Extended last July for all of his work, Mark Daigneault has something to look forward to the coming season (and the rest) with great enthusiasm. All his young players have taken a year older, his leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a brilliant World Cup, and, icing on the cake, Chet Holmgren will finally be able to start his NBA career in his new colors.
Regarding his rookie who is coming out of a white season after being injured while defending LeBron James in August 2022, the OKC coach has reason to believe that the former Gonzaga will quickly acclimatize to the level of the NBA. If only in terms of his work ethic and determination.
” We will see. He is an enthusiastic and ambitious competitor. He has very high expectations for himself and backs them up with his work ethic. He doesn’t just have his head at cloud level, he’s ready to work, and he’s done so, impressively, during his rehabilitation. It’s been a long, dark rehabilitation, but he’s been consistent and impressive throughout it.”, underlines Mark Daigneault.
A great first awaited by a whole group
Even injured, even away from the field, the coach remains convinced that Chet Holmgren has progressed by remaining alongside the group during his rehabilitation. What we now expect to see, after a first positive glimpse in Summer League, is the impact that he will be able to bring in the short term to this team full of talent, which will aim for the playoffs this season after having failed in play-in during the last exercise.
“Everything he did, he did in our facilities. He was present in all the team’s situations. He participated in our video sessions,” he listed. “There can be a natural detachment when you’re injured, but we did our best to keep him involved. And the guys did a good job with him. It will boost everyone when they enter the room. Not only because of the player he is, but also because everyone saw what he went through and how he handled the situation. I think everyone will be happy for him when he plays a match for the first time.”
Whatever happens to Chet Holmgren’s debut and the adaptation of the rest of the team to the qualities of his new interior, Mark Daigneault will continue to show the same patience as with his group that he managed to make progress from year to year.
“Our challenge now is to continue to have a long-term vision for a young team. We have a lot of room to maneuver, and the worst thing we can do is skip short-term steps, chasing short-term results that could hurt our long-term prospects. If we keep an eye on the future, we will start ticking the boxes along the way”he concluded.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 68 | 35.5 | 51.0 | 34.5 | 90.5 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 31.4 |
| Josh Giddey | 76 | 31.1 | 48.2 | 32.5 | 73.1 | 1.9 | 5.9 | 7.9 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| Jalen Williams | 75 | 30.3 | 52.1 | 35.6 | 81.2 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 14.1 |
| Luguentz Dort | 74 | 30.7 | 38.8 | 33.0 | 77.2 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 13.7 |
| Isaiah Joe | 73 | 19.1 | 44.1 | 40.9 | 82.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 9.5 |
| Aleksej Pokusevski | 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 | 67 | 17.7 | 39.3 | 31.5 | 76.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.7 |
| Dario Saric | 20 | 13.7 | 51.5 | 39.1 | 84.4 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 7.4 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 70 | 18.5 | 51.2 | 39.3 | 83.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 6.8 |
| Jeremiah Robinson earl | 43 | 18.9 | 44.4 | 33.3 | 83.3 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 6.8 |
| Jared Butler | 6 | 12.8 | 46.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 6.2 |
| 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 | 49 | 18.7 | 43.6 | 40.7 | 70.4 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 5.9 |
| 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 | 41 | 12.9 | 39.3 | 35.8 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Ousmane Dieng | 39 | 14.6 | 42.0 | 26.5 | 65.2 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.9 |
| 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 |
| Olivier Sarr | 9 | 12.6 | 50.0 | 12.5 | 71.4 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
