Tag: Hamidou Diallo

‘Hami loves the Garden’: Diallo caps homecoming with double-double, alley-oop

Hamidou Diallo returned home to Madison Square Garden and had 23 points, 11 boards and an alley-oop to close the game.

In his homecoming to New York, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo nearly set a personal NBA scoring record. He had his fourth career double-double. He capped it with an alley-oop.

“Every time we come back to New York,” gurad Lu Dort said, “…he always puts on a show.”

Diallo, born in Queens, helped lead the Thunder to a 101-89 victory over the Knicks in his third NBA game at Madison Square Garden.

He scored 23 points, just four shy of his career record, and 11 rebounds, tying a career-best. The only time he has reached either of those marks previously was in the final game of last season, an NBA bubble against a Los Angeles Clippers team that was resting its core.

It’s safe to say Friday, against a Knicks team that has put together a strong start, was the best game of his career.

Diallo shot 8-for-13 from the field and attempted eight free throws in 29 minutes of play.

His performance against the Knicks last year was solid as well, though it was under different circumstances. Diallo was seeing sporadic playing time — over the 13 games coming into that matchup, he had six DNPs and reached the 15-minute mark only once.

He broke out, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and scoring 12 points, his third-best mark of the season.

So his performance Friday wasn’t a shock for guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“I said that right after the game, Hami loves the Garden,” he said.

“Last year he wasn’t playing too much. Came off the bench and had a great game. And then this year, you guys obviously saw what he did. I feel like Hami’s in his habitat when he plays back home.”

The two put the finishing touches on the performance with a sky-high alley-oop for the final points of the game.

“I knew Hami was having a big night and the game was a little bit out of reach at that point, but I wanted to kind of give him a little bit of an exclamation mark, so I pushed the pace a little bit,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“Seen him on the back side and I just tried to throw it as high as I could with it still being in his reach so he could go get it.”

Diallo was ready.

“I see a lot of people joke around like I don’t get above the rim anymore and stuff like that,” he said with a smile. “It was great to just end it like that, and to show that I’m still capable, I just choose not to sometimes.”

Who says Diallo can’t still get up?

“That’ll never be me,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I threw it high on purpose. I knew he could go get it.”

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Strong Thunder defense leads charge over Knicks, RJ Barrett

The OKC Thunder defended RJ Barrett and Julius Randle well and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Hamidou Diallo led offensively in the win.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s defense dismantled the New York Knicks, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got hot in the third quarter and finished the game with 25 points, and guard Hamidou Diallo produced 23 off the bench for OKC in a 101-89 victory on Friday.

After a slow start offensively in which both teams scored only 42 points in the first half, the Thunder picked it up in the second. They outscored the Knicks 59-47 in the final two quarters to get the win.

The OKC defense was very strong throughout. Knicks wing RJ Barrett played 44 minutes but only made seven of 21 shots for a 19 points, primarily being guarded by Luguentz Dort. No Knicks player reached 20 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s performance that evened their record at .500.

Hamidou Diallo reflects on his big night after road win over Knicks

Back home in New York City, Hamidou Diallo looked awfully comfortable.

Hamidou Diallo, obviously and appropriately, felt right at home.

Hailing from New York City’s borough of Queens, Diallo — along with the rest of his teammates — paid a visit to Madison Square Garden and helped the Thunder walk away from the contest with a 101-89 victory.

The New York Knicks have gotten off to a good start this season, but they couldn’t do much to stop Diallo, who ended the night having scored 23 points off the bench on 8-for-13 shooting from the field.

He also grabbed 11 rebounds in what was an incredible effort.

After the contest, Diallo spoke with Fox Sports Oklahoma’s Nick Gallo about his mindset heading into the contest, and how he helped the Thunder leave the Mecca with a 4-4 record on the season.

“I mean, that’s what it’s about. We come out here, we want to compete and we want to just leave it out on the floor,” Diallo said. “I feel like we did a great job of that today, we came in and played for 48 minutes and that’s what it takes.”

