They are trying to show that Sengun defends well against a lot of things, it’s only PnR that gives him trouble. The graphics says the top row is the players Sengun defends the best. The bottom row are ones that give him the most troubles The Playtype that the bottom row row uses the most is PnR. No one in the top row uses PnR as their goto.
Thank you @heypartner. I'm pretty sure he can outscore the guys at the bottom anytime, even if they get a few points against him? Is there an avenue to improvement for him on the PnR defense?
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/roll-man?TypeGrouping=defensive&dir=A&sort=TEAM_ABBREVIATION Sorry, but those numbers in that tweet are wrong. Alp allows .83 PPP good for 81s percentile in defense against the PNR roll man. PNR ball handler he allows .98 PPP which isn’t good but better than average on the rockets.
Thing is, PnR isn't exactly the type of play you defend on your own. Just because those bottom guys have high efficiency as roll man against the Rockets, doesn't mean it's all Sengun's fault. How about the guards who die on every screen and get completely taken out of the play?
I agree to an extent that the Playoffs are about executing in the clutch throughout multiple 7 game serieses. Luck and injuries also count big time.
Guess who shows up in this article on the NBA's most improved defenders? https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2833452/the-most-improved-defenders-in-the-nba Alperen Sengun, Rockets Bart Young / NBA / Getty Sengun, like Barnes, should be squarely in the breakout players' conversation for his offensive growth alone. His development into an All-Star-level elbow and post hub has understandably drawn most of the attention. But we shouldn't lose sight of his defensive strides, which have arguably been just as dramatic. Houston collectively has the most improved defense in the league by far, rocketing from 29th to seventh in points allowed per possession. While Sengun's contributions to that sea change have been less significant than those of veteran imports Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet, or burgeoning defensive prospects Jabari Smith and Tari Eason, it's nearly impossible to have a team defense that good if your center isn't doing something right. And Sengun is doing a lot of things right, especially compared to his first two years in the league. He's processing help-side reads faster, changing direction more fluidly, and exercising more discipline when it comes to staying on his feet. The Rockets have the best transition defense in basketball, and his diligence in hustling back has been a big part of that. His deflections are way up, and he's managed to dial up that disruptiveness while committing one fewer foul per 100 possessions than he did last season. In pick-and-roll coverage, he's miles better at playing between the ball and the roller, whether he's in a deep drop or coming up to the level: His lateral agility, while improved, remains a slight weakness. He still messes up some rotational reads when Houston is in scramble mode. And his neutral wingspan and lack of vertical pop mean his raw rim-protecting numbers aren't great. But intuition and sound positioning can go a long way. Sengun's allowing just north of 60% shooting when he contests at the basket, which is by far the best mark of his career and perfectly passable for someone who also acts as a very strong deterrent of those interior shots. Rockets opponents see their rate of paint attempts dip by 4.5 percentage points when he's on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass. It's not dissimilar from the way Nikola Jokic - an even more earthbound and horizontally challenged center - has turned himself into a plus defender. Sengun has even adopted Jokic's tactic of kicking his leg out to try and prevent pocket passes when he's playing up to touch. Sengun may never be above average defensively (his hands aren't as good as Jokic's, nor is he as good a rebounder), but he's showing that with a strong infrastructure around him, he can hold steady as the ballast of a top-10 unit. We wouldn't have said that about him before this season.
Thought it might be of interest. I found it an interesting read. It was balanced, too - pointed out weaknesses which still exist.
