Mark Daigneault holds as much from technical malice as a hint of vice. The Thunder coach does not hesitate to use an ultra aggressive defense, to the point that it becomes complicated to sanction it. So when her rearguard could not do what she wanted, the fault at the Filou Nikola Jokic and his ultra fast reminders, the Oklahoma City technician wanted to innovate … without even using a player present on the parquet floor.
Let's get back. In the first quarter of revenge between OKC and Denver, the Nuggets take the best start by leading 14-9, free throws to follow for Nikola Jokic after a little more than four minutes of play. Mark Daigneault then surprises everyone by calling Dillon Jones, rookie at the sporadic playing time and who had just played a few hours earlier in G-League as the first player Without bringing him into play.
Dillon Jones thus spends a little more than two minutes at the brand table without removing his tracksuit. The scene ends a whistle of the referees against OKC for “delaying the game”.
DAIGNAULT loads the referees
The coach may hear to try to explain the situation while evacuating his frustration for a “forgotten” fault on Isaiah Hartenstein, nothing will do. But what did Mark Daigneault go through the mind?
“” The idea of this 'permanent replacement' is that when the ball comes out of the field in the NBA, the referees are responsible for the rhythm to which the ball is put into play “He describes at length at a press conference. “” Jokic recovered the ball very quickly from the referees and he started a counterattack. And the referees also started these counterattacks, because when Jokic asked them for the ball, they gave it immediately and he could advance the ball on the prosecution. »»
Far from being the fastest player in the league in his trips, the Serbian pivot wanted to use these express discounts as the spark to launch the game in transition, even when it does not exist in normal times. A good way to undermine the influence of the half-terrain defense of the Thunder by not leaving him time to set up. So, to remedy it, Mark Daigneault tried to be creative and as cunning as the opposing star.
“” We had a similar situation a few years ago in Golden State “Continues the Oklahoma City coach. “” We had a replacement ready to enter, and the referees had not seen it. They had given back the ball too quickly. So I put a player at the brand table tonight and I said to myself: 'Hey, you will have to whistle to let him enter during each ball out so that the game slows down if you give them an advantage by quickly giving them the ball. And they whistled a 'Delay of Game'. »»
A gray area of regulation
The merry -go -round lasted in all and for every two minutes and twenty seconds of playing time, and rather borne fruit, since the locals returned over the period from -7 to -1. “” I don't know if there is a rule that forbids that, but I think you can have a player at the brand table and choose not to get it into play “Specifies Mark Daigneault. Indeed, in NBA regulationsit is not stipulated the need for a bench player, present at the brand table, must absolutely make his entry. However, the area provided for this purpose near the middle of the field is reserved for player changes, which must be reported at the brand table. This had obviously not been requested in the case of Dillon Jones, used to dive the officials.
Mark Daigneault could not have fully enjoyed his tactical blow, ensuring in passing that he too would have ” appreciated That Nikola Jokic plays if he had been under his orders.
The Thunder finally bowed against Denver by hosting 140 points including 18 on counterattack. “” This is an idea that came to me, and if the referees want to quickly put the ball back into play, then I will do it again “Nevertheless assured the outgoing Coach of the Year, who therefore wanted to mark the occasion and send a signal. Dillon Jones, he finally entered well, but only for the last 106 seconds of the match, already folded.