From a personal standpoint, it was obvious that Diallo had a little extra pep in his step. Perhaps the big night is a sign of things to come in the future.

“It’s something that I bring to the table,” he said of his energy. “Every given night, I gotta be the most competitive person on the floor and that’s a goal of mine.”

Next up for the Thunder is a date with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.

For Diallo, that means two more nights of home cooking, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of effort he turns in when Oklahoma City meets head coach Steve Nash and his talented squad.

“Just keep getting better, just keep getting better, staying confident in myself and just going out there and taking what the defense gives me,” Diallo said of his mindset heading into the contest in Brooklyn.

“I feel like at times, I tend to force things, but I’m getting better at that and just gonna keep getting better each and every day so it’s a great team win and just can’t wait to get back home.”

He may consider Oklahoma City to be his home, but on Friday night, he sure looked comfortable at Madison Square Garden.

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With 6 double-digit scorers, team play leads Thunder over Magic

With six OKC Thunder players scoring double-digits and none crossing the 20-point mark, it was team play that led them over the Orlando Magic.

There are some games where it’s tough to find the storyline.

Who was the storyline of the OKC Thunder 108-99 win over the Orlando Magic? Which player had the biggest impact? Was it Darius Bazley, who notched his second double-double of the season with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds? Was it George Hill, who made 13 points in the third quarter alone to help keep the Thunder in the game? Maybe it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose impressive passing helped all this happen and then he closed it out offensively.

Was the standout on the bench? Theo Maledon had his best game as an NBA player and Hamidou Diallo had 12 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

It wasn’t one player who coaxed the Thunder to victory on Saturday night. OKC found a secret to winning a game when opponents aggressively defend Gilgeous-Alexander — the rest of the team has to answer.

“We had great balance tonight with how we played on both ends of the floor,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We got a lot of contributors, top to bottom.”

Orlando couldn’t find offensive power outside its best two scorers. Center Nikola Vucevic and guard Terrence Ross combined for 56 points, but the rest of the team shot just 18-for-66, a mark of 27%.

Meanwhile, as Gilgeous-Alexander went 4-for-16 through the first 45 minutes of the game, the rest of the Thunder went 32-for-65, slightly above 49%.

Then the star guard took over. He hit a tough, off-balance look just inside the free throw line with a defender draped on him for an and-one to give the Thunder a seven-point lead with 2:30 to play. He drove and made the right passes after attracting defenders, finally culminating with a kickout to Al Horford. The center hit Aaron Gordon with a jab step before pulling up for 3 to take an 8-point lead with 50 seconds left.

Oklahoma City played stupendous defense in the fourth quarter, limiting the Magic to 17 points and Vucevic, who had 26 entering the quarter, to just four. Orlando only scored eight points in the final 8:30 of the game.

“The coaches, they really harped on us being in position to make it difficult for him. When you have a guy like Vucevic, you have to make sure that your whole team is there helping and in the right positions,” Horford said. “We made the double-teams when we needed to, we kept him guessing.”

It was a back-and-forth first three quarters until Maledon hit a 3 early in the fourth to break a tie and then assisted a Diallo 3. Bazley hit a 3 off a Gilgeous-Alexander assist to go up 97-91 and then got a dunk off a Horford assist. Gilgeous-Alexander hit his and-one, and then Horford iced the game.

So, with six players scoring double-digits and another, Lu Dort, scoring nine, this wasn’t a one-man show. There wasn’t a single player who was the storyline.

It was unselfish offense with swing passes and hockey assists, team defense and effort that pushed Oklahoma City to its second win of the year.

“We just played this team, and we came up short. I think we could’ve won the last one,” Bazley said, referencing OKC’s Tuesday loss to Orlando.

“I think everyone knew what it was going to take to beat this team. They weren’t just going to give us the game, we had to go and take it”

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Halftime stats: Thunder hold small lead over Magic in rematch

In the Thunder and Orlando Magic rematch, Nikola Vucevic had 16 points at the half while Darius Blazey led OKC with nine.

