The #1 Defense Is Breaking A Lot of Rules
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.พ. 2025
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The OKC Thunder have the number one defense in large part to their willingness to challenge the status quo. We go over those traditional rules that they break and why it's so effective.
Produced By Daniel Li
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Transcript
Hell yea new daniel li while i eat my late night sandwich
cooling pasta rn wassup cuh
Just go to sleep bro
Cheers
@@jeffforty5663 Its a saturday lol
i’m cooking ramen rn😩
this is so exciting to watch. I love aggressive defenses. Hope they make a deep playoff run with Chet
Sga couldn't make playoff before Chet
@@rockysalvatore435 Most players can't make a playoff without help. I mean Lebron has missed playoffs with AD, Carmelo, and Westbrook in 2022. AD played half that season and they still only won 33 games. Curry missed playoffs when Klay was hurt. You need complimentary pieces no matter how talented you are.
@@rockysalvatore435 he did his rookie and soph season?
@@rockysalvatore435sga went to playoffs vs rockets casual
@@rockysalvatore435 I mean duh he was playing with literally nobody until they picked up JDub and Chet
This is the team the Raptors have been trying to build for a decade.
How many rings has okc got?
@@jeffforty5663None. And the Raptors have one. But back to the point: This OKC team with dynasty potential is the team that the Raptors have been trying to build for a decade.
Does that satisfactorily clarify things for you?
@@GibranCamus-kr2dcI love when people randomly bring up rings that are from the past 5 plus years ago how does that help the now? 😂
@@jeffforty5663 Im from Toronto too but you are hella cringe.
Raptors put together a team of tall non-shooters, and had a surprised Pikachu face when they lose.
Just going to mention one other thing ... conditioning. To play that style of defense, it takes lots of energy. One thing i noticed, is that much like in Football (US), a fast offense will wear down the defense over the course of a game. I believe that is true for basketball, just in the opposite direction - a fast and active defense, will wear down a team, especially one with limited bench strength over the course of a game. The Thunder have a lots of people to rotate in and out - with lots of matchups available to them. Their conditioning (an probably their youth) allow them to play fast on the defensive end for 4 full quarters - and that potentially have the ability to wear down their opponent as they head into the final quarter and minutes of every game.
and incredible depth.
They playing with NCAA energy on D
Nuggets and clippers actually built like one lol
It takes advantage of the one thing NBA teams are allergic too, throwing the ball into the post 😂😂
yes...people would think ok they are going small so lets play in the paint..but it seems some teams are doing the opposite..they are shooting even more 3s when they see this defence...maybe thats why CAVS are winning ..not because they are great but because they play normal basketball against weak teams
@@onlyfacts3178you clearly don't watch us play. You can get in the paint but with this defense you'll either get blocked, picked, turnovered or you'll throw a TO. You better be very on point to take the shot
I used to think the same way (as a thunder fan), but this team is very good at not letting that be the chink in their armor. Last week alone, the thunder did exceptionally well (imo) against teams with traditional post-up bigs like Nurkic and Zubac with active hands, abusing their sub-par passing, or just downright fouling.
helps when everyone has a 7 foot wingspan at 6'3-6'6. entry passes are REALLY difficult with that length
@malak3347 no they arent 🤣 you know that you can throw the ball to Bounce the floor
they're a young team with a lot of energy, and they use it to their advantage. Love seein it
No joke they're running NBA2K lineups. This is the type of shit that people have been running on myPark for forever.
All lockdown high steal wings; iso point guard; undersized stretch center with high steal
Presti just a 2k demon smh
no literally
@@capnjackYT😂😂
Fr 😂😂😂😂
5 locks all with HOF immovable and interceptor
They're making defense important again. I love to see it
They play a 3 man zone (what I call "cover 3" using football jargon) when they put in their half court traps. Some of the traps are dummy defenses and "games" to just get the other team into their counters which they have prepared for.
I should be asleep, but Daniel Li dropped
Teamwork, commitment, and speed make the thunder defense very fun to watch. Love a well coached team.
