How Their Offense Keeps Getting Better

How Their Offense Keeps Getting Better

Ladies and gentlemen I just need to uh sit here and apologize for what I I have not paid enough attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder they’ve got my attention now set it up for himself something we practic on the they don’t have to turn the ball over they make the right pass

Every time they make the right read in space might have a case for best coach in the league let everybody know that they’re legit title contenders so last season maybe you remember maybe you don’t we Dove deep into the ‘s Dynamic offensive system which some were calling

The most interesting in the NBA and with another year of chemistry and continuity along with their young players just flat out getting better and one pretty important addition here’s the sequel and it’s not just the most interesting anymore it’s maybe the best now context time offense across the

League is way up and I mean way way up in fact buckle up for this one the Thunder have the fourth best offense of all time but have the fourth best offense in the NBA this season there are a lot of theories as to why maybe it’s

Some rule related things maybe it’s the prioritization of efficiency and analytics maybe it’s the three-point tilt of the league maybe it’s the Absurd Pace team play at now or maybe just the players as a whole are way better I don’t really have a great guess on that

Quite yet but within the framework of the NBA today the Thunder are Standing Tall among the top offenses in the league it’s like poetry in motion so when we talk about best offense it’s kind of a relative thing what I’m interested in though is the sustainability element of it the

Efficiency based model of the Thunder the transferable component to higher Stakes games and just for the lack of a good way to put it the attractiveness of it so gorgeous it’s fun to watch OKC play and for fans of the team that have watched the Thunder for a while it’s a

Different brand of basketball too than what we saw in years past for example the Thunder have had 19 games with 30 or more assists this season the most they’ve had in a season ever topping their previous best of 11 which they set last season and oh by the way as of the

Moment that I’m saying this there are still 28 games left in the season they’ve set their franchise record with 41 assists and 2023 and then tied it in a 62-point win over the Blazers a year later and in that game Josh giddy led the way with 12 assists but no one had

More than five it was just everybody assisting everybody so yeah like I said fun to watch basically all SE season OKC has been number one in field goal percentage and number one in three-point percentage they play with absolute ruthless efficiency its most used lineup they starting five is shooting almost 55%

Collectively since Christmas and as a team the Thunder had a stretch of 10 consecutive games shooting over 50% from the field the longest streak in the NBA since 1993 it might seem on the surface like this is just about the addition of Chad and his absurd two-way Talent with his

Already Elite shooting and finishing ability but it’s really about the structure the Thunder have built to be able to amplify a rookie like Chet when he stepped into the starting five the fit was seamless but why was it so seamless in part yes because Chad is

Such a team-m minded kind of player as we covered here but also that’s just because the way the Thunder play ball again so much of this has been a year-over-year thing for OKC stacking elements one at a time to reach breakthrough moments that became breakthrough stretches that have become

Breakthrough Seasons it started with more Rhythm less patterns and involved into water flowing back and forth with defense and offense complimenting each other and has continued into the movement based pass heavy cutting driving shooting Infinity Gauntlet it is now and by the way this is is still officially the second youngest team in

The NBA with almost all of its core pieces 25 years old or under for a fourth straight season Shay gildas Alexander is number one in drives per game and not coincidentally the Thunder for a four straight season are as a team number one in the league in drives per game that’s a fundamental

Part of the offense they attack downhill toward the rim always trying to put pressure on the paint to either score the number three in points in the paint or force a collapse and when the defense does cave in the Thunder Kick to an open shooter or to another drive- minded

Versatile Handler that then takes on a secondary attack who tries to touch the paint and maybe score or kick to a shooter or kick to another drive- minded versatile Handler you get the idea it’s basically basketball Inception one quirt to all of this is the thunder love of

Non-traditional pick and rolls they were number one in the league in small small pick and roll last season guard screen for guards all the time players invert positions with someone like 6’4 Cas Wallace or 6’6 Aaron Wiggins becoming deao power forwards in a screen and roll

Or camping out in the dunker Spot while 7’ one Chad homr spaces to the corner or even handles the ball up top part of this is intended to disrupt defensive communication and coverages with guards unaccustomed to making an on the-fly call out to ice or drop or whatever but

It’s also just the Controlled Chaos of putting defenses in a scrambled confusion over who is doing what and by the time you’re trying to sort it out Wiggins is back cutting you for a layup Ben Faulk of thinking basketball did a tremendous breakdown of this a couple months ago and it’s definitely worth

Checking out some of that was out of necessity last season as the Thunder played non-traditional a lot with small ball lineups with kenrich Williams starting at Center quite a few games but even with a more traditional big in Chet OKC is still one of the top in the

League in small small screening they’ve just now added the dynamic of a lob option plus deadly pick and pop combination which seems to work quite well but you still see it a lot every game an SGA Isaiah Joe Twan game A jayen Williams SGA 2oman game and the way OKC