The Oklahoma City Thunder hung tight in the first half against the Orlando Magic in the teams’ rematch from less than a week ago.

The Thunder led Orlando 52-51 at halftime on Saturday night.

Forward Darius Bazley led the Thunder with nine points while four Oklahoma City players had seven. Guard Lu Dort had seven points with a steal and a block, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had seven points with an assist and a block, center Al Horford had four rebounds to go with his seven points and guard Theo Maledon led the bench with seven.

Center Nikola Vucevic had a game-high 16 points and wing Terrence Ross had 15 points off the bench for the Magic.

Vucevic too much for Oklahoma City Thunder, who fall to Orlando Magic

The OKC Thunder’s short bursts kept them in the game throughout, but it was not enough to take down the undefeated Orlando Magic.

For the first time this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder game on Tuesday was not decided in the final second.

They lost to the Orlando Magic 118-107 and fall to 1-2 on the year. The Magic remain undefeated at 4-0.

Even with the double-digit loss, this was not a bad game for the Thunder. This wasn’t one of those times when garbage time buckets make the scoreboard look respectable. Oklahoma City played well and kept it close, actually tying it with the first basket in the fourth quarter, but ultimately slipped without usual starters Al Horford or George Hill in the lineup.

“There were times where we didn’t compete and we had lack of energy, and things like that is what cost us the game today,” said guard Hamidou Diallo. “All in all we played hard. … It’s just little things that we gotta clean up and get better on to start winning these close games.”

There were multiple times it looked like the Thunder were about to fold, but they continued to put together short bursts to hang in until the final few minutes.

About three minutes before halftime, for instance, the Orlando Magic went up by 10. The Thunder were struggling to make 3s. If they let the lead slide any further, it would blossom into a huge halftime deficit.

That wasn’t the case; OKC cut Orlando’s lead to four by the time the break began.

Midway through the third quarter, the Thunder had a three-play span in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander threw a pass to nobody that went out of bounds, Darius Bazley airballed a 3, and then an alley-oop attempt to Diallo in transition went awry and resulted in another turnover. This was OKC’s worst stretch of play since the closing minutes of the first game of the season, and Orlando extended its lead from three to seven during this time.

But they didn’t fold here, either. It took just a few minutes for the Thunder went on a 9-2 run and tie the game at 80.

In the fourth quarter, they fell behind 101-92, but quick baskets from Gilgeous-Alexander and Justin Jackson put them back within four points.

“There were a couple times where the game could have gotten away from us and we made a play or got a stop,” said head coach Mark Daigneault. “Just didn’t get enough in the fourth.”

In the end, there was not one singular moment in which Oklahoma City collapsed. Orlando would take a lead, the Thunder would inch near it, and then the Magic would put together a run slightly better than the previous OKC burst. It wasn’t that there was one key area the Thunder lost on; they couldn’t keep up the hot 3-point shooting from Monday, they couldn’t stop Nikola Vucevic, and they couldn’t sustain consistent runs.

In other words, they were missing Horford and Hill.

This was the first game this season in which the Thunder didn’t have a chance going into the final minute, but it wasn’t a bad game. This type of game — competitive but not good enough – is likely the type the organization expected when it traded away its veterans to jumpstart a rebuild and can accept now.

“Another competitive night from our guys and a scrappy night, and obviously it just didn’t go our way,” Daigneault said.

Isaiah Roby, who started in place of Horford, was excellent. He had 19 points on 9-12 shooting and seven rebounds in 28 minutes of play. He only appeared in three games last year, but he stretched the floor, used his length and had the play of the night.

“He played a great game. He was ready,” Diallo said. “That’s really big for you to start and go out there, being in all the reads and all the coverages that we’re in. That’s really tough for him, and he came out there and he showed that he belonged.”

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting and made all three of his 3-pointers. He was efficient on limited shots as the Magic focused the defense on him, often sending multiple defenders his way in an attempt to trap him off pick-and-rolls.

