For a few days, Jalen Williams found himself pivotal Thunder. A unique experience for this 1m98 exterior. Chet Holmgrem injured and Isaiah Hartenstein still in the infirmary, we had to tinker. Sometimes thrown against Giannis Antetokounmpo or Zion Williamson in recent years, he was the ideal player for this role.
“I tried to make this defense against insiders a quality, something that I add to my game,” confirms Jalen Williams. “I feel like I do almost everything well on the floor. So there, that was one more thing, in my mind. Like: why wouldn't I be able to do that? »
For five matches, if we do not count the one where (very quickly, after five minutes) Chet Holmgrem was injured, Mark Daigneault relied on an extreme “small ball” where none of his holders reached double meter. With the energy of the group, the intelligence of the players and a stifling defense, it worked rather well at first, with three successes in a row. Devin Booker and the Suns can attest to that…
But over the long term, this physically and mentally demanding system has its limits and the return of Isaiah Hartenstein, after two defeats in a row and with his centimeters, has done a lot of good.
A very interesting option for the future
However, as the Thunder coach confirms, this sequence in “small ball” mode is “a muscle that if used well can help us in the future”.
Indeed, the figures for these matches are promising: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates caused loose balls on 21% of their defensive possessions! “Sometimes it's not even about flying balloons, it's about pretending you can do it”explains Jalen Williams.
And even without Chet Holmgrem or Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City was able to display an effective defense near the circle, among the ten best in the league. So, this option with a small five is clearly not a bad solution, on very specific sequences, for Mark Daigneault, who could pull this out of his hat during the playoffs for example. To destabilize your opponent.
“At the start of the action, if the ball carrier is under stress, it changes the rhythm of the action. They don't get into their rhythm. Then, at the circle level, there is the respondent”notes the coach, who will therefore keep this in the back of his mind for important battles.
