The Oklahoma City Thunder were categorically dismantled in Game 1 of their opening-round series against the Houston Rockets, and a big part of that was their shoddy pick-n-roll coverage, which Steven Adams referred to as “trash” after the game.
On one particularly poor sequence in the second half, Enes Kanter got caught in no-man’s land trying to hedge on Patrick Beverley coming off a screen and ended up giving up an alley-oop slam to Clint Capela. That prompted this viral moment from Billy Donovan.
P&R lob to Capela causes Billy Donovan to tell Mo Cheeks, "Can't play Kanter." pic.twitter.com/4ROFSNpFw6
— Yaya Dubin (@JADubin5) April 17, 2017
Of course he was going to get asked about before Game 2 on Wednesday, so the Thunder coach did his best to run some damage control.
The other night, this clip went around the internet after the Thunder gave up 118 to the Rockets. Today, coach Billy Donovan addressed it https://t.co/Gr3zj2N5e3
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 18, 2017
Donovan: "I’m not disputing that was said or not said. But I think to take three words on a whole conversation would be really really hard"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 18, 2017
Donovan: "One of the things I know we were talking about, in terms of different coverages… that we can’t play him in those coverages."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 18, 2017
Donovan: "It’s hard for me to comment on three words (in the video clip) in like a 2-second thing that was the topic of conversation."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 18, 2017
Donovan: "Enes has been a really good front court player, he’s played exceptionally well for us & I think he’s very very important for us."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 18, 2017
It’s certainly true that Kanter offers them some scoring punch off the bench, but his liabilities as a defender put them in a tough position, especially against the pick-and-roll crazy Rockets.
Kanter essentially did what he was supposed to do on that particular possession. It was a lose-lose situation once Beverley beat his man, but Kanter’s cement feet in those scenarios are what potentially make playing him heavy minutes untenable. He logged just 16 minutes in Game 1, and it’ll be interesting to see just how much action he sees moving forward.
However it works out, Adams is confident Kanter will roll with it and be ready when his opportunity arises.
Steven Adams on Kanter dealing with minutes fluctuation: "He's OK, mate. He's a big boy. He can handle it" pic.twitter.com/wZ1WDZcDdL
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 18, 2017
OKC will try to even up the series when Game 2 tips off on Wednesday back in Houston.
