Rookie forward Aleksej Pokusevski’s three blocks in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers was the highlight of the blowout loss, and it prompted head coach Mark Daigneault to speak on a trend he has started to notice.
Pokusevski’s defense is coming quicker than his offense.
“I think his defense is ahead of his offense right now and has been pretty good here for about a week,” Daigneault said.
The rookie has looked like a changed player since coming back from concussion protocol, which forced him to miss two games over the week of Jan. 3.
Over the first five games of his NBA career, Pokusevski made only two of his 21 field goal attempts and one of his 16 3-point shots. He averaged 1.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and a block and a steal apiece.
In the four games since, he has averaged 6.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 0.8 steals per game.
While more shots are falling, his impact on the defensive end has been more notable.
“He’s doing a lot better from when he first came in,” forward Kenrich Williams said.
Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma tested Pokusevski, driving at him in the fourth quarter. The rookie won that battle. Wing Talen Horton-Tucker tried to take him with a reverse layup, but Pokusevski had more than enough length to swat it away. Guard Quinn Cook got a steal and thought he had an easy layup in transition, but Pokusevski batted that one too.
BLOCKUSEVSKI #PokuCam #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/Ync3fDguY1
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) January 14, 2021
“If you want to help the team, you’ve gotta play defense,” the rookie said. “That’s my job.”
He credited his size and length for allowing him to rack up blocks. His 1.2 per game leads the Thunder and was second among all rookies entering Thursday, and he only averages 16.4 minutes per game.
Pokusevski is listed at seven feet tall with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and a 9-foot-1 standing reach.
“His length shows up in a lot of different ways,” Daigneault said. “When the guy he’s guarding gets a step on him, he can recover with his length. And then when he’s in help specifically and they try to pass, he’s pretty active in passing lanes.”
It sounds like a lot of this comes from instinct and size. Pokusevski is still getting used to the league; he got hit with goaltending against the San Antonio Spurs when he grabbed the ball over the rim after it had already bounced off the cylinder, something that’s allowed in European leagues but not the NBA.
He said he wasn’t aware of that rule difference until he committed the violation.
As Pokusevski gets more accustomed to the league and builds his body — his frame was one of the reasons why, entering the draft, he was seen as someone with more offensive talent than defensive — he can get more technically disciplined.
“As young as Poku is, he knows how to play on both ends of the floor,” guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Has great feel for the game … whether it be reacting to defenses offensively, or making plays defensively. He knows what he’s doing.”
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