Oklahoma City’s veteran is giving the team valuable minutes on the floor.
After a shorthanded start to the season, Oklahoma City is finally returning to full strength. Obviously, the lack of healthy players didn’t really hurt the team much, considering they have one single loss a week into December.
But the full strength lineup with added reinforcements gives Oklahoma City a chance to toy with lineups in preparation for the playoffs.return, and rightfully so. The bonafide All-Star was itching to get back on the court, and the Thunder desperately wanted him back. But an underrated addition back in the lineup has been, who played his fifth game of the season on Friday night. Every game, it seems like he gets a little bit more comfortable.talks about his importance in the locker room and as a leader often, but this week he spoke about his importance on the court and as a leader. Kenrich Williams’ impact as a vocal leader is well-documented, but I asked Mark Daigneault what the veteran forward has brought on the floor since his return from injury four games ago:“He brings just a great edge to the game, first of all,” Mark Daigneault said. “Which I thought was on display in Portland. We played Avdija that night. He had it going, he was getting fouled, he was getting where he wanted on the floor. He was putting a lot of pressure on us. “We put Kenrich on him at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and he just changed the look. He denied him a little bit, he was doing his own thing it wasn’t anything we were directing. He got in there and started competing in a feisty way.” In that specific game, Williams changed the game in a 123-115 win on the road. He only played 13 minutes, but added eight points and three rebounds while shooting 3-of-4 from the floor. He finished as a +5, and Oklahoma City outscored Portland 38-28 in the final frame. Williams’s stats won’t jump off the page, but it gives Daigneault another lever to pull. He’s averaging 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists on 55.6% from the floor and 50% from the 3-point line in 14 minutes per game. At this point in his career, and with the team that OKC has assembled, he doesn’t need to play heavy minutes. But his short spurts can change the game — and they have so far this season. “He brings a great edge to the team,” Daigneault said. “He’s also really versatile as we’ve seen over time. He’s been one of our small-ball fives at different times, we used him in the playoffs in big moments — Western Conference Finals and the Finals. You can kind of put him out on the court with anybody in any position and he can just merge into that. Obviously high praise for him as a guy and as a teammate, but he can really play too.”Ross is a 2023 Oklahoma University graduate who has formerly written for the OU Daily and Prep Hoops. He now works for the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee and covers OU sports for AllSooners.com. He has been covering the Thunder since the 2019-20 season.
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