Thunder’s Mark Diagneault conquers his first-ever Coach of the Year award

Mark Diagneault went from the G League to coach Oklahoma City, and in only five years at the helm, he rebuild the squad by taking them to their best-ever record since the Russell Westbrook era. As they are currently leading their series against the Pelicans 3-0, the young tactician has just been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.

Not only did he conquer the West Conference this regular season, but he did it with the youngest No. 1 seed in league history. However, the lack of playoff experience hasn’t been affecting his squad’s performances so far, as they seem set for the postseason’s semifinals.

On Saturday afternoon, they confirmed their dominance against New Orleans, as they rolled another dominant triumph by winning 106 to 85. “We just try to clear the hurdle in front of us,” said the Thunder coach. “That’s how we’ve been through time, not just this season.”

The 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year is… Mark Daigneault!#NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/qrzWjP1WCI

— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024

“And the word I’ve used with the team is ‘uncommon’ all year. I think they just have an uncommon maturity and uncommon poise, uncommon competitiveness and togetherness. And with that competitiveness, they’re not just siloed competitors. They compete together. And I think that gives you confidence in stressful situations or on the road when you’re doing it as part of a unit, and I really think they feel like that,” he insisted.

Oklahoma City has proved to have this “uncommon’ maturity”, especially during Game 2 and 3 of the postseason, as all their team’s points have come from players under 25 years old. These are the only two times in history that this has ever occurred.

Out of the 13 players used by the Thunder so far these playoffs, 9 of them are playing in the big stages for the first time. Three of their four players with most experience, have combined for zero points in these first three contests against the Pelicans. “Every experience you live through and you learn.

“That’s what we did through that experience with all 82 games this season. We learned from every experience and we tried to get better from it to get better for this moment,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The team has also proven to have the ability to bounce back, just as Jalen Williams did in the last game when he had to leave early in the game, but eventually returned and ended with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. “I mean that’s a sign of a really good team,” expressed guard Josh Giddey. “One of your main guys goes down, and you bring in Cason and it feels the same.”

Rival coach Willie Green believes that one of the Thunder’s biggest virtues comes from the defensive side of the floor

Even though the New Orleans coach has told his team that the series wasn’t over despite trailing 3-0 so far, he made sure his players knew that a lot still had to change if they hoped to win. According to Willie Green, Oklahoma’s defense is one of the best in the league.

“They’re a good defense for a reason, and to beat this team we have to be really sound in our execution and when we’re not and we’re getting into the paint and trying to throw interior passes they’re really good,” said the Pelicans tactician. “They’re handsy. All of their guys, this is what they do, they’ve done it all season and it hurt us.”

Team star Gilgeous-Alexander, who is currently racing for the MVP award, believes that the Thunder’s best quality comes from their capacity to react when needed. For example, after trailing by 14 at halftime this weekend, they recovered quickly.

“Basketball is a game of runs, we know that,” Shai said. “We always say it’s a 48-minute game and to just worry about stacking possessions. And we did so, and because of it, we won the last few games.”