Why Alex Caruso believes the Thunder defense can be 'as good as we want to make it'
OKC was great last season, but it could elevate to the league's best.
Think for a moment about how Lu Dort plays defense.
Intense. Aggressive. Spirited.
That's the opposite of how the Dorture Chamber talked about what this team has a chance to be defensively when I asked him about it Monday during Thunder Media Day.
The Thunder added some talented defensive pieces to a puzzle that was already pretty good. Last season, Oklahoma City had a defensive rating that ranked behind only Minnesota, Orlando and Boston during the regular season, and now, it has added Alex Caruso, an NBA All-Defensive Team regular, and Isaiah Hartenstein, who was top 20 in the league last year in blocks and rebounds.
What kind of juggernaut, I asked Dort, could this Thunder defense become?
"I feel like it's going to be pretty good," he said in a monotone that would've made Ben Stein proud. "We had some good guys, and they had success in the past. I'm really looking forward to getting on the court with them, learn, and go out and compete.
"I'm really excited."
Dort didn't sound like it, but I'm going to guess when the Thunder opens training camp this week and Dort sees this bunch in action, he'll be a bit more enthusiastic. Anyone who backs the Thunder blue probably will be, too.
For all the attention OKC is getting for its offense — understandable with the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams — it's the defense that could take a significant jump this season. Being the best defense in the association doesn't seem that farfetched.
"It's going to be as good as we want to make it," Caruso said of the team's defense. "That's defense in the NBA specifically, but defense in general in basketball. Whatever the effort you put into it is what you get in return."
Effort wasn't lacking for the Thunder last season.
The same goes for Caruso or Hartenstein throughout their time in the NBA. Caruso, especially, has made a career out of being a high-energy guy. He nags opponents. Bugs them. Harasses them. Badgers them.
And he just keeps doing it.
Search for "Alex Caruso highlights" on YouTube, and you'll see all sorts of pesky moments.
Against the Rockets this past season, for example, there's a sequence where Caruso gets screened at the top of the key, gets knocked off his man and nearly falls. But he stays upright, chasing after the play and blocking the shot of the big man who had screened him earlier.
He's like a gnat, always annoying opponents.
Caruso has no plan to change.
"Obviously, I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve and go for it every night," he said. "That's kind of just what I have to do to be impactful in the league, and that's something that I will continue to do. Play to win. Play for the team. Those are the things that I've held true to myself throughout my whole career, whether I've been in the G League on a two-way or on championship teams.
"Those things work for me, and they usually work for the team."
Hartenstein isn't nearly the waterbug that Caruso is — at 7-foot, 250 pounds, Hartenstein is built a bit differently than the 6-5, 186-pound Caruso — but the big fella makes a defensive difference, too. Last season, with Hartenstein on the floor, the Knicks allowed 110.3 points per 100 possessions, which would've ranked second in the league. Without him, New York allowed 112.1 points.
That difference made Hartenstein second in defensive estimated plus-minus, according to Dunks & Threes. Only Orlando's Jonathan Isaac had a bigger individual impact on his team's defense. Hartenstein ranked higher than Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid, OG Anunoby and Victor Wembanyama. And yes, Hartenstein ranked higher, too, than Caruso.
Hartenstein, who only became the Knicks' starting center in December when Mitchell Robinson was injured, didn't reach the minimum-games-played requirement to be considered for the All-Defensive Team.
But now, Hartenstein has joined one of the best defensive teams in the league and will likely pair some with Holmgren, a fellow rim protector.
"I feel like Mark has a lot of guys on the court where he can play versatile line-ups, play versatile styles of defense," Hartenstein said, mentioning Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, "and that's really exciting to me, just having so many defensive threats. I mean, I don't really know if there's any defensive liabilities on the court at all."
Hartenstein pointed to SGA, one of only three players to average more than 30 points a game last season — and he tied for the league lead in steals.
"From top to bottom, it's a really good defensive team," Hartenstein said, "but then also Mark has the luxury to be versatile offensively."
Whoa, whoa, whoa. We'll talk offense another day.
Today is all about defense.
Safe to say, the Thunder's returning defensive leaders are stoked about the possibilities of how this team will be able to guard and hound and disrupt opponents.
"It's hard to win games, especially big games, especially playoff games, which we aspire to do, if you can't play defense," Holmgren said. "That's a big focus of what we're trying to do, and they're going to help us with that.
"If you look at their individual skill sets, what they brought to their teams last year isn't going to completely change this year. Alex is a great point-of-attack defender, pursuit defender on action, ball screens, things like that. He has really active hands, not only in passing lanes, but on the ball. ... Isaiah as well, he is a heck of a post defender, rebounder. He's a great rim protector. He was huge for that New York team last year, especially in the playoffs. He's going to be big-time this year."
Gilgeous-Alexander said, "Half of defense is getting the rebounds and getting the ball. I think getting better in that area will for sure help us. Limiting teams taking second-chance points.
"But I think as long as we remain disruptive, remain physical, and try to keep teams uncomfortable and out of their comfort zone is where we want to be defensively, and I think our two additions ... fit right in with that identity defensively."
Nothing is given, of course. Not for the Thunder. Not for Caruso or Hartenstein.
"If you don't go out and play your best, anybody is capable of getting 30 or 40, teams scoring 130," Caruso said. "It's just about showing up and doing it every night."
The Thunder did that consistently a year ago, and now, they've got even more helping hands.
"We have a lot of good on-ball defenders," Dort said, acknowledging that OKC should be able to switch defensive assignments more, "and that comes from communicating. ... We get in the gym together and work on that to be able to do it in the games. All that comes from trust and communicating.
"I'm excited to go out there with those guys."
I believe he is, even if he didn't always sound like it.