Presti dives deeper into quest to play faster
The Thunder is fast. Sam Presti doesn’t just want to be fast.
If the NBA was a track meet, the Thunder would win. Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder are two of the fastest guards in the league. Steven Adams runs the floor as well as any 7-footer. Paul George and Andre Roberson are quick on the wing.
But as the Thunder’s general manager spoke at his preseason news conference, he didn’t make references to baseline-to-baseline sprints or advanced stats. Presti, a voracious reader, has a penchant for finding inspiration which can be applied to basketball outside of basketball.
This summer, it came from “The Science of Hitting” by Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams.
“It’s all about decisions,” Presti said of the book. “It’s all about choice and it’s all about restraint. It’s all about discipline.”
While the Thunder’s mantra this summer has been to play a faster game, Presti dove deeper into that philosophy to kick off the Thunder season on Thursday.
Entering his 12th campaign as an NBA general manager, Presti doesn’t come to these news conferences unprepared. Less than 24 hours after his wife, Shannon, gave birth to twin girls in Oklahoma City, Presti was targeted in
what he wanted to convey to begin a season in which the Thunder will have its most continuity since Kevin Durant’s departure.
At summer league, coach Billy Donovan talked about needing to play faster and more open, with more ball movement and pushing the ball more. He spoke of two stars in Westbrook and George who are open to new approaches.
That approach isn’t just about scoring.
Presti used the word “tempo” 11 times Thursday. He mentioned it three times in one sentence. It wasn’t just in reference to shooting better or moving the ball quicker, but it can help there.
Carmelo Anthony was a part of a strong Thunder starting five last season, but Patrick Patterson, Jerami Grant or Schroder will speed up play. The Thunder’s average seconds per touch last season was 3.22. Only Portland and Houston were higher, with more efficient shooters at the helm of those offenses.
So, Presti’s concept of improving offense boiled down to three ideas Thursday: Getting different players, making more shots or taking better shots. Part 1 is the hardest of the trio to accomplish, but the Thunder upgraded with the 24-year-old Schroder, who in theory will open up shots for others with his drives and ability to get into the paint.
Parts 2 and 3? Presti and the Thunder believe playing faster and in a rhythm will lead to more efficiency on offense and defense. Tempo.
“People think about speed with respect to just style of play, but in reality, we want to be faster making decisions on both sides of the floor,” Presti said. “We do want to be faster, obviously physically, but we want to be faster in how quickly we recognize situations within the game.”
Can a team with Westbrook, George and Schroder as its three most dynamic players — elite scorers who thrive with the ball in their hands — work in such a way? Can that trio take what’s an executable shot for them and occasionally pass it up for a more efficient shot?
More important than pace — the number of possessions per 48 minutes — is what’s happening during those possessions. Andre Roberson is a below-average perimeter shooter, but the Thunder was the best version of itself last season when Roberson was on the floor taking shots within his capabilities and providing efficient, possession-destroying defense. The Thunder wants to duplicate that defensive detail. Presti was optimistic enough to suggest Schroder can become a part of that. “Maybe the biggest impact he can have on our team right away is defensively,” Presti said. “He has the chance to be an elite defender and we've got to get him back to that.”
To Presti, “The Science of Hitting” is really the science of decision making. Are the best shots coming from each possession? Is the defense communicating, connected, and transitioning to offense as a unit?
“It’s a great metaphor for so many things in this world, not just for basketball or sports,” Presti said. “I think it speaks to ways that we ourselves can move the needle in some areas.
“I think you get to (a) .400 (batting average) by swinging at the pitches you want to swing at, not the ones the pitcher is choosing for you to swing at.”
Without specifying who, Presti said he gave copies of the book to several people in the Thunder organization this summer. The Thunder enters this season with belief that it can apply these philosophies. OKC won't look like the Warriors, Jazz or Spurs, but it hopes to be different and better than last season, more rhythmic than fast.