Alperen Sengun is the Rockets' franchise player

I love debating with you guys! Just because a player has a similar skillset as another player, does not put him in the same category or make him that player.

I'll never forget, there was a player I wanted the Rockets to draft, "BABY JORDAN". He was suppose to be the next Michael Jordan, Harold Miner. He could do everything Jordan could, at least thats what I thought! Miner was 6'2, 6'3, Jordan was 6'6 and had better skills. That made a huge difference.

Jokic is a true 7'1! His build makes a difference, the long arms. He can shot the 3pt shot CONSISTENTLY. He can get rebounds outside of his area that Sengun can not, he's extremely skilled. To me that sets him apart. Sengun will never be Jokic. They have similar skillsets but thats it.

 

Incorrect. You may think that, but in no way is it true

 

You are 100% correct! And you get it. My definition and others definition of a franchise player are different. To me, a franchise player is a player that can carry a team to a championship; Giannas, Curry, LeBron, Jokic, etc. Anything less is just a piece to a puzzle.

To be a FRANCHISE you are deeming yourself as a player that can carry that team consistently. I don't see that in Sengun, Sabonis, LeMelo, or Markkanen. They are good players and some are All-Stars but that is what separates them from the championship level players.

Those players, if you notice , are highly skilled in ONE AREA, whereas LeBron, Giannas, Jordan, Hakeem, Jokic are all skilled in MULTIPLE AREAS. The only players I have ever seen that I would put in that class, that was skilled in one area are; Bird and Curry. They were and are unbelievably skilled offensively.

Like I have always said, I think Sengun, Green and Jabari each bring something to the table but they are not what I woukd consider as being "FRANCHISE WORTHY". So, when many on clutchfans deemed them as a franchise player, they are wrong!

 

I have NBA TV and from what I see, Palo is going to be trouble. Palo is making plays at the right time, at the end of games. Game winning shots, free throws, those are things that I look at from franchise players.....making plays when it count!

Don't get it twisted, I root for Sengun, I wish he could make game winning shots and plays, he just hasn't done it.

 

I get what you mean but there's one thing if there are only 5 franchise players then what do we call the building blocks in other 25 teams? Front offices consider them as franchise players, treat them as such, build around them. Fans also think they are their saviors. If they get the same treatment why not call them franchise players? What Lamelo is for the the Hornets is what Giannis is for the Bucks.

Even if they are worth less pound for pound is there any fix to this issue? One of Jalen or Sengun is clearly the man who will be on the wheel in the next 5-6 years. What are your suggestions on improving our title chances in the future? Do you have any suggestions or just making an observation. Because when i come here everyday to say Jabari is absolutely not the #1 or #2 option for any NBA team i'm essentially saying that he's not untradeable and we can potentially make this team better because kid looks like a scrub on offense and definitely not a great defender. What are your intentions?

 

Said before the season, I had my eyes on the Wolves, the Thunder, the Magic and to a lesser degree the Pacers.

All those teams made strides.......to some degree more or less.

 

Very impressive our starters are outplaying OKC's.

Denver and Boston starting groups are insanely good

 

Very good point, I love your question! I was blessed to see Akeem at UH and when he first came into the league.....to me, he was a franchise player. A player who was dominant on both sides of the court. Same for Shaq, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and MJ. And as for Bird, he was so dominant on the offensive end it was ridiculous.

I think the term "FRANCHISE", is being thrown around too loosely. Just because a player is good at one thing, he's being called HIM! Lol....Like I said, Sengun, Jalen and Jabari are GOOD PLAYERS but not great.

As for players who are building blocks, i.e, LaMelo, Banchero, Chet, etc. I tend to look at Giannas and Jokic. When they first came in the league they had that one trait, length for their position. Giannas was 18yrs old, skilled ball handler, 6'8, long arms, long legs, you could see he had room to grow. Same for Jokic, 7ft, long arms, skilled.

My only issue with Sengun is I think he is maxed out as a player. However, I do think he can improve his shooting, I've been hoping for that but what else? He's not going to get taller, his arms are not going to grow longer, he doesnt have the athletic ability of a Bam Adeboyo, who is a smaller center. So he is what he is....a good player, a valuable piece.

I think for the Rockets to get to where they want to go, Jalen has to be that player. He has ALL the tools but I just don't see the toughness, the heart, the determination. If Jalen was HIM, it would make Sengun's job easier. Hopefully Amen or Jabari is HIM.

 

With the amount of btching from the Smith and Green negative haters u figured they are literal dead weight. I can see the argument they haven't reach their full potential yet but they are contributing to our successes.

 

These things are nice but we have to take things in proper context. Who have these teams played against? When did they play that team? Was anyone injured?

The Rockets played against Sac when Fox was out, that makes a huge difference and against the Fakers when AD was out.

If they all played against the same teams, that would be different

 

This play below happened with 2 minutes to go in the game, game winning play.
On Defense, Oh wow, Alpi got got trying to defend Harden on a pick and roll. For people that have watched Rockets ball for so long, they conveniently forget all defensive team Gobert would try the same thing on Harden only for Harden to find the roller with no resistance. That's the whole point. You can't defend two places at once, pick your poison.
I only saw 2 awful plays defensively from Alpi. One was where Harden gets by FVV and Alpi didn't even bother to slide over and contest. FVV let him know about it.
The second one was on a switch where, Dillon ended up on Zube. Alpi was right next to him and didn't make the effort to tell Dillon, I got him.
You could clearly hear Dillon in the audio say: "Alpi you want me to guard your man too ?" It was funny. Not funny that Dillon got the foul.
The turnovers for Alpi and Green were fouls on the clippers or no calls. Come on now. Your bias shows.
These guys are still learning on the fly

 

He is misguided for sure.

 

Or simply:
Repent, bi₺ch.​

 

What I find funny is that people call Alperen Sengun unathletic. He is very athletic he just doesn't jump very high. But to some people that is all that matters (lob Threat).

To me Sengun is better than last year. But his leap is mostly due to having a coach that trusts him and uses him better. He could have done all this last year aswell if Silas was a acceptable coach.

 

I do see his point as labeling players franchise this, franchise that before they reach that status. He's going on about it the wrong way. And the way the NBA salary system is, you have to risk on extending your promising players otherwise someone else will.

He used Giannis as an example. Bucks had to decide in Giannis' 3rd year to commit to his 17pts on 13 FGAs/ 8 rebounds/4 assists at 21 yrs old. It was a no brainer. Plus, They had nobody else.
Just like it's a no brainer to commit to Alpi's phenomenal stat line as a 21 year old. But to commit you have to pay the man. It's not a fan thing. Don't blame us for teams having to hand out 28+ million a year contracts to ascending stars whose rookie contracts are about to expire.
Take it up with Silver and the player's association. If it were up to me, you'd get 7 years of team control in a rookie deal.

 

Danke schön. I was terrible at German in High school. So that is all I got.

We might not always agree on politics but we are like minded when it comes to basketball (and especially Sengun).