BILLY DONOVAN'S ONE-ON-ONE GAME PLAN TO CONNECT WITH THUNDER PLAYERS

source: http://www.nytimes.com

Not long after Billy Donovan became coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder last spring, he had a member of his staff reach out to the players. The team had scuffled through an injury-marred season, and most of the players had scattered for the approaching summer. Steve Novak, for example, was home in Wisconsin when he got the phone call.

“It was, basically, ‘We want to fly you in so you can meet with him for an hour,’ ” Novak recalled. “My first impression was, well, we could just Skype.”

But that was not what Donovan had in mind. He wanted face-to-face meetings in Oklahoma City so he could better gauge his players and learn from them. Donovan wanted to know about the previous season, about any changes the players hoped to see. In the months since, Donovan has maintained the same approach.

“Not that I’m involved in all those bigwig meetings,” said Novak, a reserve forward, “but he’s continued to have those talks with guys where there’s just a lot of open communication so he can see what the vibe is that day, that week, and how guys are feeling so he can make adjustments.”

Russell Westbrook, going up against the Nets’ Brook Lopez on Sunday, has thrived this season, averaging 23.9 points a game and shooting 45.2 percent from the field. Credit Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

It is an important season for the Thunder, who are scheduled to face the Knicks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Oklahoma City has championship aspirations amid the faint drumbeat of Kevin Durant’s imminent free agency. Durant can go anywhere he wants this summer. The Thunder, of course, would prefer that he re-sign.

The most compelling case any team can make when wooing superstars comes in the form of winning, of proving that titles are viable. The Thunder have put themselves back in the mix this season by running their record to 33-13, third best in the Western Conference behind the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs.

“I like the direction we’re going in,” Durant said.

The Thunder are playing high-level basketball, having won 22 of their last 27 games. Their loss Sunday night to the Nets was a rare stumble.

“We took a little bit of a step back,” Donovan said. “But I always say this: When you talk about progress and improvement, it’s never a smooth line.”

Donovan paused and made a wavy motion with his hand, a demonstration of the season’s ups and downs. The team’s loss to the Nets was one of the downs.

“Hopefully we can utilize this,” Donovan said, “and learn from this and improve from this and take another step forward because this team has improved and done a lot of good things.”

Donovan, 50, arrived in Oklahoma City after 19 illustrious seasons at Florida, where he led the Gators to two N.C.A.A. championships. His first priority with the Thunder, he said, was building relationships. It might sound hokey, and Donovan sometimes comes across as if he could give a keynote in motivational speaking, but he wanted the players to know that he cared.

“I think a lot of times people fail to realize that, even though these guys are stars and they’ve got brands that are worldwide and they have unbelievable name recognition, they’re still people,” Donovan said. “They still go through normal things that people go through.”