Marcus Elliott, founder of P3 Sports Science, says Holmgren's advanced biomechanics testing leaves no cause for concern. Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren is a potential Thunder target in the NBA Draft. His parents laugh at the idea that he doesn't eat. It all depends on whether his 7' 1", 195-pound frame can hold up in the NBA. Worst case: Someone knocks Holmgren into reality, breaking a really long board in half. Holmgren will be a top pick in the draft should he decide to leave Gonzaga after the season. Holmgren was hurt while playing in a pro-am game last weekend in Seattle at The CrawsOver, near where he starred last season for Gonzaga. Orlando, with the first pick, has the opportunity to reunite Holmgren and Jalen Suggs. As such, hes subject to a lot of scrutiny. Most of the. The No. Im not trying to tell you not to believe your lying eyes. This is what he's going to be.". ManyTrae Young, C.J. He dons a virtual-reality headset and sits in a chair. San Francisco: Bringing the speedy 6-0 guard off the bench gives me another scorer (17.2 points), ballhandler (2.9 assists), perimter threat (80 made 3s), rebounder (5.5, 15th in the WCC) and defender (WCC-leading 67 . And he didnt feel like hed arrived after starring in the Summer League, setting a record with six blocks in his debut. Thats the crux of his problem and the equation he must solve in the weeks and years ahead. I needed to see.". Legs churn. . I then tried to explain why Holmgren is good; that hes a 7-footer with a handle who broke a school record for blocks in his first ever college game. All this is to say that Homgren is going to be fine. He and Brian Sandifer coached Chet to play by their unique philosophy -- "European basketball with the iso game of the '80s," Suggs says -- which meant the tallest kid on the court was often the Sizzle's point guard. The goal with all this is to marry both sides of his brain, by deploying a pragmatic approach to an endeavor that is inherently creative. I was trying to find every great player I could hoop against, Holmgren said. ", "I saw it in fourth or fifth grade," David Holmgren says. An hour later, a few miles away, Holmgren begins his other daily workout alongside prospects (Jermaine Samuels, E.J. Sandifer was the tough one, bringing a mentality typified by team T-shirts that read, "We Want All The Smoke." "I've watched him dominate kids who are 2 years older and 50 pounds heavier. He had watched Chet play endless games of one-on-one with Jalen after practices, and he saw the talent gap close every season as the competitive fire -- at times verging on vengeance -- grew. He can dive into the science, everything new, the sports world controlled by a bunch of geeksand its awesome. He can shore up his minor deficiencies: how his feet interact with the ground as he moves and cuts; his ability to absorb load from landing and cutting with his hips, which would save his knees later in his career; and his lateral drive, which would allow him to better cover space in perimeter defense, such as when hes guarding pick-and-rolls. That guy left the space open. There's little chance Holmgren falls below 3 but on July 29th, 2021 the same Magic drafted Holmgren's basketball teammate since he was 13, Jalen Suggs. Listed at 7 feet (maybe taller) and 195 pounds, its impossible to deny that Holmgren is skinny. 14.2 PTS, 9.6 REB, 3.6 BLK, 41.2% 3PT% (97 3PTA's) Height. Holmgren is here, flesh and blood and bone and very little fat, and the teams at the top of the draft must deal with the reality of his existence, and what it all might mean. But for Holmgren, being sidelined has posed a novel physical and a mental challenge. He might not have quite the range of motion. Statement from GM Sam Presti. His frame will fill out and he will continue to be really really good at basketball. The Thunder announced. Strength and size do matter. The 7-foot rookie scored 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting. ", "Sounds like my type of kid," Suggs said. He didn't appear to be discouraged, which was another plus, and Suggs says he detected a flicker of understanding in the way Chet watched the other players, like Jalen, and understood the talent differential. He has watched the way his teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 24, endures the ups-and-downs of leading a rebuilding roster that has outperformed expectations but still finds itself in the bottom half of the Western Conference standings. 1 overall pick by whoever owns it come June. Minnehaha Academy's Chet Holmgren, nation's No. Similarly built centers roam NBA courts like guards. They study how basketball players move: hunting for weaknesses, imbalances and anything that portends future injury. Down an unmarked side road, inside a nondescript gym with adjoining basketball courts, the most remarkable draft prospect in NBA history is raining threes in an unremarkable setting. Suggs didn't dash off this prediction without thought. Most of the skepticism about Holmgren as a prospect though, is less about his game and more about how skinny he is. Holmgren set an N.B.A. The 13-time All-Star, who was dealt to Phoenix on Feb. 9, has not played in a game since Jan. 8 when he was with the Nets. "And Chet is way stronger than he looks." 0:22. Plus the trade value is insane too . 1 pick in the draft (ESPN currently has him in the top three), he began telling anyone who would listen -- including Holmgren -- that he was destined to be the best American-born white player since Larry Bird. Ben Simmons went No. "You know, kids are kids, and when Chet walked into the gym for the first time, it could have been, 'What's this geeky white kid doing in here?' "You're going to see something a whole lot different than you saw in college. It even happened previously to the Thunder franchise: Nick Collison was the No. "Jalen's had as much to do with Chet's development as anybody," David Holmgren says. His arms extend to a condor-like wingspan of 7-foot-6. Teams embrace places like P3 a little more each year, but progress remains slow, despite how much the NBA continues changing. Chet Holmgren didnt feel like hed arrived in the N.B.A. With the exception of maybe Duncan, Holmgren is a much better moverand Duncan bricked four of five long-range attempts. If he quits on the workout, I won't work with him again.". In the last 10 years, P3 has trained eight No. People tend to get heavier from the time theyre 19 years old, and if you dont believe me, then check my findings in your closest mirror. Stats at 2021 FIBA U19 World Championships: 11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, 62.0 FG%, 53.8 3P%, 66.7 FT% Chet Holmgren Is The U19 FIBA World Cup MVP! . . Chet Holmgren, the Oklahoma City Thunder's No. They polished Suggss creation, adding weight