mentor of sorts to Ibaka last year. But that all went out the window for a brief moment. And Brooks will tell you that competitive fire is a good thing to see on the practice floor.” Share: [...]
Nice write-up. Thanks.