What coaches and players say about roles, minutes, gameplans and development.
Mara has a simpler role in Oklahoma City built on rebounding and screen setting.
โHaving them in the team, for me, my role is way easier to what it was last year, for example. So it's just like, I would say, more basic stuff, more easy stuff, like rebounding or setting screens. So I don't feel that I don't have, like, I feel that I don't have that pressure that maybe I had in Michigan, for example.โ
Stirtz's shot-making would make him a must-play in the rotation if he keeps up defensively.
โIf Stirtz can keep up defensively, his shot-making is going to make him a must-play in the rotation.โ
Thunder camp is about returning to fundamentals and gauging the new players' baseline.
โalways fundamentals, you know, and that's mainly what the camp is about. We don't try to reinvent anything, especially in the early parts of the camp. It's more about, you know, just grounding back into our fundamentals, getting the movements back... And then for a lot of the guys tonight that are new, seeing their capacity and their baseline on executing that stuff. Because ultimately that's the stuff that we prioritize when we make rotation decisions as we get into the real season.โ
Thunder will use preseason to rebuild fundamentals like transition defense and spacing.
โThere's stuff that guys don't do all summer. They're not playing transition defense in the summer. They're not like spacing the way we space in the summer. And so getting those habits back is a big priority... And then for a lot of the guys tonight that are new, seeing their capacity and their baseline on executing that stuff. Because ultimately that's the stuff that we prioritize when we make rotation decisions as we get into the real season.โ
