Oklahoma City Thunder will be more physical, says head coach Scott Brooks – NBA Playoffs Update
The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to step up the physicality in their series against the San Antonio Spurs, according to their head coach Scott Brooks. The Thunder are down 2 – 0 after losing the first two games of the Western Conference Finals and Brooks
believes the Spurs more physical style of play helped them achieve that lead.
Not that his team are weak when it comes to physicality. In the shape of Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins OKC have one of the best defensive big men pairing of the NBA and those two certainly don’t get pushed over by anyone. The rest of the team are also
not ones to back down but the Thunder have focused more on a free flowing basketball. They will now have to change that, simply because of the way San Antonio are playing.
"We're a physical team. We have to play that way," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Wednesday. "If we play free-flowing basketball, we can beat some teams but we're not at our best if we're not being physical on the defensive end.”
Brooks believed that the physical edge OKC had on defence has to return if they are to conquer the Spurs. San Antonio came from behind in the first game after turning up in the fourth quarter to seal the win and were dominant in most of the second game,
leading by as much as 22.
Things though changed late on as Scott got his team to play with more fire, get in the Spurs’ faces. He believes that is the key to beating San Antonio and also the way the Thunder can be at their best.
"Even on offense, we're a physical team. We're aggressive, we set great screens, we set up our screens and we attack the basket, we have dribble penetration and we're looking for extra shooters. That's when we're at our best."
With offensive powerhouses such as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the team, as well as some standout defenders who can get physical when need be, the Thunder certainly are equipped to go toe-to-toe with the Spurs.
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