In DEFENSE of Alperen Sengun - Analysis on why Sengun may already be an above average defender

No it can't. Bad defense is bad defense. Lillard never made it far in the playoffs.

The whole "you can hide a guard but not a center" is a myth.

Golden State has a historically good offense. And Draymond/Klay/Durant were good defenders. And as a team, they had decent defense.

They weren't "hiding" Curry's bad defense. Their offense was just THAT good.

And we are extremely far from having to worry about that, as you say.

So we might as well let Alpi cook.

 

Green Is bad, but he also doesn't have limiting factors like Sengun. He can actually improve. Senguns physical traits are not going to change.

 

funny how the only one who brings up race or skin color for Sengun are these SOF roaches

and then we’re supposed to believe that calling Silas a monkey was just a little harmless saying

 

"Worst" case, we can literally always get a shot blocker at the rim, a Walker Kessler type.

I know many of you laugh at @hakeem94, but I get what he is saying when he talks about Alpi being a "guard".

If you think of Alpi as not the last line of defense, but put someone else in that role, you get all the playmaking benefits of Alpi on offense, but he doesn't have to be that last line of defense.

 

Sengun is never going to be an above average defender. But people thinking he will played off the court in 3-4 years because of what he shown so far is very short sighted.

 

I just logged on and saw this comment. They were indeed hidding Curry. If you look back at the Rockets vs Golden State series or any other teams vs Golden State in the playoffs, they all went at Curry. Also, I remember the Warriors singling out Capella on the parameter against Curry.

And I'm not picking on Sengun or singling him out but the center is your last line of defense and if he is a poor defender, everything else falls apart and that's what is happening to the Rockets.....other teams watch film and they are all going at Sengun.

Perimeter players are so good now, that no one can stop anyone, that's why you have to have size in the middle and on the wings to deter players from driving to the basket and forcing them to take outside shots.

 

That’s a possibility. I just don’t know if he’d see the floor in some series. Enes Kanter got played out the league. People forget how good he was on offense and his rebounding, but he couldn’t guard a soul out there

 

They have nothing else left other than throwing out racism. It's actually kind of sad.

 

The offensive rating of the 2014-2018 GSW teams compared to the offensive rating of teams this season, would currently rank: 24-25th, 14-15th, 9th-10th, 21-22nd, 9th. Heck even this year, their offensive rating is better than 3 of those seasons.

The issue is that offense around the league is just that good now, especially if your team can shoot. And the Rockets are the absolute worst shooting team in the league, especially when you look at wide open/open 2pts and 3pts.

All 5 guys have to be a threat to score or contribute on offense in some fashion. Defense is all about scheme, buy in/effort, and team defense. Yes, individual athletic plays can make those things easier, but that is not the foundation for defensive success anymore. You could have prime Hakeem down in the paint and it would not matter in today's NBA without the other aspects in place.

 

Lol that avy

 

I forgot about Kanter but you're correct.

 

I don't get what limiting factors is. Alpi isn't the best switch defender he occasionally makes some plays and gets burned on others. But he gets benched for Garuba or even Jabari. And the other team runs the same thing. I dont see Jabari or Garuba shutting down the other teams guards either. So what are we even saying. Just cuz it looks like Jabari is playing better defense doesn't mean the results are any better. He gets burned just as much. We gotta have a better scheme.

The bigger issue is if Silas isn't gonna make him the focal point of the offense. Might as well have him on the bench. Cuz everything he is good at we aren't even utilizing.

 

It's a great dunk by Ant.

 

Y’all blamed Wood last year for being a bad defender at the 5. Rightfully so, but keep that same energy! Sengun doesn’t have the tools to get much better. He better be jokic level on offense or he’s in trouble

 

The center is harder to hide is a fair concern. But I don't know how you can foresee Sengun will be so bad he will be played off the court, while Green will be hidden easily. I agree the Green part, although Green is not at a level that could be hidden yet, he'll get there eventually.

Both Sengun and Green will be on a contender team because of their offensive upside, not for their elite defenses. And for both it remains to be seen where they can reach on either end.

 

He'll probably make more than 200 millions in next 10 years even if he doesn't improve on defense so i don't think he's in trouble.

 

Honestly, the Rockets defense is so bad you can't really tell whose fault it is. The only way to look is to analyze each play in slo-mo and maybe you can identify where it breaks down. Even if I had the time to do that kind of thing, I suspect that I would find different culprits in every play.

 

sorry im not a black player fan. All I see is elite rim protection

 

not sure if you will ever reach an above average nba insight, but right now theres still a lot to go

 

I'm certainly not going to try to tell anyone that Sengun is great on defense at this point in his career but I think it's really premature to say that it's impossible for him to reach the level of "can stay on the court in the playoffs." It's just way way too early to make that call already. If he still looks like this in two years then we've got a problem.