Mark Daigneault reacts to Isaiah Joe's elite shooting for Thunder
01/20/2025 05:48 PM
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault watched Isaiah Joe match his career-high eight threes in Sunday's 127-101 against the Brooklyn Nets. The fifth-year guard has been shooting at an elite level this month, connecting on 49.2% of his threes on 3.2 makes per game. Joe finished with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, which all came from behind the three-point arc.
After the win, Daigneault addressed Joe's hot stretch of January and isn't surprised to see Isaiah bounce back from a brief slump in December.
"He's like all these other guys we've talked about where we're willing to take a step backward to take two steps forward," Daigneault said. "To this point, he's been kind of a stationary shooter, which, with Shai specifically, is really powerful, with the gravity Shai has, just to throw to the quad and fire. We think there's more there because of his speed, his motor, and his shooting gravity. So, we've put him on the move more, run more stuff through him."
Joe wasted no time getting hot early and often from deep. He connected on his first three at the 9:52 mark of the opening frame and finished with four from behind the three-point arc, helping propel the Thunder to a 39-point first quarter.
"First play of the game tonight is a good example of that," Daigneault added. "So, he went through a little bit of growing pains there and has since caught a good rhythm and had another night like the New York night, where he just strung together a bunch of shots. And really opened the game up really early for us."
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a team-high 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, and 10 assists.
After a 126-101 win against the New York Knicks, Gilgeous-Alexander commended Joe's elite shooting touch at Madison Square Garden.
"Isaiah Joe is spectacular for our group," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "He came over a little bit unexpected. From day one, he's been a worker. He plugs away at it."
Mark Daigneault's honest take on Isaiah Joe's elite shooting
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault addressed Isaiah Joe's unwavering confidence after beating the Knicks earlier this month. It's something that he was waiting for at some point in January.
"We know he's capable of it. He's had it before, and he hasn't shot the ball this season the way he's wanted to," Daigneault said. "We were kind of waiting for a game like this. At least I was. It was about a matter of time. Great confidence by him."
The Thunder will host the Jazz at the Paycom Center on Wednesday.
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