Increasingly physical Thunder defense more than just Isaiah Hartenstein

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LOS ANGELES — Last season, while Oklahoma City Thunder finished as the No. 1 seed in the West, they struggled when they ran into physical teams. For example, they were 1-3 against the Lakers with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, size and physicality across the board. That lack of physicality was part of the Thunder’s undoing in the playoffs.

Good luck pushing the Thunder around this season.

Watch the Thunder — especially in person — and it’s instantly evident how much more physical they are. This is a much more mature team that understands what happened a year ago and its core players came back physically and mentally stronger.

The Thunder also went out and got Isaiah Hartenstein to put in the paint.

“It’s more than [Hartenstein]. It’s collective,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the team’s improved physicality.

It starts with Hartenstein

Although, it starts with Hartenstein, something Jalen Williams acknowledged when asked about the team’s increased comfort with physical play.

“Isaiah Hart. I didn’t have to jump ball tonight, so that was nice,” Jalen Williams joked about the big man. “I think just having, like, you know, some bigs back has helped us…

“We’re growing through the experiences together. So a lot of times, when they’ve been physical with us, it’s one of those things that we try and remember and keep that feeling, so when we do play them again, we kind of know what to expect. It’s kind of like a maturity thing. Not letting the other team hit you first, and also being willing to kind of fight back and be physical too.”

“We knew as a group—and the world kinda knew—there was a hole in us as a team last year,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said before the season. “I think Isaiah fills that hole very well. Sam [Presti, team president] did a good job filling it. We are better because of it.”

Oklahoma City also has Chet Holmgren in the paint, and while he is blocking 2.6 shots a game this season. He was there in the paint intimidating players driving the lane a season ago, but nobody is going to mistake him for a physical presence in the style of Hartenstein.

“You can’t not acknowledge Isaiah Hartstein,”…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/increasingly-physical-thunder-defense-more-175918350.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-02 17:59:00

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