Does it is with precision and speed coach Mark dnal explained the philosophy like this in a recent article system fundamentals across the board so we’re teaching our fives how and when to cut cut we’re teaching our guards how and when to screen we’re not siphoning out skills to positions the Thunder

Prioritized space and quick decisions the Personnel was meticulously thoughtfully assembled behind the simple idea of knowing how to play with the ability to pass shoot and dribble at every spot whoever the ball finds that player needs to make a choice quickly shoot it pass it or drive it but you

Can’t just do it all one way OKC also have two of the top three ice so scorers in the league Jaylen Williams and SDA they both are certified bucket gets with SDA with his slippery craft work Dub with his more brute force and both are Dynamic willing passers averaging career

Highs in assists they are three-level scorers and are especially prolific in the mid-range one of the lost arts of the game SGA is number one in the league in buckets per game from 10 to 14 ft and does it on almost 55% shooting for a point of reference that’s 5 percentage

Points higher than one of the best mid-range players of all time Kevin Durant Kawhi Leonard is at 49% Joel embiid at 47% and by the way jdub takes about 2.5 fewer a game from that range than SGA but he’s actually at 55.1% OKC stays mostly out of the long

Two range taking the 10th fewest in the league while still ranking in the top 10 from there in percentage so translated they avoid one of the least efficient shots in the league while still being pretty efficient from there when they do take them what I’m getting at here is

The variety of ways the Thunder can unlock you they don’t have to do it just one way they can ground and pound you getting to the rim they can knock down perimeter shots they can cut in space and dime you they can outrun you it’s all a template for sustainability

Because it doesn’t rely on any single thing the Thunder can have off shooting nights like anyone else because shooting is one of the highest variant things in basketball making and missing is an unstable part of the game but what you can control is the kind of shots you’re

Consistently getting and the Rhythm from which they come and if you can give good Shooters good shots over the course of a season the math should math and play out in your favor here’s more coach Mark we hopefully have a playbook in a way of attacking that’s got enough diversity

That if a team is particularly good at guarding it some teams do handle it well then we go the other way we set it with the fives and we do some off ball stuff we want to have enough on the menu that we’re able to push the right buttons but

Being able to win more than one way or really even two or three ways gives you insurance against that shot making volatility and one other thing to note because the Thunder been so Dynamic teams are throwing the defensive kitchen sink at them on a pretty regular basis

The Thunder been zon more than any team in the league and SGA routinely sees double teams as soon as he crosses half court it’s basically teams saying we know we can’t stop you so we’re going to try some stuff and while sometimes it may feel like OKC is having major issues

With it and they certainly are still learning and adjusting every game something to keep in mind though since December 1st when OKC really started seeing these schemes the starting lineup actually has a higher offensive rating and net rating than it does for the rest of the season and again just like we saw

Last time round this isn’t the final form there’s more to learn more lessons to be had more experiences to pull from and a lot more time to get better reminder second youngest team in the league there’s a lot of time to keep figuring this out which is well pretty scary for everyone else

Oh

A lot of eyes were looking towards Oklahoma City Thunder coming into the 2023-2024 season. After a surpisingly good 2023 season, many expected increased improvment with the addition of a year’s experience and Chet Holmgren. But now that we are well past the half way point of the season, it is no secret that one of youngest team in the NBA has once again exceeded expectations and means business.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and many others from the Thunder are showcasing what it means to be a complete basketball player through how they read and react to different defenses.

In this video essay, we break down the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offensive play style and how the team, arranged by Sam Presti and coached by Mark Daigneault, plans to grow together in one of the most interesting playstyles in all of basketball.

0:00 The Rise of The Oklahoma City Thunder
0:30 The Best Offense in the NBA?
0:55 Historic NBA Numbers
1:47 Being the Best in The NBA
2:10 Now vs Previous Thunder Teams
2:55 The Efficiency of The Oklahoma City Thunder
3:10 Dort, Giddey, Shai, Jalen, and Chet
3:30 The Addition of Chet Holmgren
4:00 The Progress of The Oklahoma City Thunder
4:30 The Second Youngest Team in The NBA
4:38 Breaking Down The Thunder’s Offense
4:44 The Drive of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder
5:01 The Versatility of OKC
5:21 What Makes the Thunder Unique
6:17 Small Ball Plus Chet Holmgren
6:50 The Mark Daigneault Approach
7:07 The Player Prototype for The OKC Thunder
7:25 Jalen Williams and SGA
7:50 Mid Range Basketball
8:05 Compared to Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Joel Embiid
8:26 The Thunder Being Inefficiently Efficient
8:40 The Options of Oklahoma City’s Offense
9:20 Mark Daigneault on Offensive Diversity
9:42 The Thunder vs NBA Defense
10:30 The Future of The Oklahoma City Thunder