but naturally, so he wouldnt slow down. But, he said, hes also trying to turn the situation into a blessing.CreditMichael Noble Jr. for The New York Times. Should Holmgren move into the kinematic-mover cluster, which Elliott predicts will happen, he would morph into something else, something bigger: a player unlike any other in NBA history. His win shares per 40 minutes was .294, fourth in the nation. Holmgren suffered the rare basketball foot injury during a Seattle Pro-Am in August. The Brooklyn Nets suck at creating super teams, DeMar DeRozan is the modern day Michael Jordan, Dawn Staley takes a stand | Google is Free. The USF players, who did not at this time believe in the power of limitless possibility, didn't seem interested in stopping him, each apparently assuming Holmgren would eventually see the ridiculousness of the act and simply stop himself. He might have just stepped weirdly. Holmgren, who was selected second overall in this year's draft out. Gonzaga has reached the national championship game in two of the past four tournaments, and has more wins (164) than anyone else in that time. The team later announced Holmgren sustained a Lisfranc injury to his right foot and will miss the 2022-23 season. Holmgren hears splash, splash, splash. SALT LAKE CITY Chet Holmgren shined in his summer league debut, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the first quarter to help the Oklahoma City Thunder build an early 20-point lead en route to a 98 . Couldn't dribble. As always, the expression on Holmgren's angular face never changes. I'm not saying he might not struggle at the beginning, but there's no way he's not going to succeed.". Hes right, regardless. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. On defense, he protected the rim like a one-man Secret Service detail. 2 pick in the NBA draft, will miss the 2022-23 season because of a right foot injury. OKC's Chet Holmgren said he's even spoken with Joel Embiid about his injury and how to attack the rehab. If Holmgren is skinny now, he was whatever is less-than-skinny then. He played in both the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues and made a big impression in Salt Lake City, averaging 17.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.5 apg and 4.0 bpg while also shooting 50% overall and 41.7% on 3-pointers. Holmgren is technically American, having been born and raised in Minneapolis, but he might well be from another planet. Not quite as skinny as Holmgren, but still bulked up when he got to the league, currently being listed at 253 pounds. Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 25, 2022. He is as lean as his son, and just as tall, and looking at him it's easy to imagine Chet in roughly 35 years, including the ponytail. I was questioning everything down to: Why am I playing defense in a pro-am game? he said. And because of what he can be: the next step in an ongoing, leaguewide transformation. In the parlance of the industry, Holmgren is the ultimate high-ceiling/low-floor player. Nationality and race don't change the game. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren expressed no fear that the same fate could befall him. But at the end of the day, I could let this be a blessing or a curse, you know? Over time, he even came to understand the premise. Chet Holmgren, 19 years old, 7 ft 1 tall with 7 ft 6 wingspan, 2022 NBA Draft Class. Chet, who had just turned 18 and was a junior in high school, refused to stay home. He might own a razor but doesnt need one. Clemente Almanza. I definitely know how different people feel, and I know certain things are wrong and shouldn't happen.". There are moments on the court when Chet Holmgren seems less like a basketball player than a figment of a fevered imagination. Albert Harrington (born February 17, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. Off the court, that meant adopting a dog, Drako, and doing charity work, like donating coats to families and hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for dozens of children in foster care. Chet Holmgren fits the young and promising mold in Oklahoma City. Holmgrens early test results backed up his nickname. If hes the No. Sarah, who owns her own real-estate consulting firm and is an executive for a local nonprofit that works to provide affordable housing, is on the phone from Santa Barbara, visiting Chet with one of their two daughters -- Chet is a middle child -- and "trying to bring him some normalcy" while he works out in preparation for the draft. They could smell tear gas from the backyard. Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc injury to his . If he plays to the talent, which he did in spurts at Gonzaga, where he followed his high school and AAU teammate Jalen Suggs, he'll be generational. Check out some of the best plays & more from the No. Unicorn is an overused sports clich. Holmgren, who averaged 14 points, 9.9 rebounds and nearly four blocks per game at Gonzaga, is a consensus top-three pick in the draft, along with Auburn's Jabari Smith and Duke's Paolo Banchero. 1 picks. Nothing in physics accounts for the audacity of an act. On the other court, theres another is-this-really-happening scene in an is-this-really-happening life. He had left the bridge minutes before. I can work with him. Holmgren meets with Daigneault each week for at least a half an hour, when they talk about everything from philosophy to fourth-quarter situational strategy. He thinks it started on Twitter and knows it spread instantly. Besides, there are players like Smith and Banchero in every draft: smooth-shooting, sturdy-looking plug-and-play guys who promise to be Harrison Barnes for the next 10 years. I'm sure. But they loved Holmgren. He can add pounds without losing fluidity; offset weight deficits with agility, lateral speed, angles, elbows and elite change of direction; and become even more creative, the tallest kinematic mover in the NBA. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. He was selected by the Pacers with the sixth overall pick . Via Brandon Rahbar: "Great news: Chet Holmgren stopped LeBron on a 1v1 fast break at the rim. So I got to figure out how to turn it into a blessing, how to make the most out of it.. Elliott is looking for outliers, anything that makes a prospect special. Few evaluators study how those same springy players interact with the ground. RotoWire considers the best player values in Yahoo fantasy leagues for Tuesday night's 10 game slate. Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren has second-guessed the decisions that led to his season-ending foot injury. Many mock drafts have Holmgren as the No. Topps says this is the largest name, image and. "Chet worked his ass off," Sandifer says. 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