Alexander Gaitan 21/11/2023 NBA
The new NBA campaign begins on October 24. The first with Denver as current champion, LeBron’s twenty-first in the NBA and the one that had to establish Victor Wembanyama as one of the best rookies in history. The Frenchman started as the top favorite to win the award for best rookie with such a difference from the second that he was afraid to even raise the debate. We are talking about a special player, with a unique physique, capable of making a difference inside and out, in attack and defense, something never seen in the NBA. A month later, despite Wemby’s good numbers, the race for the award is led by another rookie: welcome to the world of Chet Holmgren. His motto, “make shots and win games.”
Chosen with the #2 pick in the draft in 2022, Holmgren aimed to be one of the favorites to win the award last year, but an injury playing in a friendly game left him out for the entire year, a match that also included LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Dejounte Murray or the #1 pick of that same draft, Paolo Banchero. The injury, a fracture in the Lisfranc, the middle part of the foot, was defending LeBron on a counterattack, which opened the debate: is Chet Holmgren’s physique ready for the NBA? A narrative that the Minnesota player has always had to fight against. From the beginning, the franchise wanted to throw balls out: “the injury had no relation to size,” said Sam Presti, general manager of the Thunder.
Because despite easily exceeding seven feet, being 216 centimeters tall, Chet does not weigh 90 kilos. His measurements are unique in the NBA: no one over 6-9 (205 centimeters) is under 90 kilos like Holmgren. The closest thing, his teammate, Aleksej Pokusevski, at seven feet and 210 pounds. Not even Wembanyama’s body matches it, much taller (224 centimeters), but exceeding 210 pounds (95 kg). Because if the Frenchman is an alien, Holmgren is another unicorn. The final version of what Kristaps Porzingis or Lauri Markkanen brought to the NBA. And only 23 players in NBA history have had a season like what Holmgren is doing: 14 of them are in the Hall of Fame.
In 14 games, the Thunder rookie is averaging 17 points, with 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, fifth in the NBA in that section. Of the 23 names, Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber, at 20 years old, were the only ones to do it younger than Holmgren and the list of players who did it in their first NBA season is slightly longer: Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan and himself Webber. All three won the best rookie of the year award and none of them did so while shooting 56.5% from the field or 46% from three. Holmgren’s success percentage is the big difference between his rookie campaign and any other, with the rest of the numbers on the table. It is no longer comparing him to Victor Wembanyama; he is doing it with history.
Because what we have seen so far of Holmgren on a basketball court has cleared up any doubts he had from Gonzaga. He decided to study at the same university as Jalen Suggs, with whom he shared a team in high school and where he won four state titles in four years. In the last one he won all the possible awards and the attention of the big universities. Michigan, Baylor, Ohio State, Florida State and even North Carolina and USC made an offer to what was a five-star recruit, unanimous number one in the class after Jonathan Kuminga’s decision to present himself to the draft a year early. He opted for Gonzaga and its style of play was what caught the attention of Mark Few’s team the most.
Chet Holmgren’s explosion
His only year in Washington was a success despite losing in sweet 16 against Arkansas, but won the award for best defender in the conference and best newcomer. His numbers, a warning of what he could be in the NBA: 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per night, almost 40% in the triple. Although Chet Holmgren became nationally famous a few months earlier, when he exposed Steph Curry on his own campus. Twice in a row. First, with a plug to the board. On the other side of the court, he passed the ball twice behind his back to leave Curry on the way and dunk it with two hands. From that day on, his name appeared on all the scouts’ lists.
Chet Holmgren at 16 years old v Steph Curry.
1⃣ Crossover + mate
2⃣ Triple
3⃣ Plug to board pic.twitter.com/FnojIZYb7N— Alejandro Gaitán (@alejandroggo) November 21, 2023
Since he was little he was trained as an outside player, to learn to dribble the ball, and as a shooter. Not because he was the tallest would he play in the paint, something that Lance Johnson, his coach at Minneaha Academy, was always clear about. And that’s why he has been able to extrapolate it in the NBA. Because his size is his great advantage in defense, but his ability is what makes him differential in attack. It is the latest evolution of the unicorn, the definitive version. The one that comes to dominate the league.
Against Curry it has been his best game so far. In the first meeting between the Warriors and Thunder of the regular season, Steph scored a game winner at the buzzer to win the duel; In the last one, Chet Holmgren sent the game to overtime with a triple when he only had 0.9 seconds on the scoreboard. He had just made three mistakes in a row, but the ball didn’t hurt him at all. 36 points is the highest score for a rookie in Thunder history, ahead of only Bob Rule and Kevin Durant in their time in Seattle. This year only Wemby, with 39 points against Phoenix, surpasses that number among rookies. The Thunder also won the game in overtime, in part, due to Curry’s loss.
He has had more complicated nights. Nikola Jokić scored 24 points in 31 possessions, shooting 10/13 from the field, abusing his physicality and using his body to win the battle for the paint. “He needs to be a little fatter,” said the Serbian after his first duel. Other nights he has had more success: Evan Mobley took four blocks (2/11 in field goals) and Jarret Allen another two in the victory against Cleveland, leaving Dray at 1/5, the same figure as Bradley Beal. And in the duel that the entire NBA planet was waiting for, Wemby could only score once defended by Holmgren. His body was not a problem and it has allowed him to do what he likes most: make shots and win games.
Because the presence of the Thunder in the upper part of the West is no coincidence upon their arrival. Holmgren was a profile that Oklahoma needed, and he knew he was coming. A player capable of generating his own shot, but at the same time knows how to play alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and take advantage of the advantages that the Canadian generates. Someone capable of defending the paint, complementing Lu Dort and Jalen Williams as defensive anchors. To date he has been the second most important player on the second best team in the conference, and all as a rookie and being the third player with the best true shooting percentage. He’s Chet Holmgren’s world, and he’s just starting to make shots and win games.
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2023-11-22 07:21:57
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