How OKC Thunder stars Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren are 'building synergy together'
As great as the two were together on Wednesday, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams’ minutes together (specifically without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) haven’t all been great to this point. Coach Mark Daigneault said as much himself.
“I give them credit because there was a stretch of games there where we were losing a lot of those minutes — to start the fourth quarter, to start the second quarter,” Daigneault said after the Thunder's 129-120 win against the Knicks on Wednesday. ”We tried a lot of different things, they were the common denominators in there.”
If the Thunder organization is going to sleep well at night following some of the rebuild’s lows, it’ll probably have to find something close to the Big Three that started it all. Luckily for its decision makers, things are trending that way.
SGA is SGA. He’ll continue to climb the ladder among the league’s elite, and he’ll continue to pump out MVP performances. But the dream only works if Holmgren and Williams are as good as they need to be.
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Wednesday might’ve felt like the pinnacle, but there will be heights to reach, and the two certainly don’t have to channel that level of play together every night.
They only require shades of what they looked like. They need the gravity that they created for each other, Williams with his downhill play and late shotmaking, Holmgren with his touch, spacing and feel.
Which spot(s) does the other prefer on the floor? Which angle of a screen should Holmgren set to compliment Williams’ driving angles? When should they find each other for a pick-and-roll?
The questions will pile up. They’ll have to learn the details of one another to perfect their connection. Wednesday was a glimpse of what their potential could be — both together and individually.
Holmgren erased any sign of life from the Knicks behind a few demoralizing blocks. Williams leaned into his role as a secondary creator, caught fire late and became OKC’s closer.
“I think it’s just more opportunity as far as having close games,” Williams said. “...My team trusts me to make the right play.”
Both shapeshifted into who they’ll be in the long run.
“They've done a great job of communicating through that,” Daigneault said. "Building synergy together and incorporating the other guys — it's not a two-man game. I think they've really owned that in a way that is a good example of (how) things aren't always going to be perfect."
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder stars Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren are 'building synergy'
