Toronto Raptors Bench Boss Praises Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to take on the Toronto Raptors for the first time this season, the Bricktown Ballers sit at 37-9, atop the NBA and dtheir constant has been the reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been stellar once again this season.

"It can not be easy when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the floor, it can not be easy one way or the other you know. So, He is elite at scoring and also he is elite at playmaking and keeping his teammates engaged. You know, this team has been through a lot of battles so they know how to best use his strengths and we are going to try minimize those tonight," Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković said pregame on Sunday ahead of their clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Across the hall on Sunday, just moments before Rajakovic poetically summarized Gilgeous-Alexander's game, the Superstar's own head coach went into detail about how the league's reigning MVP has improved this season.

"He's definitely improved, he's definitely improved. He has only improved over time. You see that through the work that he's done. He does an unbelievable job in the summer and an unbelievable job in the season, maintaining a very consistent regimen that allows him to get better. I think our whole team improved from the playoff experience last year. 23 games is a significant amount of basketball especially at that level, and everybody has lessons that they learn from that experience and he is no different. Just his poise, his understanding of how to manipulate the game, how to manage the game, his feel for when to be aggressive and when to try to activate his teammates. I think that has been, probably, his biggest improvement this season. Not that it was lacking, but he has taken another step forward just in terms of the feel for the game when it comes to the balance of aggression and like early ones to his teammates. One of the best things you can say about him over time is that as great as he's been, as much as he's ascended, he's not interrupted the development of the team either, you know that has not come at the expense of his team or the expense of his teammates, in fact, it has been the opposite," OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault points out pregame on Sunday.

So far this season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 55% from the floor, 39% from beyond the arc and 89% from the free throw line in his 44 games played. The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has already been named to his fourth consecutive All-Star team, his third straight starting, and is in the driver's seat for his second straight NBA MVP honor.