Mitch and Semaj Hold It Down

Our OKC Thunder beat the Orlando Magic “Blue” team 73-65 Monday afternoon in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Mitch McGary was the shining star in this game and I guess thats what we expect out of McGary going into his second year in the NBA following an above average rookie year.

Mitch finished the game with 19 points off 9-12 shooting with three rebounds along with Semaj Christon finishing with 12 points and nine assists but on a bad note committed nine turnovers as well. With this win, OKC gained 6.5 points and are tied with the Orlando “White” team for first place.

Mitch McGary’s weight loss may be the biggest change I've seen so far. He appears so much quicker and has a lot of bounce when he jumps. He’s also improved his shot that was so awkward last year. Hopefully this improved play will transfer over into the regular season. A healthy and lighter Mitch McGary will provide great depth off the bench for us. He’s expected to be a potential scoring threat that can provide tough defense in the post. Semaj Christon is in such an awkward position. He knows chances are he wont be on the Thunder roster, he will be on the Blue but for the second consecutive year he’s dominating summer league. Today he finished the game just shy of a double-double.

It shows a lot that Kevin Durant, Anthony Morrow and Dion Waiters were present during this game. Knowing that there’s only one NBA player on the roster, therefore theres only one player that they are going to have to encounter during the regular season. They really have no reason to be at the games other than the fact that they want to be there for their teammates whether they are on the NBA team or the OKC Blue. You never know who may get bumped up, so developing relationships with everyone thats a part of the organization is key to a teams chemistry and long-term success.

Oklahoma City will play the Clippers on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT and are off on Wednesday. Don’t expect to see McGary in tomorrows game.