They weren’t expected at such a party, and especially not so soon. But the Thunder (38 wins for 42 losses) has a good chance of recovering the last ticket for the “play-in”, under the nose and beard of the Mavs (38 wins for 42 losses) with two games still to play.
If OKC is clearly not in top form, with six losses in its last eight outings, it has its destiny in its hands with the “tie-breaker” on the Mavericks and two games against the Jazz and the Grizzlies. But, “play-in” or not, the Thunder staff maintains its leitmotif: focus on youth and training.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the All-Star
“Frankly, we see further than the playoffs to come”, explains Mark Daigneault for The Ringer. “We focus on building the best team possible, namely the most durable possible. It’s not a road trip, nor a particular match or a season… Our first objective is to create a good environment on a daily basis, in the habits of our players, in the standard to which we holds every night, whether we win or lose, and to bet on these foundations to make us progress. »
If he missed a dozen games this season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander clearly embodies this bright future for the Thunder. The “combo guard” will complete his third straight season with 20 points or more. In fact, this is even his first campaign with more than 30 units per game (31.4 to be precise, 4th in the League). The upper class, to the point of being a serious candidate for the Most Improved Player trophy!
Best “driver” in the NBA (that is to say the best to sneak up to the circle), SGA adds 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. A last stat which makes him the fifth best interceptor in the League (while he is third in deflected balls). A player who weighs on both sides of the field.
Personification of the Thunder’s desire to precisely measure the qualities and faults of the game of each of its players, and to take the appropriate measures to optimize the first and reduce the seconds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has for once increased his impact towards the circle and, consequently, on the free throw line (best total in career), while happily limiting himself to 3-points.
“We kind of established a symbolic bar, and we try to be above as many days as possible,” continues Mark Daigneault. “And we want to add up those days in the positive, to see how far it can take us. This season is a good example. We don’t know where it’s going to take us, but we do know that when we go to bed at night, we’ve optimized our chances of being the best team possible. »
Behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s the whole team that drives the most, with 64.2 penetrations per game on average, far ahead of the Pacers, second (55.8). Knowing that the average is 47.1 penetrations per game this year, it shows the specificity of Oklahoma City’s game.
Williams & Giddey, the lieutenants
Behind SGA, Josh Giddey And Jalen Williamsone sophomore, the other rookie, also showed clear signs of express progression to form an outside trident of talent, fit to grow together.
The glaring example of this came recently, when the Thunder All-Star point guard missed five straight games due to abdominal pain. Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams have responded, both to take on more attacking responsibilities. For Jalen Williams, it was necessary to put the hand in the dough to the creation, and quite simply to mount the ball. But that didn’t seem to bother him, with more than 21 points on average and an excellent passing/lost ball ratio (5.4 against 1.4).
First recognized for his defensive contribution (and a big duel against Jaylen Brown in mid-November), Jalen Williams made his business playing without the ball and opportunistic baskets near the circle. And, little by little, he took his ease to become, like SGA, able to attack his defender and create his own easy shots.
“I had the ball in my hands a lot more and I had to make decisions. I did well.” soberly analyzed the rookie. “I had already had the opportunity to do it at times [avec SGA à mes côtés], and it helped me take on this role when he was injured. »
Chet Holmgren to balance the game
As for Josh Giddey, he is the ideal complement to SGA as a creator. Much more a passer than a finisher, unlike SGA, the Australian leader can alternate setting up systems and a laser pass or a slightly daring raise, while remaining clean. In this case, in March, he was more than 7 assists for 2 stray balls.
As between 2009 and 2012 with the first batch of superstars dug up by Sam Presti at the Draft, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the president / GM of the Oklahoma franchise intends to bring his franchise back to the forefront, through cumulative gains and gradual internal progression.
With his very young “Little Big Three”. Who could quickly become a “Little Big Four” with Chet Holmgren back next year… Because let’s not forget that Oklahoma City played the whole season without the number 2 of the last Draft, touched on the foot last summer . By its size but also its technique, the former interior of Gonzaga should fill one of the weak points of the team: the interior presence and the deterrence under the circle.
The question remains around outside shooting because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35% from 3-pointers), Josh Giddey (32%) and Jalen Williams (36%) are not (yet) reliable shooters from a distance, and that is the main limit of the trio. We understand why Sam Presti recovered Chip Engelland, the famous “Shot Doctor” of the Spurs, last summer.
“That’s what got us to where we are today. [aux portes du « play in »] », concludes Mark Daigneault on the progress internally. “So we’re not going to start moving away from our principles and become a spectator and watch the rankings. It would be premature on our part. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Shai Gilgeous-alexander | 67 | 35.5 | 51.2 | 35.0 | 90.8 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 31.5 |
| Josh Giddey | 75 | 31.1 | 48.3 | 32.3 | 73.0 | 2.0 | 5.9 | 7.9 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| Jalen Williams | 74 | 30.4 | 52.3 | 35.8 | 81.2 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 14.1 |
| Luguentz Dort | 73 | 30.9 | 39.0 | 33.3 | 77.3 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 13.8 |
| isaiah joe | 72 | 19.1 | 44.5 | 41.0 | 81.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 9.4 |
| Aleksej Pokusevsky | 34 | 20.6 | 43.4 | 36.5 | 62.9 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 8.1 |
| Kenrich Williams | 53 | 22.8 | 51.7 | 37.3 | 43.6 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 8.0 |
| Tre Mann | 65 | 17.5 | 38.8 | 31.6 | 74.0 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.6 |
| Dario Saric | 19 | 13.1 | 51.7 | 38.1 | 83.3 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 7.0 |
| Jeremiah Robinson Earl | 41 | 18.8 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 82.5 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 6.9 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 68 | 18.5 | 50.9 | 40.2 | 82.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Mike Muscala | 43 | 14.5 | 43.8 | 39.4 | 79.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Jaylin Williams | 48 | 18.6 | 43.4 | 39.8 | 70.4 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 5.8 |
| Darius Bazley | 36 | 15.4 | 44.9 | 40.0 | 55.4 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 5.4 |
| Lindy Waters III | 39 | 12.9 | 38.8 | 35.8 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 5.1 |
| Eugene Omoruyi | 23 | 11.8 | 46.8 | 25.8 | 60.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.9 |
| Ousmane Dieng | 37 | 14.1 | 41.5 | 27.0 | 61.1 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Jared Butler | 4 | 7.3 | 45.5 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Olivier Sarr | 7 | 10.0 | 33.3 | 16.7 | 100.0 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.0 |
