Kristaps pushed Alpy's sht inwards. No shame in that. Kristaps is probably a better player right now. Great humbling experience for Sengun - he will learn from it and be better in the long run.
This is not Summer League or G-League, it is elite international basketball. Ask Alperen if that felt like weak competition.
And during timeouts he should serve Gatorade, and after the game he should do everyone's laundry... What are guards for?
Would love to see him in a Rockets uni next year. A front line of Jabari, Porzingis, and Sengun would be huge.
I like Sengun, but the reality is that we are never going to run the majority of our offense through him on the low block, or otherwise. We will run some sets with him and take advantage of his great vision, but he has to get a LOT better against bigger players, his bag is limited, he needs to shoot FT line extended jumpers, he needs a face up game, and he needs a 3pt shot. Without them he will be a nice passing role player and nothing more. DD
One not so great international game and you come to this conclusion on a 20 year old. Ridiculous take.
Porziņģis, who averaged 22 points a game for the Wizards (and almost 37% from 3), looks like he's ready to hit the prime of his career at 27. He doesn't fit the Rocket's timeline at all. Latvia didn't qualify among the 24 teams in the upcoming Eurobasket. They were playing at home to secure their spot and position in next year's World Cup. Turkey saw this as a "friendly" game and clearly overlooked them. Porziņģis would have torched anyone yesterday. And there are few NBA teams that would have slowed them down, especially if forced to adjust to FIBA rules (physical and any-help-is-okay-no-illegal-defense). My guess is many teams (with their players operating in off-season mode) would have gotten embarrassed by the Latvians. They scored 111 points in 40 minutes. That's elite scoring.
Way more than one international game he is slow footed, he is prone to fouling, he needs more in his game as NBA teams will figure out to NOT go for his fakes and stand there with their hands up like Porzingis did.....he needs MORE in his bag....he is not a finished product and the fact that he is not a great athlete really hurts his upside, IMO. I am worried about him at center this year - he can't clog the paint because Green and KPJ need space....we need Alpi at LEAST at the FT line extended and have that Scola elbow jumper in his bag. DD
He is very good at the fakes, and getting to the rim. He probably will be a legit threat even if teams will figure him out. But not effective enough. He definitely needs to extend his arsenal and the first thing is a face up game for sure. I don't agree that he is clogging the paint. Or he is foul prone. However, I think he needs to improve mentally, make better choices. All the ambitious block, steal attempts, some of the assist attempts should go.
Sengun is absolutely foul prone. I don't know how anyone can argue that point as it is a metric truth. The more important consideration however is "Why is Alperen foul prone?" Is it an issue with defensive discipline? Is it an issue with stamina and him trying to make up for blow assignments? Is it due to poor help defense or poor defensive schemes? Is it a combination of some or all of the above? I am sure we can all agree that Sengun is very smart and skilled, so understanding why he commits fouls at such a high rate will really help the coaching staff help him cut down on them.
He hasn't even started his sophomore year in the league. Jokic averaged 17/10/5 in year 2. He didn't become an All Star caliber player until year 4 and his highest point total his rookie year was 27. Same as Alpi. Sengun isn't horribly athletic but he is more athletic than Jokic is and is a better defender than he was at this age. His defensive upside is also better than Jokic's. His issue is that he's not nearly as disciplined and calculated right now. Jokic basically has a 3rd eye and is massive. Al-P still gambles way too much and just has a cockier nature. He's going to struggle this year but it's only his second year in the league. I'm curious about it too as I'm not entirely sold on him as our offensive anchor point just yet. Though I will say this isn't a do or die year for him. If in year 3 we're still here then yes, we need to start making contingency plans like we're doing this year with KPJ.
Hard to argue that Sengun has higher upside until he shows some type of reliable range. A big part of why Jokic is as great on offense as he is is due to the fact that he can score reliably from range.
Alperen Sengun averages 5.2 fouls per 36 minutes (for the stat nerds ). That is the definition of foul prone! SMH. Great player, but keep it real. Bad faith arguments disguised as genuine only exposes the agenda(s).
Not saying he doesn’t need to add to his game, but on the one hand you are giving KPJ major benefits of the doubt (which I support) and basically calling Sengun a bust, even though he has shown so much talent. If he is clogging the paint that is on Silas. There will be sets where his obvious passing and scoring skills from the post will be in play. KPJ, Green, and Sengun are going to be our three headed monster at initiating the half-court offense. You are seriously underrating his abilities. Oh and by the way, he rarely got in foul trouble once he became a starter. I believe the FO views Sengun as part of the core with or without a 3 pt shot.
