Gilgeous-Alexander, Schroder increase communicaton
The situation wasn't ideal. After a game in which the Thunder only scored 70 points, the team only had shoot around to address its issues at Dallas before playing Memphis on Wednesday.
“I think through film, walking through some things and running through some things,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Friday, “we did a pretty good job of making some adjustments.”
The Thunder had one day between a 107-70 loss to the Mavericks and a 124-119 loss to the Grizzlies. But the team also had to get back to OKC from Dallas after a night game, so Donovan cancelled practice.
The Thunder still lost the next day, but its poor defense in the third quarter was the main culprit. The offense, which had strayed from i ts ball-movement focus on Monday, was able to stick to i ts principles even without veteran point guard Chris Paul (rest) for the second game in a row.
OKC's other point guards, Shai Gil geous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder, made up for Paul' s absence better the second time around.
“The Dallas game on t he road, I didn't think we were as organized as we needed to be ,” Donovan said after practice Friday. “And when I say that, there were some guys that didn't know what we were in, what we were running, and I think Shai has got to communicate some of that stuff, as does Dennis. But I thought both of those guys did a really good job of getting us organized coming down the fl oor against Memphis, and I thought offensively we made some stri des coming off a game where we scored 70 points.”
The Thunder has less than a week to finish getting ready for the regular season — OKC opens the season at Utah on Wednesday.
Roberson evaluates Diallo
Second-year guard Hamidou Diallo said early on in training camp that he was picking Andre Roberson's brain about defense. On Friday, Roberson gave his evaluation of Diallo's efforts Monday against Maveriskc star Luka Doncic.
“I liked it, honestly ,” Roberson said .“I liked his tenacity, his resiliency. And he's not backing down from anybody, I don't care if he's got a name or not. And I like that .… He still has a few things to work on in terms of his fouls and not letting a veteran manipulate him in a certain way. But that comes with experience and reps, and he'll get that.”
Elsewhere
Thunder guard Terrance Ferguson( car wreck) practiced without restrictions Friday, according to Donovan. Ferguson did not play Wednesday after his car was rear-ended on the way to the arena, per the Thunder. . . . The Thunder has exercised its fourth-year contract option on Ferguson and third-year option on Gil geo us-Alexander, the team announced Friday.