‘What he does goes under the radar, defence, the little things, brings toughness, physicality’
A Canadian national team standout from the Oklahoma City Thunder was in Toronto on Thursday, but most didn’t really notice because of the other guy that was here too.
And while that’s understandable, since the basketball savant Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserves every bit of attention he receives, maybe it’s time Canada paid some to Lu Dort as well.
After all, while Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the premier offensive players on the planet, the 25-year-old Dort is one of the best defenders around and has become a threat from outside as well, shooting 40% on three-pointers both last season and in 21 games before taking on the Raptors Thursday.
A big part of Canada’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Dort was also a key starter in France on the first Canadian men’s Olympic basketball team since 2000, teaming with Dillon Brooks to put the clamps on opposing players.
But there’s no flash to his hardscrabble game, so most of Dort’s huge impact on good teams — like the Western Conference-leading Thunder — stays in the shadows.
But his coaches and teammates appreciate Dort.
“What he does goes under the radar, defence, the little things, brings toughness, physicality,” Canadian national team captain Kelly Olynyk told Postmedia before Thursday’s game. “He’ll make some shots, make some plays offensively, and he’s skilled enough that he could do more, but you know, he plays within himself and plays this role, and, that’s something that’s kind of overlooked in today’s age as well, is just being able to accept a role and play a role and do it at a high, high level. And I think that he’s carved out a great niche in this league for himself, a role that isn’t going away anytime soon and he’s very elite in that role,” Olynyk said.
“And I think that anybody who knows Lu, has played against Lu, has played with Lu, he’s someone you want on your team, night in, night out, because he’s gonna battle every single possession, and he’s gonna make things happen.”
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault singled out versatility as one of Dort’s chief strengths. “I mean, the range of who he can guard defensively, is an underrated element of him as a defender. I think when you think of him as a defender, you think of him like squaring up a guy like (James) Harden or (Luka) Doncic and chesting those guys,” Daigneault said in his media session. “That’s impressive, and he does a great job on those types of players. But you can play him down with speed guards, where he can really impose his physicality, and then you can play him up to big wings and big fours, and we’ve done that as well and put him on (Zion) Williamson in the past in New Orleans, who obviously is huge and strong,” Daigneault said, continuing to list some of the most talented players in the NBA, none of which enjoy competing against Dort all that much. “Put him on (Kevin) Durant, (Lauri) Markkanen, (LeBron) James … He did a great job all week on those guys. He’s just continued to prove his eliteness on that end of the floor. He’s done it for years, but this season, I mean, if you step back and look at some of the individual performances we’ve had against us, it’s been very impressive.”
The stats back up Daigneault’s words. James was quiet against Dort, Kyrie Irving shot 3-for-10, Brandon Ingram 3-for-9, Harden 2-for-8, De’Aaron Fox 3-for-7, Devin Booker 0-for-3 with four turnovers in six minutes guarded by Dort. Now, the Thunder’s overall defence is absolutely terrifying and many players are slowed by it, but Dort is a big reason why that’s the case.
Dort had a tough offensive game Thursday at Toronto, shooting just 3-for-12 from the field, but at the other end he blocked three shots, had a steal and was the quarterback of a swarming defence that terrorized the short-handed Raptors all night. Toronto was shooting 31.9% from the floor through three quarters and Dort’s friend and fellow Canadian RJ Barrett started 1-for-10, with Dort hounding him for much of the night. Barrett had been averaging 30.3 points a game at home on 54.4% shooting. Two of Dort’s blocks came on Barrett attempts, though Barrett did heat up in the fourth against Dort, hitting 4-of-6 to start the quarter. Still, by then the game was well out of hand. Dort had done his job.
Business as usual.
@WolstatSun
@WolstatSun