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Last week, the Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off its preseason against two of the best teams in Europe, Spanish clubs Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona.
After splitting those games, five-time all-star Russell Westbrook took notice of how different the European offense is compared to those of NBA teams.
The UCLA product saw his team give up 142 points in their first game, so even if they were able to squeak out a three-point win in a relatively low-scoring second match, their average points allowed was still a whopping 115.5 per game.
Westbrook spoke about how much better he thinks the European offense is, compared to the NBA, and what makes them score easily, per The Norman Transcript:
“I think one thing people don't realize is guarding teams in Europe, their offenses are 10 times better than NBA offense just because they move around a lot. A lot of movement and not as much talent so they have to do different things to be able to score the basketball.”
Thunder head coach Billy Donovan also took time to explain what adjustments his team had to make in-between the exhibitions games:
“Our guys getting more comfortable (with) the pace and the rhythm, and how the offenses in Europe are running and that was probably a day to get acclimated and adjusted to that, to the speed and the cutting of the game.”
Playing in Spain against their best teams has been an eye-opening experience for the 27-year-old point guard and his teammates. It also gave them a chance to see different offensive sets that they are not that familiar with which will keep them on their toes in their build-up for the start of the regular season.
