Aday Mara lands on his feet with the Thunder: "You have to be in very good shape to do those things"
The Spanish center makes his preseason debut, is praised by his coach, and gets his teammates off the bench with his plays
"E The first preseason game for Aday Mara with the Thunder could not have left a better impression on his teammates , on his coach Mark Daigneault , on the Oklahoma press, and on the fans. Starting and in just 18 minutes on the court, the Spanish center scored 12 points without a miss (5/5 from the field), 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks . In that time he showed the breadth of his repertoire. Oklahoma, without many of their key players, ended up losing 110-116.
Thunder coach especially highlighted the effort Mara has made over the summer to get into shape. "He worked very hard from the end of Summer League until he returned to Oklahoma and then through training camp. There were many days he spent with his head down, working on his physical conditioning, and it showed tonight," Daigneault said about his pupil, selected with the 12th pick in the latest draft.
Both on offense and defense, Mara was able to show his main assets: great court vision and passing ability, easy baskets by making the most of his height and technical fundamentals, and rim protection. "Obviously he is a very effective player because of his skill level on offense and then because of his impact on defense, but you have to be in very good shape to do those things and he is working on that" , said the Thunder coach, who summed it up in one sentence: "It was a very good start for him" .
At the start of the second quarter, the Zaragoza-born center produced one of the plays that define his game. He blocked a shot under his own basket, took off on the break, received a pass in stride, and headed to the rim to finish with a beautiful extended layup . At 2.21 meters tall, there are not many players in the NBA capable of doing that.
The Thunder bench, amazed
Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and the rest of the bench got up to celebrate it . Some with a look of disbelief and others imitating Mara's brilliant finish. "I saw it, I saw it. It was funny . They were doing the "finger roll" gesture. I was just there, I got the ball, saw the rim, and I didn't even think I could dunk it, so I tried to make a layup. It was fun" , said the Spanish player.
It was his first preseason game and it's not wise to overreact, since the regular season is a different story, but starting out by showing everyone what you're capable of is extraordinary news .
