Christmas Round Table Part 2 – OKC Thunder dinner companion and last minute shopping
As the Oklahoma City Thunder near the much touted Christmas Day game the team at Thunderous Intentions decided it was perfect timing for a Round Table session.
In this three part series the Thunderous Intentions Team offers thoughts on all things OKC Thunder. Expect to find answers on what cyborg Russell Westbrook will accomplish, gifts we’d give the the team, trade suggestions and copious Christmas themed questions. In Part 2 you’ll learn a lot about our scribes as they pick a Thunder dinner companion along with the burning question they just have to get answered.
With that, I give you part 2 of the series:
Get to bed early Santa is coming to fill those stockings!
Rookies Domantas Sabonis, Alex Abrines and Semaj Christon are spending their first holiday in OKC. Pick a gift (for one or all) to help them finish the season.
Rich Condon: A bench press for Domantis Sabonis. At Gonzaga last year he averaged 17.6 PPG and 11.8 RPG. The outside game he’s playing now is new to him, it’s time for him to beef up and get back to what got him here- banging in the paint.
Eric Snyder:
Sabonis– “The Heart of a Power Forward”. Sabonis is 6’11 and plays in the PF position. Yet, he appears fearful of physical contact and fighting for position on the block.
Abrines– “A Chance”. Abrines is averaging 11.8 mpg and only 3.8 ppg. Oladipo and Westbrook play a lot of minutes as does Roberson. At 6’6, Abrines needs a chance to play off of Westbrook and show what he can and can’t do.
Christon– “An Identity”. Christon doesn’t shoot it well from outside and doesn’t draw many fouls. His assist numbers are promising but it doesn’t appear he has found his way yet. If he can’t shoot, he needs to drive. If he’s not willing to drive, his shot must get better. When Westbrook is out, offense is a major need and Christon needs to contribute with assists or scoring and preferably both.
Casimir Cuffy: For Sabonis – playing defense without fouling. For Christon – more basketball IQ. For Abrines – confidence.
Chris Hughes: I think I’d gift them a bit of composure. I think with more confidence and composure the stats and the ability will follow naturally. You can tell they’re still adapting to the pressure of the league therefore they lack composure and show nerves at crucial times.
Yaman Khabbaz: Semaj Christon, as I have said in a recent article, he needs to improve in multiple facets of the game, especially when it comes to offense. Alex Abrines needs to improve his shooting touch, which has not been the way it should be thus far. Sabonis just needs to be assertive when it comes to board grabbing. Other than that, he’s been pretty good thus far.
Joshua Lea: Domantis Sabonis just needs the game to slow down for him. He provides decent minutes for OKC; however, at times the game is too fast for him. Alex Abrines needs to hit shots consistently and work on that defense. I feel like he’ll be a good player when he hits his prime. Semaj Christon is playing well. He is in the same boat as a lot of Thunder players, they just need to hit shots.
Tony Heim: Alex Abrines is getting 20 pounds of muscle. His problem is he just gets bullied on the court, but if the Spaniard Sharpshooter was a little bigger he would be in the starting lineup. His offensive game is that good. Abrines can put the ball on the floor, has a nice little floater, a sneaky good bounce pass. He’s got all the tools to be a 15-point scorer, he just needs the physical strength to keep up.
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Jeremy Lambert: Shooting, shooting, and shooting.
Cole Hixon: I’ll give Sabonis some post touches so he can play more like he did in college and get his free throw rate up, for Abrines I’ll give him some playing time with Russell so he actually gets to play with someone who can create a shot for him and for Christon I’ll get him a seat cushion for the bench he is going to be sitting on when Cameron Payne gets healthy.
Tamberlyn Richardson: Cameron Payne returning is Semaj Christon’s gift because he needs to be sent to the D-League. Sabonis gets a paid session with Dennis Rodman to teach him the fundamentals of positioning for rebounds and Alex Abrines gets a coupon book full of these:
to hand to Billy Donovan, because more than anything else , he needs consistent playing time so he can gain experience which should help rekindle his confidence.