Tramel's ScissorTales: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander report card shows details of an epic season
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a spectacular season that likely will end with the Thunder superstar being named first-team all-NBA.
Gilgeous-Alexander's development continued a pattern of significant improvement since his first Thunder season, 2019-20.
We begin our series of Thunder report cards with SGA, whose ascension is the No. 1 reason for optimism about the franchise:
Shot selection: A. Gilgeous-Alexander cut down on his 3-point attempts – just 12.2% of his shots were from deep. In Gilgeous-Alexander's first three OKC seasons, 27.3% of his shots were 3-pointers. SGA got to the rim more this season, with 28.3% of his shots coming from the restricted area, up from 22% a year ago. Dedication to closer shots is how Gilgeous-Alexander raised his field-goal percentage to a career high .510, remarkable for a high-volume guard. One quibble – 7.3% of SGA’s shots were on long 2-pointers, at least 16 feet from the basket. That’s a career high. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if Gilgeous-Alexander turned a few of those into 3-pointers.
More: OKC Thunder 2023 offseason primer: Draft picks, salary notes, preparing for next season
Consistency: A. Gilgeous-Alexander carried the OKC offense, which ranked 15th in the NBA this season in points per possession. And he was marvelously consistent. SGA played 68 games; he shot at least 50% in 41 of those games. Only nine times did Gilgeous-Alexander shoot under 40%. Compare that to Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who had a tremendous year and also is a likely first-team all-NBA selection. Mitchell, too, played 68 games. He shot 50% or better in 34 of those games, a quality number, but was under 40% 17 times. SGA had monster games — 13-of-16 shooting at Portland, 13-of-17 vs. Denver and 16-of-23 shooting at Sacramento – but rarely had an off night, much less a slump. His true-shooting percentage by month — .623 November, .618 December, .650 January, .614 February, .637 March.
Defense: A. Remember when Gilgeous-Alexander was billed as a future defensive stopper? That was back when he was acquired from the Clippers in a 2019 summer trade. Instead, SGA has turned into an offensive phenom. But Gilgeous-Alexander showed all kinds of new defensive chops this season, with 65 blocked shots, second-most among NBA guards (Boston’s Derrick White had 76, but SGA’s 0.96 were the most per game). Gilgeous-Alexander also had 1.6 steals per game, a career high, and showed versatility as the Thunder went to a small lineup the second half of the season. Opponents’ field-goal percentage when guarded directly by SGA fell almost 20 percentage points, to .460. He’ll never replace Luguentz Dort as the team stopper, but Gilgeous-Alexander's defensive chops took a major step forward.
Availability: B. The only knock on Gilgeous-Alexander in recent years has been the injuries that limited him to 56 games in 2021-22 and 35 (out of 72) games in 2020-21, though admittedly the latter was in part a franchise decision to shut him down. This season, SGA’s injuries mostly were bumps and bruises. He played in 68 games and missed consecutive games only twice – a five-game span in February and a back-to-back set in April.
Drawing fouls: A. Gilgeous-Alexander's relentless drives resulted in a cavalcade of foul shots – 739, third in the NBA, trailing only Giannis Antetokounmpo (772) and Joel Embiid (771). SGA drew 322 shooting fouls, including 57 and-1's – fouls in which he made the basket anyway. Gilgeous-Alexander's fantastic foul shooting, 90.5 percent, allowed him to lead the NBA in foul shots made, with 669. Embiid, with 661, was the only NBA player within 100 made foul shots of SGA. Gilgeous-Alexander's ability to get to the line was a security blanket for the Thunder; 38 times he got at least 10 foul shots in a game, and in only eight games did he shoot less than six.
More: Mussatto: Revealing my NBA awards ballot, which includes MVP consideration for SGA
Vote no banning charges in NBA
Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with injuries within hours of each other Sunday, both when they were toppled by opponents trying to take a charge.
Fortunately, both Morant and Antetokounmpo avoided major injury, though both are questionable Wednesday night for Game 2 of their respective NBA playoff serieses.
Basketball needs more Morants and Antetokounmpos, not fewer, and the outcry was swift. Some even called for the elimination of the charge call. Their theory: Don’t reward defenders for getting in the way of players trying to get to the basket.
That’s an interesting take: in the name of keeping the entertainment value of the NBA high, turn the game into something akin to the All-Star Game.
Which is unwatchable basketball.
The All-Star Game is high-flying theatrics with all kinds of incredible dunks and shots, with defenders playing the part of the Washington Generals. And it’s not worth seeing, as the television ratings suggest.
Great golf is not players making shots on easy courses. Great football is not incredible plays against rules-strapped defenses. And great basketball is not athletic runs to empty rims.
The offense/defense dichotomy already was off the rails, with scoring soaring and defense ordered to play with one hand behind its back. The NBA forever is trying to boost scoring, with limits on hand checks (fine), plus a spread of touch falls on jumpshooters (not fine).
