The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Monday a day after their preseason loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
After practice, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and guard Vasilije Micic spoke to the media.
In their sessions, Daigneault talked about the advantages of playing five preseason games — which is more than the usual amount. Meanwhile, Micic talked about adjusting to the NBA game following three preseason outings.
Daigneault also provided injury updates on Cason Wallace (sprained toe) and Kenrich Williams (back spasms).
Let’s recap what they both said following their practice on Monday as they prepare to play the Milwaukee Bucks at home for their fourth preseason contest.
Mark Daigneault on the roster crunch, and dives into how this training camp is competitive both for who makes the roster, but also who starts in and out of the rotation mix, and the players usage. Interesting insight here: pic.twitter.com/mlStckYBQI
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) October 16, 2023
Mark Daigneault on Vasilije Micic translating to the NBA pic.twitter.com/xR8rHxupYC
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) October 16, 2023
I asked Mark Daigneault if the new Jumbotron helps at all with challenges, and the answer led to him detailing how/why he challenges and which player in his career tried to get him to challenge obvious fouls the most. pic.twitter.com/L33VxONdbb
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) October 16, 2023
Mark Daigneault said they’ll ramp up pretty good playing starters in one of their last 2 preseason games
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Mark Daigneault said they decided to play 5 preseason games this year — more than the usual amount — as a chance to play their entire roster and to give young player extra developmental time
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Mark Daigneault said when he contemplates using a challenge, he usually asks a player what they thought happened
Mentions how in the Montreal game, Chet asked him to challenge a play and did
“If you tell me to go get it, I’m going to go get it.”
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Vasilije Micic on his playmaking: “I’m very happy when I assist to someone. Once I think Jokic said, ‘(assists) make two people happy.’”
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Vasilije Micic said space & pace are 2 of the biggest differences between the NBA & EuroLeague he’s noticed so far:
“Yesterday I think I played 20+ minutes and I felt like I played 45.”
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Vasilije Micic on Poku’s help: “It’s strange because I’m older than him so I’m supposed to do that to him… So far, Poku is my great friend.”
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
Vasilije Micic on Jaylin Williams' playmaking: "I think he has very big potential in that way… He started to spread the court and read the game. It can be very useful fpr this team. Not so many guys in the league are very creative with position 5."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2023
