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TC Preview: Point of Contention?

Rolling Thunder: 15/09/2016

As training camp is now on the horizon, teams are starting to evaluate their positional depth to decide who to cut, who to keep, who to sign, who is looking good to break out, who fits, who doesn’t and overall, what direction the team is moving in with the personnel at hand. The Thunder are no different, and could be suggested as being a little spoilt for choice with up to 19 players in their final roster mix including free agents and training camp deals.

Today we’ll look at the Thunder’s point guard situation.

The point guard spot is arguably one of the Thunder’s strongest positions, while also being the most shallow. They have only two true point guards, which could be an issue in the event of an injury, but it could be considered one of the strongest combinations at the position around the league. Their 3^rd string guy is a rookie, and though he’s a mature rookie with experience, it’s a new league over here.

Ricky Rubio – Incumbant/Starter

Rubio is the undisputed starter at this time. His court awareness, defensive ability and basketball IQ make him a genuine floor general in every sense. He’s not your explosive type or big time scoring type, but he can literally pick teams apart with his passing on his day and his teammates perform better for knowing they will be found when open. His shooting has been a point of conjecture, and he has had the injury prone label for a while now, but last season he managed 78 games and 46% from the field, which is a fantastic result for the key cog acquisition by the Thunder last offseason. Will that be replicated though? At least he impacts the game positively even when his shot isn’t dropping.

Dennis Schroder – Reserve PG/Challenger

Dennis was one of the first moves made by the Thunder GM Nenjabin after he took the helm 3 years ago. He was drafted at 13^th, after the Thunder traded down from pick 5 (CJ McCollum), knowing he would be a long term prospect at only 19 years of age at the time. On this his birthday, he’s now 23 and a threat to break out having done his time and survived 2 complete roster turnovers. He will threaten Ricky for the starting job and it might come down to simply how the Thunder want to play, as his style is different to Ricky. He does look to get guys involved, but he’s definitely more shoot first orientated and he uses his speed and pace to get all over the floor. If he was at another team, he could actually be the expected starter, that’s some good depth to have.

Tomas Satoransky – 3^rd String/Rookie

Sato is finally coming to the NLL, but while he’ll be a rookie, he’s been playing against men professionally overseas for years now so could contribute right off the bat if he gets the chance. He’s a PG, but 6’7 which brings elite size to the position and the ability to play off the ball also as a 2 guard.

His shooting probably needs some more work, and he’ll need to get used to the pace of the NLL versus the European leagues he’s been playing in, but a team could definitely do worse than having a seasoned rookie coming in to play behind the incumbent stars. With only the 2 other guys above him, you’d lock in Satoransky earning his contract and roster spot in camp.

Like in previous years, the Thunder’s point guard position is pretty clear cut. With only three guys who can rally carry the PG label, they’re pretty set here. We’d expect Rubio to start with Dennis to get good minutes off the bench, and Satoransky to only get meaningful minutes on a playoff team in the event of injury. Injury also isn’t a complete disaster though if it occurs, with guys like Josh Richardson and Patrick McCaw having played point guard during their college years and able to fill that void if the need arises.

His shooting probably needs some more work, and he’ll need to get used to the pace of the NLL versus the European leagues he’s been playing in, but a team could definitely do worse than having a seasoned rookie coming in to play behind the incumbent stars. With only the 2 other guys above him, you’d lock in Satoransky earning his contract and roster spot in camp.

Like in previous years, the Thunder’s point guard position is pretty clear cut. With only three guys who can rally carry the PG label, they’re pretty set here. We’d expect Rubio to start with Dennis to get good minutes off the bench, and Satoransky to only get meaningful minutes on a playoff team in the event of injury. Injury also isn’t a complete disaster though if it occurs, with guys like Josh Richardson and Patrick McCaw having played point guard during their college years and able to fill that void if the need arises.

Like in previous years, the Thunder’s point guard position is pretty clear cut. With only three guys who can rally carry the PG label, they’re pretty set here. We’d expect Rubio to start with Dennis to get good minutes off the bench, and Satoransky to only get meaningful minutes on a playoff team in the event of injury. Injury also isn’t a complete disaster though if it occurs, with guys like Josh Richardson and Patrick McCaw having played point guard during their college years and able to fill that void if the need arises.

- OKC News