COACH SPEAK

Tramel: Mark Daigneault is out of his element as the Thunder coach — he actually explains things. That's a rarity in OKC

Th e Thunder is 6-7 overall after a 119-101 loss to the Nuggets in a game not as close as the score indicated. But the Thunder is 6-3 in non-blowout games, which is quite an endorsement of rookie coach Mark Daigneault.

But I'm not here to hail Daigneault's coaching. I'm here to hail Daigneault's communication. With me. And with you. In postgame Zoom conferences, Daigneault routinely tells me stuff I didn't know. And that's quite rare for a Thunder coach. Truthfully, that's rare for any coach these days. In-depth analysis has gone the way of the wind; most coaches on the professional and major-college level believe fans and media know very little about the game. They are mostly right and they absolutely want to keep it that way.

But former Thunder coaches Scotty Brooks and Billy Donovan were particularly adept at not revealing state secrets or even letting loose of basketball insights. I mean, I know basketball 100 times more than I know football. I think that's true for a lot of us. Compared to hoops, the gridiron is 14-dimensional chess.

So I cut football coaches a little slack. They could explain some stuff, but it would take more time than they have, and they have precious little time to start with, because their sport consumes them.

Basketball coaches? They could do better. Most of us understand the game on some level. But there are intricacies that affect the game that we don't always see or don't know to look for. Basketball coaches usually keep those private, in apparent belief that opposing coaches are not smart enough to see them, though we know they do.

And of course, Sam Presti likes to keep all things tucked into secrecy concerning the Thunder. Brooks was a prince of a guy, and Donovan was easy to work with. I think both would be fun to sit around with and talk basketball. But they know the Thunder Way is to limit even the most innocuous of information.

Daigneault is different. I mean, he doesn't go into detail about Ty Jerome's sprained ankle. But he seems to realize what is privileged information and what is simply educating the masses about something everyone inside the NBA already knows.

He'll tell you one reason why the Spurs had only four turnovers the other night against the Thunder (OKC's defense is not aggressive over ball screens and isn't built to be). And Tuesday night, Daigneault told me why the Thunder had an inordinate amount of turnover, 19 vs. Denver.

“Tonight, the way they play defensively, the big (man) up, got really active, they force you to throw precision passes,” Daigneault said. “It was something obviously gave us problems tonight. Hopefully it's a lesson learned.”

That's something I didn't know. Or didn't notice. That Denver is aggressive on the pickand-roll. It can come at a cost, leaving the paint or the bucket a little unprotected, which the Thunder obviously prefers not to do with the way it plays defense.

But it's not a secret. Daigneault told no one in the NBA something they didn't know. But he told us. And it's much appreciated. I'll pay more attention now to how defenders, especially post players, combat ball screens.

I'll see if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks better the next time an opponent plays high on the screens, daring a difficult pass but offering prime rewards if the pass is complete.

SGA had four turnovers through three quarters of the rout, then sat out the final period. He obviously had an off game.

“I got a little careless at times with the ball,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They're a really good, active, defensive team. They're always in the gaps, getting deflections.”

I assume that's something SGA knew going into the game, but he didn't adjust. It's something I didn't know going into the game. But I know it now, thanks to a coach willing to educate the media and the fans about a game we all love, but he knows so much better.