How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can turn around the slow start

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers are the remaining undefeated teams in the NBA. The Thunder are off to an impressive start. They won all four games by 12 points or more. Although they're off to a great start, they haven't played great yet on either side. Their defense has been the best in the league so far, forcing turnover after turnover. However, the offense had major problems in the first two games and only finished 23rd in the league. A big reason for their offense's struggles is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is off to a slow start to the 2024-2025 season.

Shai didn't look like himself in those first four games. In Shai's final two seasons, he averaged 30.7 points per game while shooting 52.3% from the field and 35% from three. This year, however, he fell far short of those numbers, averaging 26.0 points per game while shooting 42.7% from the field and 27.3% from three. Although he got off to a slow start, there is an easy way for him to get back on track. Let's take a look at why he's struggling and how Shai can turn around his slow start.

How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can turn around the slow start

Shai doesn't drive to the hoop often enough

One of the main things that made Shai so dominant was his relentless drive to the rim. He led the league in drives to the hoop in the previous two seasons. He averaged 23.6 drives per game in those two seasons. However, he didn't drive nearly as much in the first four games. He only averages 19 drives per game, which is four fewer drives per game. One of the biggest strengths of this Thunder offense a year ago was the drive-and-kick game. This all started with Shai constantly running to the basket and the defense breaking down to the point where there were open shooters on the outside. Shai needs to return to his relentless attack on the rim that he has carried out the past two seasons.

Since he doesn't attack the rim as much, his free throw attempts are inadequate. Shai is averaging just 5.3 free throw attempts compared to the 9.7 he averaged in the previous two seasons. That's 4.5 fewer attempts per game, and Shai could score at least four more points per game if he can get back to that number. Last year, when the Thunder's offense struggled throughout the game, the Thunder would let Shai drive and try to draw a foul to get their offense into cold stretches. They haven't done that enough this year.

Must return to the mid-range game

In addition to hitting the basket, another dimension of his game was the mid-range shot. He has been one of the best mid-range shooters over the past two seasons. Last season he took 4.48 shots from mid-range per game, which corresponds to an efficient shooting rate of 49.4 percent. This year, however, he's pretty much gotten away from taking those shots. He only made 1.75 mid-range shots per game and achieved a hit rate of 42.9 percent on these shots. Shai, returning to his midfield game and relentless attack at the rim, should be able to turn this slow start around.

He takes too many threes

After all, one of the main reasons for his slow start was his three-point shooting. In the previous two seasons he didn't shoot many three-pointers, only 3.1 per game. In addition, he achieved a hit rate of 35.9 percent on these threes. This offseason he has worked more on his three-point shooting and added a new pull-up three-pointer to his game. As Mark Daigneault encourages his players to make more threes, Shai has done the same. He is now averaging 8.3 attempts per game but is only shooting 27.3%. That was a steep jump compared to a player who had consistently been accurate throughout his career.

Of those 8.3 attempts per game, he makes some through the flow of the attack. However, there were also some things that he pushed too hard. It just seems like he's trying too hard to make more threes and losing the style of play that made him an MVP candidate. It's a good thing that Shai is shooting more threes and scoring even more three-pointers, which makes him even harder to defend. However, he shouldn't take nearly as many as he did. If he can get that number down to around six per game and get back to the style of play that makes him an MVP candidate, he'll get better and get back on track for the season.

Final word on Shai's slow start

Although Shai got off to a slow start at the start of the year, it's an easy fix for him to get back on track. In these four games, it seems like he's losing the style of play that made him so dominant and forcing way too many threes. If he can get back to his midfield and relentless pressure at the rim and only take about six threes per game. Shai should easily become one of the NBA's most efficient scorers again, averaging the 30 points per game he averaged over the last two seasons.