Scott Brooks sometimes has the Thunder practice at the wrong positions
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks has been a figure of some debate during his time with the team, having led a very young squad from the lottery to the NBA Finals and also suffering criticism for an often stagnant offense that doesn’t amplify the strengths of a very talented core. With the Thunder currently in 10th in the Western Conference and Durant set to become a free agent in the summer of 2016, Brooks is under much more pressure than usual to succeed. His job could be in the balance.
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It’s a bit interesting, then, that he’s taking an atypical approach in the team’s practices. On occasion, Brooks has players run through plays in the wrong positions. From Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report:
I’ll also change player positions in practice so they can understand each other. I’ll run a skeleton offensive drill—no defense—where I’ll have, like, [Kendrick] Perkins at point guard and Russell [Westbrook] at the five running pick-and-rolls. Then I’ll stop and say, “Perk, you didn’t get into the ball; you didn’t force it over the screen and square him up. And Russell, you didn’t bump the screener; you didn’t come to the level of the screen and you didn’t wall off the point guard.” They’re like, “It’s not as easy as I thought.” So it helps them appreciate each other’s role.
While it would seem obvious that a pick-and-roll in which Perk handles the ball and Westbrook screens is not going to look like a play with opposite roles, the basic idea offered by Brooks here makes sense. It is often said that a great floor leader (usually a point guard) understands what every player on the court needs or likes to do on every single play. Brooks’ practice plan (used somewhat sparingly, we assume) brings that concept to each player on the court so that the team can act in synergy.
Of course, the soundness of an idea does not mean that it will all work in practice. If Brooks has been trying this drill out for some time, then the results have not been seen on the court. The Thunder offense is infamous for looking like players are deciding to shoot before they have found quality shots, not so much finding open looks against the defense as trading off possessions to assure that everyone hits a quota for attempts. The players may understand each other’s positions, but they don’t seem to have an effective system for using that knowledge to achieve a desired goal.
In other words, the problem here is a common one — the difficulty of implementing a sound idea that it becomes more than just an idea. Unfortunately for Brooks, an NBA coach needs to do both.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
