Everyone has to prove their spots this training camp. Everyone. Green, Sengun, KPJ, Amen... You name it.
I've been saying this for months, ever since I saw Sengun slurpers actively wishing for the Rockets to get a lower draft pick and not draft Wemby. It got even worse when they started saying things like "the worst thing the Rockets could do in free agency is bring in a starter level center." Yes, a Sengunatic actually said that. At this point it's beyond laughable (and quite revealing) that they need to handicap the team in order for their hero to stand out. We won't even get into their embarrassing penchant for denigrating other Rockets (namely Jalen and Jabari) in a hollow attempt to prop up Sengun.
I don't think ATW meant "all around player" as in shot selection that is evenly distributed. There are many ways to affect the game. Sengun can score down low, rebounds, is a creative passer, and gets a decent amount of steals and blocks even if his overall defense needs work. That already puts him ahead of many other centers, IMO. Also, if Sengun is good enough around the hoop then the spacing can be generated by him. Giannis and Shaq's games are entirely based inside, but no one cares that they "hurt spacing". They are the spacing. Sure, it's a heliocentric model but our franchise is no stranger to that. Sengun and Green both need a lot of work to get to the next level. I'm not interested in debating their merits against each other. Just think it's wrong that Sengun can't be considered an all around player just because of his shot selection.
Is that really so ridiculous? I dunno, think about this from the perspective of another player, lets say Jalen Green. Do you think it would have been a good idea for the rockets to go after someone like Bradley Beal? Do you think that would be good for the team long term? Do you think that would be good for Jalen Green's development and future as a star in this league? Do you think it would be beneficial for Jalen or the rockets long term if he came off the bench for Bradley Beal?
Sengun has as much of a chance as becoming a franchise player as the high picks we drafted. That is all. Sengun has yet to reach that status yet, crowning him this early is just a early knee jerk reaction. I look forward to his improvements for the upcoming season
This is just the catch all Sengun thread, I don't see many people actually arguing for Sengun as the franchise player (best player on championship team) despite the thread title. Most of the thread is just a battle ground for people shting on sengun and others defending him.
I don't recall many people calling to not draft Wemby. He would not compete with Segun anyway. Wemby is not a center. Being tall does not make him a center automatically. My biggest concern with Wemby is the very real issue of the short careers of extremely tall players due to injuries. My concerns about him had nothing to do with Sengun. I think Sengun and Wemby would make an amazing front line if Wemby could stay healthy. Sadly we will never know.
Yes but the point is this is only pointed out for sengun mostly to justify bad coaching decisions. Sengun has to win his minutes over Bruno Fernando, Theis etc. but the same posters fail to notice that Bari can play whatever he wants no matter how bad he was, or KPJ can be given minutes, full freedom, control of the ball disproportional to what he shows on the court. There is always a reason to justify to give Sengun less minutes in this mindset. This type of poster typically argued for other easily debunked myths like Sengun can get more minutes if he stays out of foul trouble, turns the ball over less, improves his stamina etc. Each of them might have some truth in terms of what Sengun should improve, but none of them are justifications to give him less minutes in the context of the roster, what the aim of the roster is, and how the other players are treated. The problem is in the mindset of those posters. Anyway, hopefully with Ime, all this will be **** talk in the past and the haters will look even more stupid.
So where's the guards' 3-pt shot, the easiest way to punish them? Sengun would have a field day, racking up assists with long passes... but it's clannggg most every time.
Whatever the starting backcourt issues are, the last issue they have is providing spacing for Sengun as even KPJ off the court negatively effects Sengun's efficiency. The big one is Green. Sengun really needs Green on the court as his efg% drops a whopping 7% when he's off the court from Sengun. And it's not really reciprocating the other way as Green's efficiency only goes up like 1-2% when Sengun is on the court with him. Eye test confirms this also as defenders basically deny the existence of Sengun unless he's in the painted area. In pnr situations with Green and KPJ, Sengun as the screener is basically ignored, providing significant space for Sengun to operate after the pnr in a high post area.
They don't have to provide spacing for Sengun. He doesn't care about scoring or rebounding, because he knows it's a team game. (Hard to believe, I know. But strange things are taught in Europe.) You know well that every time he gets the ball in the paint, he is double- or even triple-teamed. Moreover, you know that even when he has defenders all over him he can pass the ball effectively for a basket or an assist. He is the perfect player for a 3-pt shooting team. ("Modern" 3-pt.er preachers, where are you?) It was Silas' fault for not taking advantage of Sengun's ability to draw defenders to himself. I'm sure this year all that will change. Provide Sengun with outside threats and he thrives. Green, while not really efficient, is one. Hence the difference in efg%. P.S. the second little paragraph you chose to delete later, but still stays in my quote of you, is pure BS.
I could be remembering it wrong. But I don't think Sengun was ever made to be a playmaker off the bench when Bruno started. Sengun was finally given a chance to be the "Senhub" (and only part-time) in the second half of last season after numerous voices from around the league about Sengun's playmaking ability. That was long after the Bruno experiment was scrapped. I'd say they were forced to do it by the pressure of embarrassment in the media.
I understand the concept of "team basketball". Just stop the unnecessary banter here. There is a limit of how many times you can dump it to the post before teams remove that option by fronting and positioning of defenders. You can't spam it all game and there are so many 5 ft push shots you can do per game before defenses just clamp that down. Yes Sengun creates open teammates when he's doing his thing in the paint. Absolutely. It's his main strength but that doesn't make him a "all-around player".
Also this notion to dismiss the help that Green and KPJ provide Sengun in efficiency shows a unhinged bias. Yes it helps if the center has a efg% 7% higher. That helps the team. To deny the spacing that Green creates for Sengun is just showing your hand that you aren't rational here.
Of course not, but I feel his 3-pt & midrange will be coming along nicely this year. Let's see Ime's defensive schemes and we'll talk again.
This part, bro: "Eye test confirms this also as defenders basically deny the existence of Sengun unless he's in the painted area. In pnr situations with Green and KPJ, Sengun as the screener is basically ignored, providing significant space for Sengun to operate after the pnr in a high post area." I call this BS because on the contrary he's double-teamed almost every time in half-court offense. How many players do we have to whom defenses pay special attention?
But this works both ways man! Sengun creates opportunities for others too. Yeah, team game. I know that will be obvious once they play under a real coach.
Makes quite sense. When you remove the other threats, the main threats in the team, defenses collapse on sengun more. Also makes sense because the rockets did not, could not really use Sengun effectively on the pnr. There was a period when the green-sengun pnr looked good, but they went away from it. Kpj has limited passing skills and typically opts for walking into where sengun is and then taking a bad shot. That's not just on Sengun though. KPJ mostly dribbles to the foul line towards sengun rather than passing the ball. The ignoring of sengun by defenses is the result of the lack of connection between the guards and sengun. Another area that i expect almost immediate improvement with coaching change.