The NBA 25 years ago initiated the restricted area, the arc that extends three feet out from the basket, in which no charges are allowed. Get in front of a player before he reaches the arc.
Some suggest extending the arc another foot or two. I would not be in favor, but that’s better than the whole danged court being off limits to people who want to play defense.
Injuries are not good for the league. But neither is a brand of basketball that mimics the All-Star Game. Let’s settle down.
More: Tramel's ScissorTales: Play-in showed OKC Thunder how far it's come and how it has to go
Kicking game less important in college football?
In 2016, Dede Westbrook returned a punt for a touchdown and Joe Mixon returned a kickoff for a touchdown. And OU football has not returned a kickoff or a punt for a touchdown since, though the Sooners did block two punts in 2018 that Curtis Bolton turned into touchdowns.
But that drought really is not an OU thing. It’s a college football thing.
Special teams are not so special anymore.
With new safety rules being implemented — kickoff fair catches, touchback incentives such as better line of scrimmage — big plays in the kicking game are becoming rarer.
In 2022, only 30 kickoffs in major-college football were returned for touchdowns. Ten years earlier, that figure was 72. Over the 10-year period from 2012-21, the average was 56 a season, and that was with a pandemic-shortened 2020 season in which far fewer games were played (with 39 touchdowns off kickoff returns).
“It’s different with a lot of the rules,” said OU kicking-game analyst Jay Nunez. “They’ve tried to cut down on the amount of kickoffs.”
Another factor: the offensive explosion of recent years. On punt returns, why risk a fumble, when just getting the ball likely means points?
Of course, an elite talent can make a coach change his thinking.
“A lot of people just look at the analytics of it,” Nunez said. “If you’ve got a really good returner, people are going to want to, ‘hey, let’s press the envelope and hope for the explosive play.’
“So I think it’s a team by team basis. Of all the people I know, I think it’s just, hey, do we have a guy that has a chance to change the game? If so, I don’t care if it’s four yards out, let’s bring it out.
“If we’re just kind of average, take the ball at the 25, let’s not hurt the offense. So I think that’s the process teams go through when deciding how to handle that stuff.”
OU’s 2022 punt returner, Marvin Mims, is headed to the National Football League. Nunez said several players have been working on punt returns. On kickoff returns, he mentioned Jalil Farooq, Billy Bowman and freshman Peyton Bowen.
“Ultimately, as a punt returner, it’s a guy who’s not going to make a mistake,” Nunez said. “You gotta be a great decision-maker. We gotta get the ball back. You can’t have roll yards. There’s all the essentials.
“Then you try to get the most explosive player that can do all that. So we’re chewing through that right now.”
Kickoff return doesn’t require the same level of decision-making.
“You’re catching that thing, you’re not getting hit as soon as you touch the ball, at times,” Nunez said.
But kickers are better than ever. Rules push coaches to forego returns. And high-scoring games make returns less important. Don’t look for the Sooners to be explosive in the 2023 return game, and OU won’t be alone.
More: How OU football's Jayden Rowe finally got 'back to myself' after lost 2022 season
The List: NFL contracts
The Philadelphia Eagles and former OU quarterback Jalen Hurts have agreed to a five-year, $255 million contract extension that guarantees Hurts $179 million and averages $51 million a season. That makes Hurts the highest-paid player in the National Football League, using average annual value. Here are the top six:
1. Jalen Hurts, Eagles, $51 million: Benched in the 2017 national championship game and relegated to backup status at Alabama in 2018, Hurts has made quite the recovery. Signed through the 2028 season.
2. Aaron Rodgers, Packers, $50.3 million: Signed through 2026, but will he be getting his checks from Green Bay or Florham Park, New Jersey?
3. Russell Wilson Denver, $48.5 million: Signed through 2028. Can anyone say, disaster?
4. Kyler Murray, Cardinals, $46.1 million: Nice recruiting pitch for OU or Lincoln Riley or whoever wants to claim it. Two Sooner quarterbacks (Hurts, Murray) among the four highest-paid players in the NFL.
5. Deshaun Watson, Browns, $46 million: Signed through 2026, Watson has brought Cleveland nothing but shame and disgrace.
6. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, $45 million: Worth every penny and more, and signed through the 2031 season.
More: Tramel's ScissorTales: Oklahoma State football schedule is even weaker than OU's
Mailbag: OU wrestling
My OU wrestling item from a couple of weeks ago hit home with a few.
John: “Sad but excellent article on wrestling. I've always said the greatest sporting event I ever attended was when OU defeated OSU to end their incredible wrestling match win streak. Now Joe C(astiglione) can’t hardly give the program away. Thanks for writing. It was kind of like a eulogy.”
Tramel: You know, it sort of was like a eulogy. I don’t see any clear path back to relevancy for OU wrestling. Doesn’t mean there is no clear path, it just means I don’t see it.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder report card for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2022-23 season