“I expect a lot of that going forward, and I feel like I handled it OK,” he said. “Had a few too many turnovers, but I’m going to watch film and get better from it.”

Lu Dort had 15 points and made three 3s – he is now 9-for-19 from deep on the season – while Diallo and Mike Muscala combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

The best player on the court, though, was Vucevic, who tore the Thunder apart. He posted 28 points on 12-for-18 shooting and made three 3-pointers. He did all that despite only getting to the line one time, which was an and-one opportunity.

Oklahoma City fell, but it was not a bad loss. They got to see players who had yet to take the court this season, saw a type of player in Vucevic they had yet to face, and remained competitive. At this point in the season, competitive is what the organization is asking for.

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Halftime stats: 4 Thunder players have 9 points against Magic

OKC Thunder players Lu Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Roby and Hamidou Diallo have nine points against the Orlando Magic at the half.

Without Al Horford and George Hill in the lineup, the Oklahoma City Thunder found other contributors in the first half of the game against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

Isaiah Roby, who was in the starting lineup for Horford, and Hamidou Diallo, off the bench, had nine points apiece as they helped Oklahoma City keep pace, going into the half trailing 60-56 to the undefeated Magic.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Lu Dort had nine points as well, tying those two as the leading scorers on the Thunder. Justin Jackson, in the starting lineup for Hill, had four points.

Magic center Nikola Vucevic took advantage of the small Thunder rotation and had a game-high 15 points. Power forward Aaron Gordon had 10.

Thunder vs. Jazz halftime stats: OKC rains 3s, holds small lead

The OKC Thunder took a halftime lead over the Utah Jazz behind their 3-point shooting, particularly from Al Horford and Lu Dort.

The Oklahoma City Thunder must have taken a page out of the playbook of the team that gives the Utah Jazz the most fits — the Houston Rockets.

In the first half of the Thunder’s game against the Jazz on Monday, Oklahoma City attempted 22 3-pointers as the team took a 52-49 lead into the break.

Twelve of OKC’s first 15 shots came from behind the arc. In total, they shot 45.5% from behind the arc, well over Utah’s 25% on 16 attempts from deep.

Wing Lu Dort led with 13 points. He made three 3s on five attempts. Center Al Horford also made three 3-pointers and he finished the half with 11 points.

Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and forward Darius Bazley had seven points apiece.

Point guard Mike Conley led the Jazz with 13 points while guard Donovan Mitchell was held to five points on 2-for-10 shooting.

3 Thunder questions: How positionless will Oklahoma City play?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have talked about positionless basketball. Heading into the 2020-21 season, how much will OKC lean into this?

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There has been quite a bit of talk about positionless basketball in Mark Daigneault’s press conferences leading into the season. He said that to continue playing with three-guard lineups, the team would also need to have three-wing lineups to balance the minutes.

That’s something Daigneault thinks the roster is capable of doing.

“The thing that’s a little underrated about that with this team is I think the versatility of some of the wing players is what allows you to do that,” he said.

“If you stack one lineup with three guards, then whatever you’re rotating in front of that or behind it is not going to be as guard-heavy.”

With athletic players who have long wingspans like Hamidou Diallo and Darius Bazley, forwards who can fill different roles like Darius Miller and Kenrich Williams, bigs with range in Mike Muscala and Al Horford, and the mystery of the soon-to-be-19-year-old named Aleksej Pokusevski, Oklahoma City could theoretically put up an array of different-looking lineups.

This will be key to some guys getting quality minutes. Diallo, for instance, has spoken about his willingness to play a versatile role. A 6-foot-5 guard with a 6-foot-11 wingspan who isn’t a lead playmaker, he’s a player who would have to expand his game.

“Positionless basketball is the way that the league is going. Everybody being able to contribute on offense and defense,” he said.

“Being able to guard multiple positions, and on the offensive side, being able to play multiple positions, being able to have your center start the offense, being able to have your wing start the offense, that’s pretty much what the league is going to.”

