He's also not elite-elite as an offensive player, just really, really good. Around the back end of the top 10 on offense and bottom half of the league on defense does not a franchise-carrying superstar make. To play defense the way he does, he needs to be leading the league in scoring on high efficiency and/or have very high assist numbers.
Zion lasted one play-in game. Embiid will probably give you 2 good rounds max. I won’t be surprised after the first round against a very physical Knicks team that he gets injured or starts hobbling again.
The empirical data from the 82 games show that the Rockets, with Sengun at center, were among the best defensive teams in the league. It is not fair to single out Sengun as a defensive liability when there were players who did not do their jobs well especially on the perimeter side. Even stats show that Sengun is not as bad on defense as he is made out to be by some pathological anti-Sengun posters and pundits. Sengun is not an elite defender and that is a given, but he is not mediocre either as some think.
Had Boban not sacrificed his two free throws for chicken's sake, he would have more points, more blocks, and hands down more rebounds per 36 minutes than Alpi, not to mention a higher FT%.
I didn't listen but reading your notes, if that's exactly what happens I'll be thrilled. I'm pretty directly in line with all of it. There's no reason to extend anyone right now. The Rockets taking a "prove it" stance is exactly what they need to do.
Agree with regard to Green, but not on Sengun. IMO, he’s done enough to “prove it.” He’s certainly done more than guys like Bane and MPJ had when they got the rookie max.
Donovan Mitchell just dropped a 30 piece today and yet people still defending Jalen Green aka Jordan Clarkson with good hair
Imagine someone who could just be attending Eating hamburger/hot dog contests playing basketball......
I liked the post because I went & looked up anatidaephobia + you said "Avoid quacks". Well played, bro. Well played.
Agree to disagree then. Sengun's status as a fan favorite isn't the difference for me. There's literally zero reason to force a contract decision now other than seeing little heart bubbles when you look at Alpe. This isn't feel-good story basketball time. Results equal extensions. Close enough and good enough aren't the bar here.
There’s no other reason except, you know, guys like Sengun always get the max in recent NBA history. But sure, there’s no downside to becoming known as the only NBA team that would refuse to give a guy like Sengun the max.
For the year IIRC Sengun led the team in defensive winshares and he also had some crazy good defensive sequences: Here he is compared to Rox legend Chris Wood
