But yeah, I've been watching some tape from Randle's first few years in the league this morning just out of boredom and to kind of see if it seems like a realistic comp at all. Honestly, it kind of does? Sort of that, hybrid of the old man's game and new wave of big men dribble drive stuff. Even their builds at that age were pretty similar--strong for guys their age, but still room to develop (which Randle clearly capitalized on and hopefully Sengun will as well). I think Randle was a little more explosive as a young man. Not a hyper-athlete by any means, but a bit faster and a bit better of a leaper. On the other hand, if Sengun is now 7-foot in shoes, maybe that makes it a wash physically between the two, since Randle never really grew taller. I think Sengun is a better, more-willing passer now than Randle was around the same age. That may give him more upside to potentially become a Draymond/Sabonis level of passer. I still doubt he will match Jokic's trajectory. Jokic is 1 of 1, literally already the GOAT big man passer. Like betting on a hitter to become a Barry Bonds-type eye at the plate guy. Just kind of silly. So, maybe Randle with better passing and just slightly more shotblocking/rebounding works for me as a comp.
It was going very well until: "That may give him more upside to potentially become a Draymond/Sabonis level of passer " statement. As we watched Sabonis more carefully in play-offs, he is a very limited player in certain areas. If Alp is "potentially Sabonis level of passer", then biased Rockets media is not biased and right to suggest trading Sengun. If Alp is only as good as Sabonis trade him immediately. Fourth year, quite experienced Sabonis, 23 years old, Indiana stats ( 34.8 minutes per game: 18.5 points 12.4 rebounds (career high) 5.0 assists 0.8 steal 0.5 blocks 54% FG 25.4% 3PFG 72.3 % FT Second year, Silas leashed 20 years Alp's statistics (PER 34.8 adjusted) 17.8 points 10.8 rebounds 4.7 assists 1.1 steal 1.1 blocks 55.3% FG 33.3% 3PFG 71.5% FT 20 years old Alp is already at the same level of 23 years old Sabonis. He is better in some stats and has to improve himself between 4 % (points, assists) to 13% (rebounds) to catch Domantas. I will be very very surprised if 21 years old Alp does not surpass 23 years old Sabonis in every stat compartments. Jokic will lead triple-doubles next year and Sabonis and Sengun will compete for the second berth. 21 years old Alp has a chance against 27 old Domantas but 21 years old Sabonis would not had a chance against 27 years old Sengun.
Sabonis is one of the best-passing big men of all time. He played a lot of games as a power forward, but on a combined list of power forwards and centers he would be in the top 10 for career APG. As far as single-season assists per game go, his 7.3apg mark this past season would be tied for the 6th-best season in that regard from a center, tied with Jokic's 2019 performance, and behind only other seasons from Jokic as well as a couple by Wilt. As far as Draymond goes, he averaged, again, 7.3 assists from 2015-16 onward. I think that is a very, very high mark for any center or power forward and I consider it extremely high praise to say that Sengun's ceiling could be around 7apg.
I think there is a decent chance Sengun reaches the same level in terms of court vision with Jokic. But the combination of making the right play and preciseness of passes of Jokic is virtually impossible to reach. Sengun can get similar assist numbers but though. They just won't be as difficult or as perfect as some of Jokic's passes.
Sabonis is heavily used in hand-offs. His assist numbers are high for a center due to hand-offs, but he is not particularly a good passer, nowhere near Sengun in my opinion.
How many players in nba history would you say were on Jokic's level in terms of court vision? I would say Magic, but that's probably it? Maybe Lebron?
I watched Sabonis play a lot this season. Was really enjoying that Kings underdog finally getting good again storyline. It may be true that at one point he was mainly doing handoffs out of the PnR game, but I don't think it was true this season. He has become a very, very good passer and I think he's a bit underrated as an overall player on CF. Lots of people talking down on him.
Numbers are there gentleman. Alp is much better player than Sabonis (not the father but the son). If Domantas finishes Top-10, it means that Alp will be Top5.
For PGs, guys like Nash, Kidd, Stockton all have elite court visions. For big men, Bill Walton, the old Sabonis, Chris Webber, even Divac come to mind. (Even the beloved Rockets legend Brad Miller was pretty great in his heydays. ) I think people confuse court vision and passing skill. They are closely related, obviously. But having amazing court vision does not always translate to being a great passer. Jason Williams (White Chocolate) was well-known for his other-worldly fancy passes. But he only had three 7+ assists seasons in his fairly long career. Although assist numbers don't always tell the whole story, it does somewhat shows how effective a player's passing game is. A great passer does not just see the court, but also make the right decisions--when to pass and to where, and most importantly where he positions himself so that his teammates have the best chances of scoring. Chris Paul doesn't do a lot of fancy passes (although he does a fair amount) that shows supernatural court vision, but his 9.5 career apg puts him among the best passers in league history.
Yeah, he looks better than I gave him credit for and I might be undervaluing his passing. But I will keep my subjective opinion that Sengun is already better at passing, just makes a world of difference how Sac plays with a lot of cutters. I hate you Silas .
Question, why are we all just expecting Ime to be able to utilize Sengun to his full playmaking potential? The only system we have seen from him involved basically 3 wings with Smart being their PG and 2 roaming defensive bigs.
If ime is as competent as we are led to believe he would recognize senguns greatness and learn how to incorporate his talent to strengthen our team
Assuming the part of Sengun becomes true, being aware and knowing how are two different things entirely. It’s one thing to go “ok this guy is our best playmaker and we should run the team through him” and another to go “ok this is the system we will use and the plays we will run as a team.”
