For a team that bottomed out just 3 yrs ago its unrealistic to expect them to be contenders this soon. We have 2 vets and a bunch of 22 yr olds its already a minor miracle this team is this good this fast. Players hit their prime 25+ thats why Lebron and MJ won their rings at age 28. We're like 7 yrs younger than the goats.
His game is completely shut off once he can't body himself to the rim. He has no jumper and no confidence to even shoot it. Bam exposed him.
Yeah really exposed him holding him to 57% and 18 rebounds while only taking 14 shots while also shutting down Bam's averages. 4/12 If you want to say Spoeltra had a plan then that's a different story.
What exposes Sengun is games when fvv and Jalen shoot like they do today. Because it's just help defender after help defender coming at him from all angles And then we have refs who let one team play physical and the other team can't do anything.
Sure but Sengun not having a reliable 10-15 foot jumper is holding him back from being a true #1 option. It's there for him but he won't take it. Jalen and FVV are lost causes at this point. I don't even want to get into that.
Yeah he needs to shoot the flamingo more and have a counter move. But he had no issues getting to rim today. So it wasn't really necessary he didn't really take any shots done the stretch.
It seems harsh but it's probably the truth, being a franchise player is a high bar. Right now he's looking like he's probably a perennial all star and maybe low all-nba guy, never superstar, never MVP candidate. Good enough to be second best on a championship contender but probably not true superstar. More Pau Gasol than Nikola Jokic. He's still a very good player but I don't think we'll go far if he's our "franchise player."
It was necessary and has been necessary down the stretch. His refusal to take that shot often leads him to try and find FVV for brick after brick with the clock winding down. There were a few times he tried to get to the rim and he tossed up a shot in which he may or may not have gotten fouled but they don't get called at the end of games.
They got called for heat. Yes 2 years from now if he still doesn't take it trust that shot we have an issue. You can't expect him to get there in one year. He's shooting it more now. I'm just glad his touch around the rim has gotten better again last two games. Cuz he was missing easy shots.
This loss is definitely not on Alpi, but there are concerns. He started 7/7 but finished 1/7 after that. Bam completely neutered him in the 4th quarter when the Rockets offense completely stalled and desperately needed someone to ride. The 18 rebounds were great. Alpi has gone to another level rebounding this year, whether he's scoring or not.
I don’t think Pau Gasol-esque is even an insult. Pau is one of my favorite players ever, and while you can argue that he needed Kobe to win his chips, my argument is that Kobe needed Pau to even SNIFF the finals. I think Alpi is already better than Domantas Sabonis, by sheer value of his dynamism on offense and his defensive ability. I also do not think he will win an MVP in his career, and I would be elated if I was wrong. I think he is going to be an All-NBA caliber player for sure, though (if he isn’t one already)
If you watched this game and you think Alpi was the problem, I don't know what to say to you. Can we have a +/- update please.
Im almost positive Alperen can at least be a second best player on a championship team. Not sure about him being a 1A, but the guy is still only 22 so who knows. Rockets need to get a better pg and/or sg paired with him.
