OKC Thunder Will See Chet Holmgren Find Consistency

This season has been All-Star caliber for Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren. In the first fan voting returns, he checks in at No. 19, with eyes on his first mid-winter classic invite.

On the year, he is averaging 18.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.0 stocks per game while shooting a career-best 57% from the floor, 39% from distance and 79% at the charity stripe over the course of 28 games.

In his age 23 season, it is no surprise to see Holmgren take such an offensive leap when you look at the big picture of this season. He is converting at a career-high clip at the rim (78%), in the mid-range (51%) and on non-corner triples (40%) tying his best mark from beyond the arc overall at 39%.

What has changed for the Gonzaga product? Aside from times and another offseason of work, it has been his shot diet. In the pick-and-roll he is diving to the basket more this year than in seasons past. This on top of more cuts and post ups per game leaves him around the cup more than ever before where he benefits from easy points.

In the pick-and-roll, Holmgren is posting 1.375 points per possession. On cuts, that number is 1.234 points per possession. In the post? 1.071 points per possession.

Another underrated portion of Oklahoma City's progress from Holmgren is his improved ability at cleaning up messes with put backs and being the beneficiary of lobs from his drive-heavy guards.

Holmgren being around the rim more has led to his point per game jump and you could really see it this week in his 29 point outing against the 76ers and 24 point night against the Hawks in back-to-back games.

Now, it is all about consistency as Oklahoma City approaches the half way point of the season, though this simple change of his positioning on the court –– which has been built on by his foundation as a player and added strength as Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault pointed out postgame against Atlanta –– will make it easy to sustain this level of success.

Sure, he had a rough stretch against the Spurs and the next time those two sides meet in the middle of January will loom large in the court of public perception, but do not lose sight of what a breakout this has been for Holmgren.

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