Ajay Mitchell is a absolute dawg. The way he plays on the court is beautiful to watch. Gotta give credit to him aswell
The Thunder is such an exciting team; they’re fun to watch
Thanks for making a video about the Thunder!
early as hell, daniel li the goat when i needa watch smthn while eating
This dudes channel is about to blow up
They play defense like they actually want to
Easy like on any OKC vid
Thank you, very well analysis and we all love boss in Celtics
The only thing u need to pull off this type of defense is to have a guard that can play center
Pretty common archetype
Literally not at all common
Nigga it's a joke@@rockysalvatore435
@@rockysalvatore435 r/whoosh
Very cool,,, jdub is 6’6” just ask him. 7’2” wingspan good job on the video.. the frustration clip made me smile… the shai part very non mainstream, love that
Literally just started eating thank you for uploading just now 🙏
Hell yeah
It’s always interesting how you can change a high percentage, low volume shooter into a low percentage shooter just by increasing their volume to something they’re not used to.
We saw similar things last year from the celtics, with derrick white and jrue holiday being able to guard bigs. But they still always had backups if kristaps was out, al horford of course, and luke kornet if absolutely needed. And horford is smaller, so you were able to see white and holiday do this more than once or twice since kristaps was out for a large portion of the season.
Except this time, OKC does have bigs. Chet is a star already, hartenstein is a great role player. This isn’t (hopefully) something they’ll face all the time. What this shows is that 1. OKC is going to dominate on defense when the bigs are back and 2. Unlike many other offensive stars, SGA will play good defense, and decently consistently. That’s scary for any team hoping to gameplan.
daniel li my beloved
5:30 "only 6'5" god i am so cooked
Thunder Up! ⛈️
How does the OKC defense change with Isaiah coming back off injury? Would love to see an updated OKC video once their injured players return to play!!
Hardenstein will help a lot.
They also break a lot of rules in the sense of actually breaking rules. Celtics and Thunder are allowed to play defense unlike any other team lol. They allow lu dort and JB to 2 hand check guys all game long because they know they're good defenders so they have the benefit of the doubt. Obviously both great defensive teams from the get-go, but being allowed to guard ways others aren't certainly helps.
SGA Chet and JW. Any other guys on the roster future stars? This team seems stacked!
Hartenstein, Wallace, Dort, Caruso, Joe
Very curious how they will look with iHart now back. Only been two games but they look reaaaaaaaally good with him.
I don't know if this will work in the playoffs. Feels like a defense that works because teams aren't used to playing a team like it but will be able to gameplan for when they have time to actually prepare.
Daniel can you do a video on the jazz knicks game today.
The new thinking basketball
This is like a highschool / college defense cranked up
This style of defense gets ripped to shreds by the celtics. When they have a center or two the defense is much more balanced between the two teams but you cant just try to take the ball out of tatums hands and expect the Celtics not to roll you. The blitz and rotate, and force role players to make plays style works against a lot of teams especially if the spacing isnt great and the team is star heavy, which is most teams in the league. But the thunder gotta be healthy in the playoffs in order to be able to face all the top teams in the league though.
Thunder beat Boston in the Garden last year. Not saying that Boston doesn't look like the class of the league.
@@billybilly3777They beat Boston in OKC last year, not TD. And that was with a healthy Chet to match up with KP and they only won by single digits. They’re probably still the favorites out West, but idk about them beating Boston in a potential Finals matchup
Exactly what i was thinking... that defense is actually the exact type of defense that Boston thrives upon. it's reliant on the opposing team missing open shots and making sloppy turnovers which are both things that Boson doesn't do. if the defense fails to create turnovers, its wide open threes for Boson all night.
@@billybilly3777 That doesn't really mean anything. The Suns beat the Wolves all three times in regular season last year just to get swept in playoffs by Wolves and some of those games weren't even close
Yeah bostons smart, JT just a goated roll player. If he puts up 14, jaylen brown and the gang still got you
I owe you Money!!!
It isn't really about breaking "traditional rule but rather playing defence as it is. OKC is making the best of the situation they are in. The way they are defending is what the Cougar is doing in college level but without long armed and mobile center.
