Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Thunder Keep Solidifying Long-Term Core With Kenrich Williams Extension
“He could also be amongst his friends, simply from my observations, essentially the most revered man within the locker room,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated of Kenrich Williams throughout his first season with the staff.
After two years of carving out a job as a top quality contributor on the courtroom and impactful chief off of it, Williams has earned a four-year, $27.2M extension with Oklahoma City. He turns into simply the second undrafted participant to signal a deal this summer season, following within the footsteps of his teammate Lu Dort.
This units Williams as much as be even nearer to retiring as a member of the Thunder, which is one thing he’s stated he needs to do a number of instances.
“I need to be right here with the Thunder. This may sound far fetched, however I want to retire right here with the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder,” stated Williams earlier this 12 months.
With that in thoughts, this path to his first main payday was something however linear. The 6-foot-6 wing was by no means an enormous recruit, beginning his collegiate profession at a junior faculty earlier than ending TCU. After going undrafted in 2018, he earned a contract with the New Orleans Pelicans following a formidable NBA Summer time League stint with the Denver Nuggets.
In his first two seasons with the Pelicans, Williams was extraordinarily inefficient. He shot simply 37.1% from the ground and 30.4% from past the arc. Williams produced simply 4.9 factors and 4.8 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per recreation throughout these two seasons in New Orleans.
From there, he would get a recent begin. Williams was primarily used for wage matching functions in a commerce that despatched Steven Adams from Oklahoma Metropolis to New Orleans. To facilitate this deal, Williams was signed to a three-year, $6 million deal on his option to the Thunder.
In a brand new metropolis with a special function, Williams instantly thrived in OKC. In his very first season with the staff, he doubled his scoring output from the season prior as he produced 8.0 factors per contest. He additionally grew to become a way more environment friendly shooter, flattening 44.4% of his triples and 53.3% of his pictures from the ground general.
Williams grew to become a vocal chief on the younger Thunder roster, but in addition was having an incredible influence on profitable.
This received the eye of many groups across the league. Throughout each of Williams’ seasons in Oklahoma Metropolis thus far, rival groups have tried to commerce for him. Thus far, Thunder GM Sam Presti hasn’t budged.
Actually, Presti as an alternative determined to increase Williams for 4 years. This formally makes the two-way wing part of the longterm core in Oklahoma Metropolis.
There’s solely a handful of gamers on the Thunder roster which might be beneath contract for no less than 4 extra years, with Williams being the most recent on that listing. He joins Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams and Ousmane Dieng. It’s additionally doubtless that Josh Giddey and Tre Mann earn rookie extensions three years from now and proceed to be a part of the group.
As such, an actual core is starting to type OKC. It’s one which has great upside and might be a contending squad in a couple of years.
One of many hardest gamers within the league, Williams is a professional two-way menace that has the flexibility and positional measurement that each staff needs. He’s earned each greenback of this extension and can solely proceed to be impactful with the Thunder for the rest of the rebuild and past.
Even then, he’s going to be on a manageable deal that shall be straightforward to commerce for property if wanted down the highway. For either side, this four-year, $27.2M extension made a ton of sense.
Oklahoma
Former Oklahoma State DC Bryan Nardo Expected to Join Charlotte Staff
Oklahoma State’s former defensive coordinator is wasting no time finding another gig.
On Monday, Doug Samuels of FootballScoop reported that Bryan Nardo is expected to join the defensive staff at Charlotte. One of the most recent teams to jump to the FBS level, Charlotte could soon be adding a coach with Big 12 experience.
Nardo spent the past two seasons in Stillwater as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. While his first season wasn’t necessarily the most impressive, it seemed his adjustments and overall scheme were key in OSU’s ascension to a 10-win season and Big 12 Championship appearance.
However, everything fell apart for Nardo in year 2. With the Cowboys ranking among the bottom 10 in the FBS in most statistical categories, OSU’s defense was the main issue in the team’s winless Big 12 campaign.
However, not all of the blame for OSU’s three-win season can be placed on Nardo. OSU’s offense also struggled mightily throughout the season, but the injuries piling up for the OSU defense sealed Nardo’s fate.
With future NFL players Collin Oliver and Nick Martin not playing a snap after September, the Cowboys were without their anchors and other injuries piled up from there. With a myriad of backups and players not playing in their natural positions, Nardo had no true opportunities to run his desired scheme. Still, OSU’s horrendous rankings and results on the field were still too much to overlook as the team overhauled virtually its entire staff this offseason.
With Nardo heading east, the Cowboys hired Todd Grantham as his replacement shortly after the position opened. Nardo is also not the first former OSU defensive coordinator to head to Charlotte.