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It’s a young team, but it’s not too early to start instilling these traits into its players. It’s actually a good time, given that the front office doesn’t mind losing games this season.

Daigneault can be patient will players and get creative with his lineups this year. He should see how they mix the lineup up in almost a 2K style of team management mode:

  • Starters: Hill, Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Bazley, Horford
  • Length: SGA, Diallo, Bazley, Pokusevski, Horford
  • Shooting: Hill, SGA, Miller, Pokusevski, Horford (Muscala as a secondary center option, but Horford’s defense would be needed in this group)
  • Defense: SGA, Diallo, Dort, Bazley, Horford
  • Playmakers: Hill, Maledon, SGA, Bazley, Pokusevski
  • The future: Maledon, SGA, Dort, Bazley, Pokusevski

Mix it up. Worst case is it doesn’t work and the team loses a lot of games. Best case is the players develop, Bazley becomes a better playmaker and Pokusevski can start learning to play any position on the court.

That final one won’t happen immediately, particularly with Daigneault is taking it slow with the Serbian and letting him learn the wing position before moving him to center. That’s smart, particularly as the rookie gets accustomed to the culture in this country, and that “playmaker” lineup would probably feature Horford in Pokusevski’s spot. There’s a chance Pokusevski doesn’t even see center this season.

But I’m curious how the team mixes-and-matches this year. The Thunder may end up with 20 wins, but they can absolutely be a fun team worth watching, too.

This is the first of a three-article series heading into the Thunder’s 2020-21 season.

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Thunder focusing on style, identity in first days of group workouts

With an almost entirely new group of players, the Oklahoma City Thunder is focusing on style, terminology and identity in training camp.

After months away from the team and then only solo activities over the first five days of training camp, the Oklahoma City Thunder started group workouts on Monday.

“I’ve been doing so much one-one-one workouts all these months, it’s been great to play with the guys,” third-year guard Hamidou Diallo said. “I haven’t competed since the bubble pretty much so it’s been great.”

With a group of brand new players, head coach Mark Daigneault is starting with basics of the organizational philosophy and identity.

“The emphasis was on style of play on both ends of the floor. Identity on both ends of the floor,” Daigneault said. “Getting our base system established, getting our terminology communicated and making sure that we’re all starting with a very clear baseline of how we want to play on both ends of the floor.”

In almost every year of Thunder existence, the play style, hierarchy and organizational structure and has been established before the season even began. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook helped form an identity for the team, and they were the two leads for the better part of a decade. When Durant left, the identity was Westbrook, with complementary players — and, in the case of Paul George, a fellow star — surrounding him. There was no question about who or what the team was.

Last year, even though there were questions about how good the team would be, the order of operations was still clear. Chris Paul and Steven Adams were leaders on and off the court. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an exciting young player Oklahoma City felt comfortable enough in to put him in the starting lineup. Dennis Schroder was content as a sixth man.

Now, with an almost entirely new cast, even the players need to learn what the team is and stands for.

“This is an organization that has high standards for the team. When we laid out our high standards that’s been met with excitement from these guys,” Daigneault said Monday.

“Everybody had a good day today. It comes down to your ability to sustain it tomorrow, and the next day after and into the dead of February and March. To this point, the approach from the players, the engagement from the players has been outstanding.”

Much of the system is going to be the same from last season. For a normal offseason, that would mean a relatively simple training program, but with so many new players, most of the team doesn’t know last year’s style and intricacies.

“We’re keeping a decent amount of concepts from last year but obviously with a lot of new faces, it’s important that we take the time to teach what those concepts are,” veteran forward Mike Muscala said Monday. “A lot of time was spent doing that today.”

Of course, they played too. It wasn’t just lecturing. Back on the court after months off, they finally have a more organized setting for group play.

“It was really fun,” Muscala said. “Felt good to get up and down, started working on defensive concepts, and just to be out there playing with the guys … It felt good.”

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