[ClutchFans] Why Alperen Sengun will come off the bench

Clearly they have leaked that to Jonathan Feigen and Clutch.

 

You would think so, but with Silas who knows?

 

Not sure if asked anywhere, but do we know or expect to know what the rotation will look like with everyone healthy? Excited for Rockets basketball to be back tonight. Being in NY sucks, thank god for NBA LP, only $99.

 

This is clutch giving us some local news. And Iko has echoed it. Pretty sure we should be able to trust it. It's not like he has given much reason to doubt him

 

While sengun does not have a clue .This is not a thing billion dollar brand does but some back alley business.

 

And we saw this in the preseason.

The problem for Alpy is that he isn't a complimentary piece, he is a boom or bust piece.

I hope he booms, but I have more interest in seeing Green and Smith develop first....

 

Alpi not starting doesn’t imply anything about his minutes or his time on the floor late with Green and KPJ. The 2nd unit needs his strengths more than the first anyways.

 

Not a fan of this move. If he's our long term center he should start. I thought one of the biggest reasons that Jabari was such a good option for us was because his skill set was complementary to Sengun?

 

are you forgetting about the 3 other starters that need the ball in their hands. This isn't just about Jabari next to him. the entire lineup matters

 

I personally want to see Sengun and Jabari play together before benching Sengun. They only played 1 game together and it was working quite well.

to be fair Sengun looked out of sync with the starting lineup for the rest of the games and were pulled early. So that might be part of the decision making

 

We are really all in on guards .

we are catering to them and want them to be able to run that PnR

kpj and green need to practice throwing lobs .

maybe Bruno is really good

what happens when they take away the lob ? That’s what we are trying to teach our young guys ?

Winning isn’t the goal . Sengun playing too much will lead to wins . Same reason they resting Tate

 

No, it was because he was a better fit for Green. Every roster decision the Rockets make is or should be for Green first and foremost. A player like Smith plays well of any ball handler.

 

I dunno what the disconnect was between KPJ & Theis, he was a pretty decent screener, but the KPJ & Wood pairing failed because of Wood .... My sister sets a better pick than that dude and he almost never rolled to the rim, he slipped the screens for 3 point attempts almost exclusively.
That's making it difficult on the ball handler when he's essentially dribbling into a double team due to the slip of the screen meaning he has to give up the rock or take on that double team .... and now he becomes a pseudo screener for the original screener.
That's a big part of how Wood was able to shoot 39% from 3 last season and could have contributed to KPJ's poor finishing at the rim with him going into the teeth of those double teams.

I like how Fernando rolls hard to the rack putting pressure on the defenders that they absolutely have to account for him which gives the ball handler better and more options than a pick and slip.
Sure, Sengun rolls hard too but he just doesn't have the ability to finish above the rim that Fernando does.

And without a doubt, Fernando is a better defender both as a rim protector and in pick and roll situations. His verticality allows him to play drop coverage and still be difficult to finish over the top of him.

Sengun's value is, at this point exclusively on the offensive end ..... he's got to be ultra efficient to make up for the defensive shortcomings and so far I don't think that's been the case. He's a lot like KPJ, you can see the potential, but the consistency isn't there .... being that he's just 20 and going into year two, he's got plenty of time to improve.
It's almost unbelievable how young and talented this bunch of Rockets is .... Stone has done a hell of a job amassing talent in the last two offseasons.

 

Are we just going to ignore the huge elephant in the room which is Sengun struggled mightily against on defense and rebounding against most bigger centers.

I mean he was getting thrown around like a rag doll against that old guy centre from Miami, Dedmond or something.

People focus on whether he gets touches in the post, but what I see if Sengun failing to secure a lot of basic rebounds, or hold his position on defense against anyone who size and athleticism on him. I don't think it's his fault at all, he's obviously giving effort. But most of these guys simply jump higher, are more athletic, and have longer arms/height than Sengun.

you ever notice Sengun gets called a lot of fouls because he gets frustrated on boxouts or is outstrengthed.

 

Sengun is a truly divisive player, I guess. I see him as a perfect complimentary piece.

He lead the team last year in screen assists per game, despite playing being 10th in minutes per game (And those assists come at a rate 3.5 times Bruno's rate). He was making assists at a higher rate than our guards except for KPJ, despite having much less usage, and put in positions to make assists, especially the second half of the season. There is much more contribution there than a few lobs, you would hopefully get per game. He opens up the game for the guards in many different games, and he does not need to be ball dominant for that.

He is also complimentary in the sense that, his talents are maximized with players who know what they are doing. Really everything he does well depends on other players making the correct plays. He is not creating his own shots, or making the assists because he has good ball handling to open up players.

I think, the coaching staff read too much into the preseason and overreacting, especially without seeing enough of Sengun/Jabari combination.

 

How would u like to see Sengun incorporated with the current starters?

 

I think he probably should come off the bench at this point in his career. The bench unit has no one to run the point and there are too many matchups where Sengun can get run off the court.

He's still young so it doesn't have to be permanent if he can develop a bit more.

 

I don't agree with any of those things. It sounds like you're comparing Sengun's projected future in your mind to KPJ and Green's statistical past - which would explain why the gross exaggeration in your post about Alpi's edge over these two.

Alpi averaged 2.6 assists and 2 to's in the NBA last season and did not look better than that in the preseason. He also blurted out like an idiot in an interview the other day that he has less energy when he doesn't have the ball. They SHOULD kick him in the balls for saying that. No one wants to play with someone who puts forth less effort when others have the ball. This is his season to prove things he has never proven, what he did in some other league is not relevant now. They told him he has the job all summer and preseason. He lost the job and that's no one else's fault but Alpi's. His energy without the ball is no one else's fault but his.

He WILL rise to the occasion if you ask me, but he has not differentiated himself enough to make up for the fact that he reduces everyone's spacing if the ball is not in his hands. That's a deficit you're not taking into account.

 

Decrease the number of post-ups, which the rockets are already doing, and run more things with him at the elbow the key or top of the key. The problem is that he is a slow decision maker, takes his time to make the move, and he needs to develop a shot. Those I see as part of the development process.