True story. So last month I happened to come across a man about 35 yrs old with a strong accent in another state.. His kid and my kid were playing at a park. He said he's from Turkey. I said hey alperon sengun is on my favorite team the Rockets. (And I pronounced it sen-goon) He had no idea who I was talking about. He said several players from Turkey are in the nba. This was before the euro games last month. That's when I realized he's not as popular in Turkey as i thought.
Is it just one preseason game or was this the same thing we saw most of last season? Let's be honest, He's under sized for the 5 spot and isn't a lob threat or rim protector. He's a defensive liability, not switchable and poor shooter from 3 on top of it all. For him to be a starting caliber player, he has to be fantastic on the offensive end .... I'm not so sure his offense makes up for the liability on the other end. To me, he's a "first big off the bench" type, not starting material.
This!! Idk how some don’t see this. We need a 5 really bad. Sengun is gonna struggle so bad this season. He’ll have some solid games and cute passes, though
Last night was pretty bad. But he is still v young and raw. You can be a good defender and not be the most athletic. Chuck Hayes is a prime example. Maybe more mobile, but he relied more on his intelligence, strength and quick hands. Sengun can become a decent defender at center. Just needs to hit the weight room AND film room. didn’t JVG give Hayes a dvd of Anthony Mason and say study him and you’ll find a spot in this league? Sengun can learn. He’s got to find his shot though. Because he HAS to contribute when he isn’t getting the ball. And since it won’t likely be on defense, he needs to be capable of hitting open shots and drawing the bigs out of the paint. Because then he doesn’t need the ball to contribute — his contribution is being recognized as a good shooter and drawing defenders out of the paint to allow our guards to penetrate deeper and easier.
Even if the Rockets wanted to trade Sengun, his contract is now 3yr/~12M. (Someone correct me if need be). Assuming we get someone (and maybe picks) back of comparable financial value, will it be worth trading a Sengun? Whoever we get back on a comparable contract will either be an aging vet, a bad player or another player on his rookie deal. And what team is going to trade a player on his rookie deal unless that rookie contract player sucks or is projected to suck? By OP's standards, we'd be trading a bad player for: another bad player or for someone who doesn't fit out timeline. Either option is just bad.
I think you'd want to attach Sengun to a bad contract, to make that bad contract more enticing to another team. I personally don't think Eric Gordon is on a bad contract, since he could be a key piece to a contending team just missing some offensive depth. No one is going to regret his production and his current salary. Players like Westbrook, Love, Porzingis and Gordon Hayward all have bad contracts. An asset like Sengun and other picks are probably necessary to move those players.
Different time now. Chuck Hayes would be terrible defensively at the 5. He didn’t have the foot speed to be switchable on the perimeter and would not protect the rim. Chuck was a great post defender in a time where there were more post ups
That’s true. But there are still a fair number of typical centers that, while more mobile than years before, still are bigger threats as rebounders and clean up guys. Which are the types of centers Sengun can realistically improve defending.
He can improve, but he’ll always be a poor defender imo. The 5 last position you want to be a defensive liability. We’ve experienced that with Wood already lol
oh no, he had a bad pre-season game!!! is the world coming to an end? We probably should have traded JG last December, too, am i right? ---- The only thing to take out of last nights game is role and rotation. What do you do with Alpi on those nights where KPJ/JG are cooking all on their own? Generally, they should do well cooking with the help of Alpi, but they're both good enough to do it on their own. Moreover, given how inept the 2nd unit has looked, shouldn't Alpi get a lot more PT with that bunch? That being said, i like the concept of giving him say 6 minutes, then taking him out, then putting him back in maybe to start the 2nd quarter and let him play 9ish minutes then and be the 2nd unit offense initiator.
Sengun is very good. He has fit issues as a starter, but is a great six man who can run the bench offense.
yah but if would had done other things well — like played hard, hustled, shared the ball — it would have made up for his defensive shortcomings. But he was a lazy defender. Sengun can easily be better than Wood by simply putting in more effort. I think next to a guy like Jabari, he can be an effective defender. don’t discount team defense. Use your angles and play disciplined and any “bad” defender (athletically/physically) can be effective. Hustle, intelligence, and teamwork can “easily” make up the difference of Sengun’s physical liabilities on defense.
