Advertisement - scroll for more content
For Daigneault, Sorber's reputation and approach make him an ideal prospect for the champion Thunder. “He's got a really good make-up, and you hear that, not only from him, but the people around him that we've talked to. He roots for his teammates' success,” Daigneault said. “That's something that continues to come up when you hear about him, and I think that's one of the best qualities of our team. It's in an NBA environment, with everybody having an individual career and individual ambitions; these guys really root for one another and pull for each other. And hearing that we got somebody coming in that naturally aligns with that is exciting.”
Rich: What kind of coach is Coach Daigneault? Isaiah Hartenstein: He’s a great coach—but like, very good-crazy in a sense. Rich: What do you mean? Isaiah Hartenstein: He would show us—before games or practices—videos of animals hunting, weird stuff like that. He would relate it to basketball somehow. But he’s a great motivator. Very stoic—that gives us confidence. He always says: "zero-zero mentality." Never too high or too low, always in the present. His in-game adjustments are great too. One of my favorite coaches to play for.
Brandon Rahbar: Sam Presti on Alex Caruso's defensive style of reading and reacting: "He's Lawrence Taylor." Reminds me of when Mark Daigneault compared Cason Wallace to Ed Reed. I'll just throw this one out there: Chet Holmgren is Ed "Too Tall" Jones.
Brandon Rahbar: Mark Daigneault on Thomas Sorber: “Team orientation, that’s what pops with him.” Daigneault shared a story of having dinner with Sorber and how excited he got when one of his teammates was drafted in the 2nd round. pic.x.com/n26KPJbmLX
Advertisement
Tim Reynolds: The legendary Jim Calhoun tells @amorecourant that he'd like to see Mark Daigneault honored in some way by UConn. The Thunder coach was a student manager there under Calhoun. Has to be done.
“It’s a group of guys that have an uncommon mentality, an uncommon connection and competitiveness together,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said before these playoffs began. “That’s where our confidence comes from. “If you have a lot of experience, that gives you confidence. But there’s other sources of confidence. We’re a confident team because of who we are, how we’ve operated and mainly what we have in our locker room.”
Clemente Almanza: Mark Daigneault: “It’s obviously, like I said, a high stakes situation. But those stakes are actually a distraction when you boil it down. Most important thing right now is Game 6 and the first possession of Game 6, and then the next possession, the next possession after that. We have to get back into that.”
Advertisement
Brandon Rahbar: Mark Daigneault on SGA: “His confidence is certainly contagious.”
Brandon Rahbar: Mark Daigneault on Alex Caruso’s leadership: “He’s a very prominent voice. He’s extroverted as a competitor.. But it’s a pretty flat thing. That’s unique about our team. We get a lot of leadership from a lot of different people. I think that’s what makes our team function the way it does: everybody’s got their fingerprints on it.”
"I think it's been good," Wiggins said of OKC's culture. "It allows everybody to have that certain sense of trust from (Daigneault) and our coaching staff. He allows guys to go out there and play free. If you get going, it opens the game up for you as an individual and for our team. His trust and his confidence in the guys is huge for us."
For Daigneault, hobbled or not, he doesn't want to take any chances on seeing the Thunder underestimating Haliburton's ability to help his team even the NBA Finals, 3-3, and force a potential Game 7. “Haliburton’s a great player. One thing we know is you don’t underestimate great players. So, in the case that he plays, we’re expecting his best punch,” Daigneault said. “
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement