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Alperen Sengun is the Rockets' franchise player

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by AroundTheWorld, Jan 17, 2023.

  1. cml750

    cml750 Member

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    Sengun was not himself for the last month leading up to these last two games when he looked like his normal self. Was that due to his back, a "hangover" for the disappointment from not being selcted to the all-star game, a scheme change by Ime, him not adjusting well to becoming the focal point of opposing defense, etc.....? I am not sure if we will ever know. Whatever it was it looks like the real Alpi is back. I hope they continue to play though him as the main hub going forward.

    As for Amen, if he ever develops his shot he could challenge Alpi for the best Rocket however both he and Alpi are so unselfish they will work together amazingly no matter what. I do not see there ever being an issue about who the top dog is because either would defer to the other without issues when it is needed.
     
  2. AroundTheWorld

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  3. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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  4. AroundTheWorld

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  5. theDude

    theDude Member
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  6. Old School74

    Old School74 Member

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    clos4life and theDude like this.
  7. cumutk

    cumutk Member

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    He will best of the three of them, because other two Chet and Vic plays with their height, Sengun has skills and strength that the others two do not match.
    Of course he will have difficult nights with.coping height when facing Chet or Vic, but with his skillset and very high iq compared other two, he will be the best.
     
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  8. Rinaldi

    Rinaldi Member

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    you are probably not that naive to think that some three years of agendas are about basketball play. i don't directly mean the boss here, but some accounts have agendas, and they are some paid content. You will find out the secrets on the other topic titles.

    I had wrote earlier; Gatlin's FO insider is Clutch, Clutch's FO insider is JGatlin.

    Hater agendas gonna hate, whether it is "race, ethnicity, personal identity, religion, history, sponsors, etc". OR basketball play,
     
  9. harold bingo

    harold bingo Member
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    I think it definitely does matter, and it surely does matter to the people who are asking that question. Like if I'm building a hypothetical contender, I don't want Sabonis on my team. In fantasy GM-world, if you told me to build a contending team and gave me Sabonis, I would trade him. I think it is really really hard to build a contender around a center who is not either switchable or a stout dominant rim protector. If you are going to go in with a center who isn't one of those two things, he has to be REALLY good offensively. Wherever you want to set the "you must be at least this good" bar, Sabonis is under it. So you have to be sure that Sengun is going to clear that bar. It's not as simple as just being the best player.

    So when it comes to Sengun I think that's an important question to ask, because if he can't ever clear that bar, that's not a player you want on your team. And to be clear I do think Sengun clears that bar. But this is a unique problem for him compared to some generic wing player for example, a 6'7 wing that plays elite defense and can shoot 3s will be useful no matter what. You can hope he becomes Kawhi or Tatum or whatever, but even if he doesn't, that's still a valuable player because of the archetype. So there's no risk involved with a player like that. But I do think it's a reasonable concern to have about Sengun. And I think that's the logic that the non-believers use, that he'll never clear that bar and he's just another Sabonis.
     
  10. rimrocker

    rimrocker Member

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    Clippers game was an illustrative one, one where you can see the blueprint for the future. Even Doris said at one point something like, "Just imagine how good he would be with good three point shooters." And, added rimrocker, guys who know how and when to cut.

    Sengun needs to solve his free throw problem and quit leaving points on the table. (I'll note Dream had to work hard to get his FT% up from 61% his rookie year and to be able to perform from the line in clutch situations--I suspect Sengun will be more like Dream than Duncan and Shaq.)

    Bump the FT% up by 10 points, get the 3PT% up by 7 points and we are primed for takeoff. (Assuming Amen, Cam, and Jabari make similar improvements while Tari fully recovers and we get another shooter or two.)
     
    #13030 rimrocker, Mar 7, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2024
  11. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    Eh, I would argue Sabonis is perfectly fine as a core player on a contender, he's just not going to be the best player on a contender, and you do have to compensate for his weaknesses. I think if you gave me a 21-year-old Sabonis and I had a sports almanac that told me exactly what he would become, I would be looking for an elite perimeter player to pair with him and long three-and-D guys to surround the two of them with. Preferably including a shotblocking, defensive power forward.

    Of course, this hypothetical 21-year-old Sabonis shouldn't be untouchable in trades, but I would only trade him for a guy I felt confident would become the best player on a contender.
     
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  12. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    I totally agree with your reasoning. Last season, I thought that if you wanted to build around Sengun, you'd have to be committed and go all in. You can't just haphazardly put a team together around him because you need specific types of players to fit him. For Sengun to be a contender's franchise player, he has to be top 5 on offense. (A top 5 offensive guy can carry a team of mediocre players to the playoffs.) Now I believe Sengun is not there but quite close.

    There's enough evidence to show that Sengun is already a better scorer than Sabonis. Whether he will exceed Sabonis's rebounding and playmaking remains to be seen, but he is progressing to that direction. Also, Sabonis has improved his 3pt shooting to a respectable level. Sengun needs to get there too.
     
  13. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    That is why Bots will and have replaced us..... at leat they are not clueless.

     
  14. astrosrule

    astrosrule Member

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    Ya this is where i am, i think sabonis is one of the worst contracts in the nba (not as bad as someone like towns but bad) and he's a guy who was 7th in mvp voting last year. I also don't totally get why it's automatic sengun will be way better then him, when sabonis's 3rd year was better the sengun. Sengun as a center posts league average TS (1% above average) and is well below average for a center. Sabonis was better from 2, from 3, and from the line. I think sengun will be better then him, but for him to be a franchise guy he would have to be WAY better
     
  15. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    They were right to extend Sabonis--IMO the Kings are one player away (an elite defensive power forward) from being "real" contenders.
     
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  16. Strawberry Gum

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    3rd Year Sengun clears 3rd Year Sabonis, it's not even close. Sabonis of this year is the comparison for Sengun at 21 years old.
     
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  17. AroundTheWorld

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    [​IMG]

    Sabonis had 14.1 pts and 2.9 assists and half the "stocks" compared to Sengun.
     
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  18. cmoak1982

    cmoak1982 Member
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    https://stathead.com/tiny/r3go3

    3rd year Alp is miles better and younger.
    Also, Sabonis averaged .2 3 pt attempts a game
     
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  19. MystikArkitect

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    There are two types of people on Twitter. Morons and people who take what morons say seriously.
     
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  20. Houston77

    Houston77 COOKIES AND CAKE, MY TEAM BAKED!
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    Sabonis averaged 14/9/3 in his third year. On what planet is that better than Sengun's current year? Are you sure you're looking at the right year? Third year Joker is a far better comparison: 18.5/8/6 (Joker) v. 21/9.4/5 (Sengun).

    By the way, Sabonis and Joker were both a year older than Sengun in their third year.
     
    Ardeus, clos4life and AroundTheWorld like this.

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