Anyone got espn+? https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...xey-new-role-lamelo-next-step-genius-draymond “Flat out star in Houston” is it green or Sengun?
Landale and Uncle Jeff playing backup 5 is fine. These guys are professionals. They know their place and don't complain. Good models for the kids. Landale is probably not 100%. He is not a great player but serviceable for backup minutes. I know some people want a rim protector. It'd be nice to have one. But smart team defense is more important than having a individual shot block.
Sengun looks like a flat-out star: 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and an almost-Jokician 6.6 assists on 60% shooting -- including 64% on 2s. He is the hub of the Houston Rockets' offense and a force in the post. He's working harder on defense, too; the Rockets have allowed a minuscule 102 points per 100 possessions with Sengun on the floor -- and 114 when he rests. Some of that -- maybe a lot of it -- is luck in the form of awful opponent jump-shooting, but Sengun is grinding. The Rockets are plus-68 with Sengun on the floor and minus-27 when he rests. He sits at the head of the table among Houston's sextet of intriguing young players. Sengun is an ingenious passer who has yet to see an opening too small for him to fit a basketball. He manipulates layers of help defense, goading them one way -- with fakes and nods -- and then whipping the ball elsewhere. That is one of my favorite genres of pass, but few big men chance it -- and have the touch and precision to execute it. With that cagey second screen, Sengun forces a painful switch: Jalen Suggs onto Sengun and Wendell Carter Jr. toggling onto Jalen Green. Sengun then waits to see how the Magic respond. Suggs and Carter decide to try to reswitch assignments and rescue Suggs from Sengun's low-post wrath. The reswitch is always a gamble. Both offensive players flash open as the defenders crisscross. Those corridors close fast. The available pass is tricky -- close range, at a weird angle, with defenders scrambling into the void. For Sengun, this is fun. He loves dangling the ball in this spot, making the defenders guess, seeing if they will attempt the reswitch. He holds them in delicious, excruciating purgatory. The Magic act fast here, but Sengun outduels them with an arching pass placed where only Green can catch it. The next 20 games will be a nice test for Sengun, because he is about to become item No. 1 in opposing scouting reports.
Sengun continues to get better - and is already a good player- but still has a lot of room to improve and be an even better player. People also forget how young he is. He is barely 21 years old.
The draft is a funny thing, a 16th pick looks like the best player on a team with a 2nd and 3rd pick. It shows tanking is an unreliable strategy.
This is one thing that strikes me most about Sengun on the offensive end. He seems to be a lot more patient with his passes, willing to wait until players get in position instead of trying to force things. In that monster 12-assist performance against Sacramento, most of the passes weren't fancy, but they were well-timed and set up his teammates for high-percentage shots. Just smart and effective basketball.
I think it shows that NBA executives don't take Euro ball as seriously as they should. Also there's something to be said for players who succeed over there under coaches that threaten to kill their entire families if they don't make a free throw vs the wusses over here that get glorified mixtapes at 10 years old, have their helicopter dads start brands around them and make a big Instagram live presentations where they pick one of five schools to pledge their allegiance to only to eventually whine about how they can't take every shot.
I was watching this live and couldn’t believe. Then I thought they must be really frustrated because what they’ve been trying to make work wasn’t working at all and their jobs were in the line while a young man was defying all of their expectations and making them look stupid. And they were proven to be so in the end. Oh also, no matter the circumstance he is a pro and cannot hate on a 20 year old just cuz he is better. Very, very sad for an adult.
He did it more than once, too. But he was probably to some extent just Stone's/Silas' mouthpiece. But they really scapegoated the kid.
I really need Sengun to dominate the Pistons and Jazz games and get technical foul for taunting one individiual on the bench in each of those games.
When you look at "same age" stats (Jokic's 2nd season), Alpi looks better. That said, I think Jokic will get the better of the matchup tonight, and that we lose. Hopefully not without putting up a fight.
I remember this one. I thought for a while Silas was just trying to lose on purpose. But this interview stuck with me. I think there was something else there against Alpy. Not sure if it was because he was a threat to their little pet or something else. Just glad theyre gone and a real coach is here now. Reminded me of this Malcom in the Middle episode where the teacher is out to get Reece and flunks his test even when Malcolm did it for him with the correct answers.
I would not call Silas a racist like Hakeem94 but I think he took a dislike to non English speakers. Silas style eliticist thinking. Pair that with his preference of guards over big men. (His understanding of bigs is Bruno Fernando)