After being let go following the 2017 season, Glenn Spencer went to Charlotte and was its defensive coordinator for the 2018 season.
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Oklahoma
Navy Midshipmen Keys to Beating Oklahoma Sooners in Armed Forces Bowl
The Armed Forces Bowl is the Navy Midshipmen’s kind of bowl game. As they prepare to take on the Oklahoma Sooners, they are familiar with the surroundings at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Kickoff on Friday is at noon eastern on ESPN.
This is Navy’s (9-3) third appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl, as they beat Middle Tennessee in 2013 and then played a highly-dramatic affair with Louisiana Tech in 2016, which Navy lost 48-45.
At stake for the Midshipmen is their first 10-win season under second-year coach Brian Newberry and their sixth 10-win season in program history. Also with the win the Midshipmen can double their win total from a season ago in Newberry’s debut.
All in all, it would be the capper for a successful second year under their former defensive coordinator.
Oklahoma (6-6) is coming off a sluggish debut in the SEC, where at times the Sooners struggled to score points but scored a huge elite season win over Alabama, a victory that likely kept the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff.
Third-year coach Brent Venables is also dealing with losing players to the transfer portal and two potential defensive stars who may not play in the game as they prepare for the NFL.
How does Navy win? Here are three keys to watch.
Wanna see a simple cause-and-effect relationship?
In Navy’s nine wins, the Midshipmen have outscored teams 104-7 in points off turnovers. The only team to score any points off a Navy turnover in those nine games? Incredibly, it was Bucknell in the season opener.
In the Midshipmen’s three losses, Navy has been outscored 48-0 in points off turnovers.
Navy needs to avoid turnovers, avoid giving up points when it turns the ball over. It also needs to force turnovers and score points off those turnovers.
Yes, that’s rather simple. But the Midshipmen are polar opposite teams in this category, which means that first turnover of the game, whoever commits it, could be telling.
It’s not as if Navy is going to become a different team than it was against Army West Point, and certainly quarterback Blake Hovarth’s ability to throw the ball as a differentiator. But, the Midshipmen just need to be who they are.
Navy is averaging 249.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh-best average in FBS and the program’s best since 2019.
Navy hasn’t played Oklahoma in decades comma but Army played the Sooners recently in Norman. Back in 2018, OU needed overtime to beat Army, 28-21. Oklahoma doesn’t see option teams at all during the season. That’s an edge for Navy.
Oklahoma has had some turnover at quarterback since the end of the regular season. Starter Jackson Arnold transferred to Auburn and another quarterback is in the portal.
The Sooners expect to start Michael Hawkins Jr. behind center, who actually began the season as the starting quarterback. So Navy’s defensive staff will need to break down some tape from earlier in the season.
He has 536 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He’s a solid runner. But he was benched for fumbling the ball multiple times against South Carolina. Ball protection is key against Navy, which does a good job of creating turnovers. Pressure on Hawkins will be a difference-maker in the game.
Oklahoma
Wizards at Thunder Recap: Injury-riddled Washington falls short in Oklahoma City, 123-105
On Christmas’ Eve’s eve, The Wizards lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 123-105. Washington faced an uphill battle against the league’s second-best team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, regardless of the injury report. But the challenge became more difficult when Bilal Couilably (groin) and Alex Sarr (back) were ruled out. Yet, Washington hung with the Thunder and entered the fourth quarter down just four points. OKC went on a 13-2 run to start the final frame and finally put the Wizards away.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a monster game with 41 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. He went off for 14 points in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. SGA shot 3-of-6 from deep, but the rest of the Thunder struggled (7-32, 21.8%). Conversely, the Wizards shot well from deep. They made 16 of their 43 three-point attempts (37.2%) and late, desperation misses brought down that percentage. 19 turnovers and allowing 66 points in the paint did DC in.
Jordan Poole led the team in scoring, again. He poured in 31 points on 20 field goal attempts and 7 assists as opposed to 4 turnovers. Jonas Valanciunas posted another double-double, 12 points and 15 rebounds, in his quest to be traded. Kyshawn George had one of his best games as a Wizards. He scored 11 points, his first double-digit scoring output in December. George also impressed with his defensive activity and quick hands. If he plays that level of defense, his scoring will improve because he’ll be able to play more.
The Wizards take on Charlotte in Capital One Arena one day after Christmas. Kyle Kuzma was still out with a rib injury and we’ll see if he, Coulibaly, or Sarr get back on the court this week. Other injuries to monitor are Bub Carrington and Marvin Bagley. Carrington grabbed his abdomen and went back to the locker room with about 8 minutes left. Marvin Bagley went down with a nasty-looking injury when Isaiah Hartenstein rolled up on his ankle from behind. He had to be helped off.
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