#ThunderUp
OKC has the Coach Of The Year.
Good defensive scheme by OKC, but this kind of defense looks overly aggressive and very tiring. They may be young and spry, but they could end up burning themselves out at the worst possible times. Also, they need more size and strength on the perimeter.
How would they stop a dominant center like embiid without a real center? Do they double and force him to pass out?
Hartenstein + Chet would have to guard like Towns and Gobert did last year
@@indnganksta I meant with this small ball lineup.
Not to take away from OKC but what this really highlights is a lack of bball IQ and inability to afjust from competitors. Not sure if it's a lack of experience issue or poor coaching 🤔
Also, what was most impressive against the Mavs was OKC's steals (11) and turnovers (6). If they can continue that while increasing their rebounds, it would be an even more effective defense. However, without rebounding, I don't see this working long term, especially in the playoffs.
We already saw that last year so you’re definitely right. Bigger teams destroyed them cause they can’t match up with them. I remember the lakers going like 6-0 against them just cause they couldn’t even match up w AD.
@@Foggycallabasashillshelicopterwhy do you think they went and got hartstein and got rid of giddey
there were only a couple of teams w/ big men that hurt us. We handled Jokic well, played well against Embiid, the Lakers were really the only team that dominated us in the paint. and the Mavs in the postseason handled it well too, but now we got Hartenstein
The NBA have the backing of Vegas. Silver got to please the betting odds.
A possible solution to this defense is to pass the ball to the post. And let the bigman do the work.
Ohhh there are no traditional bigs, all of them are camping in the 3pt line.
Hmm this works on everyone but maybe the warriors. Honestly, Jokic ship was the most luck ship I've seen in awhile. Same for the bucks. I don't see the centers coming back until they lower the number of games into somehting normal.
Celtics will exploit the shit out of this too. Everyone can shoot effectively and efficiently. They usually have an off night here and there but have shown to be resilient in a 7 game series
@@zephaniahmcdaniels Ya and even the warriors who are near master at pulling this off require a level of talent via Green that makes this hard as hell. Doc aint helping them here either. Dam neither. I think this is like wolves howling into the night. Meh.
Can you do a video on Peyton Watson look at his stats on crafted nba he might be the best rim protector in the league
Laughs in hakeem and shaq
So what do they do vs the Celtics cuz it seems like the Cs are built to break this
yo Daniel do you think they make it to the finals
Go Mavs!
Steve Kerr itching to play a 5 guard lineup after this video
A whole season of this is gonna run okc into the dirt come playoff time
Casual
all 3 of their centers are out right now. This is a stretegy they are using to survive. When Chet and Hartenstein and other jaylin williams come back, This type of play will probably only be used in spurts
Hartenstein just returned from IR, and his first game back was a double-double despite being rusty.
Nurkic “able to get fouled” is exactly what you don’t want. I’m telling you OKC go in the bonus so early each quarter and that’ll cost them in an important game.
Hey Daniel, if I am to pursue a career in an NBA organisation what would be the best thing to study in university? Thanks
Oh… I thought you were going to talk about Lu Dort hugging players, tackling them, and holding their jerseys?
Mavs can over here
This is basically what the Raptors were already doing in 2019 until Nurse got fired lol. 2019-2020 especially. They just weren't good after that. This isn't new
The problem with this team on the defensive end is that they’re all light in the cakes. Yeah bruising post scoring bigs are not as common as they used to and they’re being actively weeded out, but a team like this can only dominate and be considered an all time defensive in the three point era, as I saw some people say online. Because this team only exists to stop threes and drives. They really have no choice but to double Embiid and Jokic every single time down the floor, who are the only star post scorers left, and honestly might be the last ones for a while.
Muggsy Bogues was one of the shortest players in the real big man era and the shortest ever in the game but was a steal merchant and also had 39 blocks, one was on 7 footer Patrick Ewing
Like you said, they built this team to defend the drive and 3pt meta. Not fair to use the same team on other era. Like if we are in the 90s I am sure the thunder gm will build some sort of post defensive team.
