Translator's note: The original text was published in The Athletic. The data in the article were as of the time of the original text (local time on October 6). The dates and times involved are local time
If the players do not even drink, will there be "semises" of the championship?
This is a variant of a thorny problem the Thunder faced at the beginning of their NBA defense journey, just a few months ago, they just defeated the Pacers in the tiebreaker and then celebrated in the locker room, and needed help to open the Champagne.
By the way, how could they not even open champagne?
"This is a good question," Thunder head coach Mark Dagnott said Sunday in the internal passage of North Charleston Stadium, about an hour later the Thunder will usher in their first preseason game against the Hornets as the defending champion.
"If you want to explain from a macro perspective, I think that drinking has generally decreased in this generation," said Dagnott. "And they are still young. I don't think they had a lot of champagne celebrations before the tiebreak in June." The Thunder became the second youngest team in NBA history to win the championship, with an average age of 25.56 and they had no lineup changes in the offseason, which also means they are the second youngest team to embark on the journey to defend their title. To this end, Dagnot is setting the tone for the new season, and challenging these familiar faces in his locker room, and accepting and meeting this challenge requires considerable maturity.
Whether in speeches to players or in public comments, Dagnot emphasized that the Thunder must make progress this season. Considering that the Thunder achieved such success last season and the return of the original team in the new season, if a person lacks modesty and vision, he may feel that Dagenot is talking nonsense.
The Thunder just finished one of the most perfect seasons in the NBA ever. They won 68 regular season games (typically ranked fifth in NBA history), set a league-average net win record (12.9 points), have the league's top defense in both the regular season and the playoffs, and also have league MVP, scoring champion and finals MVP - Shea Gilgers Alexander.
As expected, Gilgers Alexander, Jaylen Williams and Chet Homegren all signed early contract renewals in the summer. But the mentality of the three players and their teammates did not seem to have expanded after spending a summer of celebration and returning to Oklahoma City. Time will eventually tell if this mentality is true and if bad luck or Rockets will be their hindrance. But for now, they seem to have the mentality that Degenot wants.
"This team is extraordinary in terms of maturity, understanding and ability to put the points we emphasize into practice," said Dagnott. "But now, after we have achieved that, our current priority is to humbly realize that past achievements don't earn anything for us. We have to put ourselves into a mindset that being at the foot of the mountain and preparing to climb again. Each season has a starting point and an end point, last season It did end the way we wanted it to-but it did end. Although we didn’t end the season with a punch in the face like we were knocked out in the playoffs and realized improvements needed, it took a kind of maturity and humility, a beginner mentality I’d like to believe in our hearts. “
“But we have to put it into action.” ” 40, now heading into our sixth season in coaching, Dagnott accepted Their before the Thunder defeated the Hornets 135-114 on Sunday Athletic's interview. He is the only team member quoted in this report because the Thunder did not bring the top seven players in the Finals roster to Charleston. The team will play again in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday, and after such a short offseason, it doesn't make much sense to have everyone go through a tough back-to-back game, and the training camp roster is already expanding.
Nikola Topic, the Serbian point guard and No. 12 pick in 2024, missed the entire 2024-25 season due to a torn ACL injury, ushered in his first preseason game, scoring 10 points and 7 assists in 31 minutes.
Recalling the players' offseason, Degnott said center Isaiah Haltenstein has strengthened his strength based on his already strong body (7 feet, about 2.13 meters; 255 pounds, about 116 kg). He easily played his best year of his career, averaging 11.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. One of the two All-Stars of the Thunder (the other one is Gilgers Alexander of course) Jaylen Williams "reshapes his body." Lu Dott, a wing defensive squad who is known for his strength and can also make three-pointers in the corner, is now stronger than ever since 2019. Dagent said that Homegren and Carson Wallace, who only played 32 games due to injury, were in good shape than they were at the end of last season.
Even a regular NBA observer may think that this is basically the regular evaluation of players every team will give at the start of training camp. But if this team is as good as the Thunder, all core players return and face challenges to go further, then Dagenut's early observation of the team should not be underestimated.
"In a normal year, you want to see the kind of progress that young players have made in the offseason, and we've seen some of that now, and it's clear that we have to carry the same mindset into training camp, preseason and regular season stages," said Dagnott.
Degnott said that most of the offseason after winning the championship, he spent most of his time at home with his wife and two young children - one almost 4 years old and the other 2 years old. He visited Homegren, who was hosting a basketball training camp in July in Norman, Oklahoma, and met with the players as they returned to the team's training hall in September.
Degnot took a walk in the historic district of Charleston before a Thunder team meeting at the hotel on Sunday. As he passed the Fort Sumter Museum, it started to rain lightly, which faced the Fort Sumter Fort Sumter, which fired the first shot of the American Civil War, across the Port of Charleston. He walked along cobbled streets by the Charleston City Market, the oldest market in the United States.
At the beginning of his first defending title in his coaching career, this scenic and historical route chosen by Dagenot provides him with an excellent opportunity and place to reflect deeply. On a rainy Sunday morning, while most of the downtown residents were still sleeping soundly for the previous night’s revelation, he pondered in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, thinking about the journey that had just ended a few months ago and the new journey that had just begun.
I asked Dagenot what he was thinking during a walk because I happened to meet him during a morning jog. He said “nothing deep” and just cleared his mind and refocused his attention on the team for the first preseason game starting at 5 p.m.
After all, Dagenot's demands on Thunder are not that profound now. Just a simple refocus. The hard part is the season itself.
"I don't think we're focused on winning championships every day. Frankly, the locker room... it's an ambitious team," said Dagnott. "We focus on the process every day. Our code of conduct is never the end. We just strive to win the present and keep improving. So doing the opposite now will deviate completely from our past practices, and it's these practices that have brought us today's success."
"We have to be disciplined and stick to this principle even in the face of the interference that has just won the championship."
Author: Joe Vardon
Translator: GWayNe
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