Sengun is going to be fine guarding the interior, he's no Domantas. Just let the guy learn some NBA and some English, but more importantly transform that body into an NBA body. Trust me guys, the training methods and diets in Turkey are not at the same standard as Euroleague top teams, G League or NCAA. One really positive thing about Sengun and Green is that they have maybe the highest room for improvement in strength (while maintaining quickness) among lotto picks. Summer will do wonders for them, it's hard to work on that during a season.
He is a rook, fouling is not a big problem if the GM does his job and installs a defensive system that works and that could teach Sengun how to defend without fouling. And of course he needs more than an offseason to work on that. It is a work in progress. It is not realistic to have those high expectations in one year when better rookies before him had fouling problems as well.
So it's Stone's obligation to make Sengun play better individual defense? Lol. Isn't that Sengun's job? High expectations? Um, the title of this dumb azz thread is Sengun is our best player lol. YOU guys anointed him our best player but now we gotta give him a offseason just to learn how to not foul? Shouldn't he as our best player already know this? Lol
https://theathletic.com/3064221/202...alen-green-and-rest-of-houstons-young-roster/ Kelly Iko: Moving to the other parts: You’ve gone into great detail already about the main course, so the sides can be brief. Where do you see guys like Josh Christopher and Alperen Sengun? What’s their development been like from your vantage point? Sam Vecenie: I’ve liked what I’ve seen from both in the time they’ve gotten. I’ve recently done a bit more of a dive on Sengun, so I’ll keep it briefer on him. His offensive mobility and versatility are real. I’ve thought he’s actually had a better season in a vacuum than Green, as his presence just makes the Rockets’ offense hum a bit more because of his passing and movement. He’s constantly looking to go and screen and make life easier for his teammates. His ballhandling and passing combination is a legitimate marginal advantage for the team, giving them another playmaker on the court in a position that often doesn’t have them. I’m totally in on him offensively to the point that I would move Wood at the first chance possible — then again, I’ve been pretty clear about saying I’d do that since the preseason — in order to get as many minutes into Sengun as possible as a developmental project. The reason I think it’s important to get as many minutes into Sengun as possible, though, is because he needs the reps on defense. He is really, really bad there right now, despite tallying a staggering number of deflections due to his innate basketball sense and reactivity. He gets hit out on the perimeter a ton with teams trying to switch onto him, and his lateral agility is a genuine hindrance. Figuring out angles and positioning will be critical to his success, which is why I think experience is essential for him. He needs to figure out how to survive out there in the same way that bigs like Nikola Jokic and Nikola Vucevic do. The issue for Sengun in comparison to those guys, though, is that they’re just way bigger and longer than him. This was always the potential trade-off with Sengun: can he survive on defense enough to thrive on offense? The jury is still out, but the signs on offense are great enough to where he has a real shot to be awesome on that end.
Literally no one else on the team plays defense. At least Sengun tries to play defense. You can make an argument that our defense is worse since he's been out.
I’m sorry but the numbers and the eye test don’t back up Vecenie. He makes more chase down blocks than a lot of bigs that get beat on the perimeter, that says he has lateral mobility and reaction right there. The numbers don’t back up him being a bad defender even a little bit. And definitely not worse than majority of team.
This analysis of Sengun, IMO, is completely contradictory ... How can you praise his feet on OFF for his mobility, movement and ball handling ... Then turn around and say his feet kill him on DEF? He moves WAY better than guys like Jokic or Vucevic, and he's far more active defensively than either of those guys Skillwise he has some Jokic qualities, but Vucevic makes his money posting up and shooting midrange jumpers, which Sengun never does The experience, angles part of it I get, but almost all rookies have to make those adjustments ... has nothing to do with foot speed Jalen Green gets beat all the time for the same reasons, and he's one of the elite athletes in the NBA already I've been blown away by Sengun's ability to rapidly close ground to chase down blocks, jump passing lanes, and at least try to help his teammates by stepping in to take charges His problem defensively is he is way too aggressive, trying to make every single play He reaches all the time, goes for blocks when he should just stay vertical, and he challenges every shot that comes his way
That’s my bad then. My apologies @rockbox Honestly have never seen you be stereotypical so that’s my bad. I don’t even care about jokes, some people across all forums seem to take them to extremes
