TAKING A KNEE
Practice time, rest an important balance for Thunder
There are more than 1,000 games on Carmelo Anthony’s knees. Including the playoffs, the Thunder forward’s legs have logged more than 38,000 NBA minutes. He’s in his 15th season of fighting for rebounds and powering through contact.At 33 years old, he’s come to value rest over almost anything when it comes to game prep. “It’s a balance, though,” Anthony said Sunday. “You want to stay sharp, and the only way you can stay sharp is being on the court and in practice. Also, you want to get the proper amount of rest you need for your body to recover so you can perform at that high level.”
That balance is necessary for all players, but it can be particularly important for veterans like Anthony and backup point guard Raymond Felton, also 33, or for players with significant NBA mileage, like Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
The Thunder's record this season could offer a glimpse at the importance of rest. Oklahoma City is 7-8, but it's 1-6 when it plays with only one day between games.
And though rest is far from the only factor in those losses — all six have come on the road, four to teams with winning records — it’s notable.
The Thunder went 36-24 in games last season with one day off in between, according to TeamRankings.com, which tracks rest days. The 1-6 mark this season is OKC’s worst record by rest days this season. The Thunder is 2-1 on the second of back-to-back games.
It’s 3-1 when it has two or three days between games.
It’s had two days to prepare for Monday night’s game against the Pelicans in New Orleans.
“I think when that happens what you try to do is use one of those days to kind of watch film, recovery, that kind of stuff,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “And then use (one), like we did (Sunday), as a regular practice day.”
Oklahoma City’s roster is older and more experienced this season than last, its average age of 27.4 years up almost a year and a half. But age isn’t the only factor that goes into determining how hard and how often the Thunder practices.
And Donovan isn’t alone in making those decisions.
Every practice day, Donovan gets a medical report that dictates not only the availability of injured players — who can and can’t participate, who’s allowed to take contact and who’s not — but how much time he’s allotted on the court. “Generally what they’ll tell me is, ‘Hey, Billy, you have 45 minutes today, 15 can be contact,’” Donovan said. “‘Hey Billy, you got 60 minutes today. Thirty can be contact, 30 noncontact. Hey, we got no contact today.’ So they’re evaluating that stuff.”
The NBA, too, is doing its part to increase rest.
The league shortened the preseason and expanded the regular season to give teams more time between games.
No team will play four games in five nights this season. That happened 70 times a year ago. Teams play back-toback games an average of about 14 times this season, down from about 16 last season.
The collective bargaining agreement that went into effect this season requires teams to give players 18 off days free from basketball activity. That’s up from 16 in the previous CBA.
Rookie Terrance Ferguson has noticed that during a flurry of games, practices were “shortened,” he said, because “We got veteran players, so they need their break once in a while.”
It also needs practice time. The Thunder’s new pieces still don’t look comfortable together, still are thinking too much, Anthony said, and not playing instinctively.
“I think for us it’s more mental than it is in practice,” Anthony said. “We need practice, don’t get me wrong. We have to practice. That’s the only way we’re gonna get a chance to learn each other, figure things out as a team and as individuals. But for the most part it’s more mental.”