Stable mentality, Thunder head coach shares emotional management strategies when falling behind the Pacers 1-2

In the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Degenault faced the dilemma of falling behind 1-2 and shared his emotional management strategy. As the fourth game with the Indiana Pacers approaches, the battle that is crucial to a young coaching career has put Dagenot on a lot of pressure, but he is not afraid of the mood swings that the team may experience. He emphasized that no matter the outcome, his team can handle it calmly and maintain mental stability.

"We want to maintain a balanced mood in any situation," Dagnott pointed out. "If you're excited after winning the game, you'll be frustrated after losing. But I'm sure our team won't fluctuate violently between these two emotions." He believes that this is due to the mature personality of the players, who are able to manage this emotion well, and despite the new challenges, they do have a wealth of experience in how to turn things around.

In the 2024-25 season, the Thunder faced the setbacks caused by losing with a positive attitude, and since November 19, they have not experienced two consecutive losses. “We have to carefully look at the video of the previous game, understand every part of the game accurately, and think about improvements so that they can be applied in the fourth game,” added Degnott.

He further emphasized that whether it is victory or failure, the team always strives to maintain a consistent operation method to cope with the various emotional ups and downs of the playoffs. Under the guidance of this concept, the Thunder showed outstanding stability psychologically.

Meanwhile, in response to outside comments, the team's All-Star player Shea Gilgers-Alexander responded that he was not angry at Pacers defender Andrew Nemhard's defense. Despite commentators claiming he was clearly feeling dissatisfied in the playoffs, Gilgers Alexander firmly denied the statement: "I'm not excited at all, so I don't know what the hell are you talking about."

In the next game of the NBA Finals, the Thunder expected to tie the score to tie the Pacers 2-2.