As of now, the only real threat is Jokic as I don't see Embiid being super great this year.
1. They won't meet Embiid anytime soon on their playoff run.
2. Denver doesn't shoot well enough to win a 7 game series vs the Thunder.
So what's the answer to the Celtics, defensively?
is this the new thinking basketball? cant believe that guy is charging 15 a month. i cant do that.
and now Isaiah Hartenstein arrived
How to guard current James Harden: literally make him put in any effort.
Has this really worked?
Because so far they have only beaten mediocre teams or good teams that don’t really have a good big.
This lineup without Chet can only work so far.
kenny just has too much time on his hands, this is a guy that KNOWS ball like goddamn bro explains shit better then a coach
Mavs #1 defence here we come!
Jdub is actually 6’6
So hartenstein doesnt exist anymore, gotcha
Yeah this wont work in the Playoffs vs Luka for sure.
Luka's wingman are Kyrie and Klay, leaving your man one pass away in the perimeter is fatal.
Or even the Celtics if they make it that far
Why not ? This team basically had the mavs beat if not for PJ & DJJ turning into the splash brothers. It’s also now a completely different dynamic with Hartenstein and Chet in the front court and there are no longer any easy match ups since Giddey is gone
Nobody is worried about Klay and his inconsistency.
Yea klank t who just went 0/8
I think you meant to put records & not rules in this title.!? LOLOLOL
jorkin it to daniel
Off ball screens seem to be the simple way to break this defense.
that was wiggins not joe
This is also probably the reason why they tend to lose to teams that shoot well outside of the star player.
See microball works, just don't have russ on the team
I wish JDub had a better nickname
If not mobile, a "big" need not apply.
Shai is more around 6’7
Second round exit
To who?
When we lost to the Mavs we had 0 big men playing we were supposed to lose on the boards you sound silly
The refs like this team alot.
Still cant defend dallas
Nba is letting them play defense like no other team. They get away with a lot of sht
Clickbait title gets you my "do not recommend." Bye.
Half the clips were bad defense and an open shot miss aka dodged a bullet
They foul and don’t get called for it. That’s their secret.
True
delusion
This dude isn't used to seeing defense.
Yes the team with the 3rd worst ft differential in the league has the refs in their pocket
Yea you’re not watching the games u sound stupid
90% of the players are 6'6 or taller and every 10 yrs the position of the players has a name change. Forwards, power forwards, guards, centers. Bull she/it. Disco sucks
this only works because this ERA is trash...they are playing small and the other teams basically shoot 3s...
OKC will get mauled by teams with a competent center just like that 1:20 clip good for them though is they are few good centers in the league so this will probably work out for them. Modern NBA is so dogshit. XD
Ihart came back last game had 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, in under 30 mins so hopefully he stays healthy for us and J Will will be back hopefully in next couple weeks and we just signed Branden Carson a few days ago, so that helps with the depth but against big teams like Dallas and Denver, 76ers if Joel is healthy which is never, timberwolves, it’s a dangerous game but we steered the ship long enough to not fall in the standings whilst unhealthy with literally no big
No they wont
then stfu and stop watching videos ab it dude you’re insufferable i know you have absolutely nothing going on irl😂
It’s ok because defense doesn’t win championships any more 😂😂
Top defenses at the beginning of the year hardly make an impact as the season continues
Lol as I watch DBook get clamped I can't help but remember the video of him gettin his dribble ripped as he was boohoo-in about catching a double team in the offseason pickup.
anyone gonna talk about how harden travelled on this play th-cam.com/video/V979wEZHA8s/w-d-xo.html
They just foul everybody and get away with it
But they can’t beat my mavs without Luka 😂
None of this is good defense this bad basketball offensively smh
Exactly. Atrocious offense is regarded as "good defense" for the other team. Basically past era basketball in a nutshell.
What are you talking about? As if OKC is not doing anything to force the bad offense.
I don't understand this, you keep mentioning this word...."defense".....I had no idea the NBA even had such a word in its vernacular.
So your first words are right, you don't understand.
first