I love Alpi Sengun, his skills and pizzazz are fun fun fun to watch on offense. On defense he tries hard, and has learned to not reach, and occasionally he blocks shots when guys get by our perimeter, which is like every time. However, IMHO, he is too short and too unathletic to play center full time on both ends, OFFENSE as a hub - for sure, but defense, he is like playing small, he is not quick enough, long enough, or jumps high enough to play that position on D as the full time guy. If we wanted to build around Sengun to take full advantage of his offensive gifts, it would mean the Rockets would need to take MONUMENTAL steps to make it work, he is not Jokic who has 3pt range, can dribble and is much bigger, Sengun is more like Scola - a 6'9" elite level offensive player. So, if the Rox decide, Alpi, you are the DUDE, they would need to surround him with 3&D cutters and shooters. So on the Rockets here IMHO are the players currently who fit. Best fit 1. KMJ - clearly a good 3pt shooter and cutter - defense is under development, but he is quick enough to learn. 2. Jabari - He should be a great 3 and D player his shooting is off but he is 19 and he should be able to work well with Alpi in the future. 3. Tari Eason - Is a good defender, needs to stay home and is a decent 3pt shooter and cutter 4. KPJ - Best catch and shoot 3pt shooter on the team and when he cuts he can finish with either hand. As for defense he has shown when he is locked in he can play D - doesn't do it often enough needs coach to force it. Need work to fit. 5. Jalen Green - his D is so so bad, and his shot is inconsistent, desperately needs a fundamentals coach - if he can get better on D particularly he moves up into top tier. 6. Ty Ty Washington - Offensively sure, I have not seen enough defensively to know...but an inside out offense requires good shooting and solid defense - maybe that is him....INC Role player fit 7. Tate - good to great D - O is meh - needs to shoot the 3, can't be in the paint crowding Alpi but off the bench sure. 8. Mathews - Opposite of Tate, fits well on O, D is meh..... Probably not. 9. Garuba - not enough O, maybe as a role playing end of bench big... 10. Josh Christopher - not good enough on either side of the ball 11. Bruno Fernando - not tall enough to be next to Sengun we need bigger more skilled players 12. Eric Gordon - trade him already - would fit though, but he doesn't fit timeline 13. Trevor Hudgins - fits offensively, not sure on Defense - is pretty short. 14. Boban - great guy, doesn't fit. 15. Daishen Nix - Not good, not good at all - needs a lot of work. 16. Darius Days - Who? Exactly So in order to build and go all in on "Sengun style baby" we need to overhaul the roster and find players like this to help cover for his weaknesses. Mo Bamba is a great shot blocking big that can stretch out to the 3pt line on offense and can guard the other team's center on D or protect the rim. We need to find players like the Hakeem Rockets had....guys who were smart defenders and could hit a 3....Elie and Horry style.....which we don't have right now. It is a MAJOR MAJOR risk to go all in on Sengun, he has some MAJOR flaws - and I understand the org's trepidation - they have a big choice, either go all in on him, or perhaps trade him for a piece that fits whatever style they are trying to build from because right now, we have no direction - especially on defense......and not enough attention is being paid to the EASIEST issue to fix.....play D, or sit....pretty simple stuff reall. Anyway, would you choose to go ahead and bite the bullet on a Sengun centric offense, and whom would you want to stick around and support it, and whom would you want to leave? If you disagree, whom would you build around and why? DD
Too early to ask the question... Patience!! Need to see what draft pick we get If pick 1, the answer is clearly "no" If not pick 1, then we have a look and see how Sengun develops next year and make a decision from there
I can respect that, don't need to answer now if you don't like but lets assume that we don't get one of the top 2 picks and we are say 3rd or 4th....because we are 72% likely for that to happen.... No way this is legit....if you choose to build around Sengun we have to make major changes to support that. DD
I don't think this is a decision we need to make yet. Let him develop and see where it goes, if he gets there then we can go all in around him.
It kinda depends on who we get in the draft, right now I think Sengun is the best player on the team. A front line of Wemby, Sengun, and Smith would solve a lot on the defensive end. Al-P reminds me of C-Webb, he would have been a PF 20 years ago.
When answering try to ignore your bias against the messenger if you can act like a grownup 1 time. This is meant as a space for others to talk about what we would need to do and build around Sengun, if you disagree - post whatever YOU think works better, that is what a BBS is for..... DD
Meh, unfortunately I am stuck at it for 10+ hours a day managing people all over the world so when i get some downtime it is time to discuss Rockets....this is fun for me. DD
DD Great breakdown, I said the same thing a week or two ago. It's not that I dont love Sengun, I think he's a good player. I've said that numerous times in the past, it's just that because he's so physically inferior, you have to put certain type players around him to be successful as a team. I don't know what is so hard about this for SOFs to understand. To me, I think Rafael Stone took a chance, hoping to strike lightning in a bottle and who knows, maybe if they get Wemby, he can cover up Sengun's flaws. Could you imagine Wemby at the 4, Sengun at the 5 and Smith at the 3??
Hell no!!! Too hard to build around him. Just need to find more talent and then worry about building around the best guy. I doubt that guy is on the roster. If we draft Wemby, then we’ll build around him