Alperen Sengun is the Rockets' franchise player

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There are risks a team weighs when creating that environment. Different players, different people, respond in their own ways when another man is placed across from his plate. VanVleet and Dillon Brooks were truly complementary veterans to help nourish the Rockets’ prospects. Lopez, though, could have stood directly in Şengün’s path, even if Houston envisioned them possibly sharing the floor. But Lopez was a strong enough player, a DPOY candidate seemingly for the taking, that the Rockets nonetheless felt compelled to pursue him.

“For us, we had money to spend and we wanted to balance the roster with leadership and veterans and somewhat different players,” Udoka said. “I think Alperen’s skillset is unique compared to other guys we were looking at. And so from that standpoint, we just looked at the depth overall, if we added another center, but something that complements what Alperen does already.”

Maybe Lopez and Şengün could have split an even platoon at the position, where Houston held two top-tier giants to man every minute of every matchup. That balance also offered the chance for Lopez, 35, to ease his way through the latter stages of his career, at one point maybe giving way to Şengün’s lead and shifting into more of a backup role himself. The Rockets, after all, went forward with acquiring injured center Steven Adams before the trade deadline, eying that similar setup for 2024-25.

Adams may be a more congruent mentor for Şengün, more of a right-place, right-time defender than a fearsome rim protector. Similar to how VanVleet and Brooks have already helped the Rockets sport the league’s seventh-stingiest defense this season. Houston’s coaching staff has marveled at their team’s proficiency on that side of the floor, such a prioritized principle of this regime, while Şengün and Green are still learning every possession how to defend within a competitive, connected web. The success has been largely due to the veterans’ know-how, but also a big credit to Şengün. He spent his first two seasons in a trial by fire in drop coverage — Lopez’s speciality — getting burned at the stake while the Rockets watched him try to withstand the heat. Now he’s grown impressively capable of adapting across multiple coverages.

He has quick hands and strong anticipation. Şengün has excelled at defending without fouling and gobbling everything off the boards. Progressing on this side of the sport was also Şengün’s leading takeaway following last season, how to personally start turning the page toward playoff contention, no matter his next coach or rumored replacement.

“I didn’t understand that as, ‘Brook was gonna come and I needed to.’ I just know I have to do a better job on defense. If you want to win, if you want to be a ‘winner player,’ you have to do everything on the court,” Şengün said. “I mean, Brook Lopez is a really good player. A really good defensive player, you know? But, I mean, he’s a good shot blocker. I don’t think he’s as good one-on-one player [as me.] We have different physical body. Like, he’s so tall. He’s big. He can block all the shots. I know I can’t block all the shots. I know that. I don’t have long arms. I’m not [that] tall. I just need to be where I have to be and just stay vertical. To jump straight up and just make their job harder.”

“His IQ and his skillset is all there,” Udoka said. “It’s just a matter of maturing and kind of taking that step, and he’s done that.”

The work began in Santa Barbara, where scores of NBA players have trained with the sports scientists at P3 Peak Performance Project. Like Jokić, and Luka Dončić, and Harden before them, Şengün registered impressive numbers for his hyper-fluid movements that traditional performance data doesn’t value. He is flexible beyond belief, light on his feet, able to stretch the long legs of his 6-foot-11 frame into a complete split.

He sported a movement quality, those nimble legs and melty hips, that clustered Şengün much more tightly with the guards P3 has tested than the bigs. There were plenty of similarities with Jokić’s biometric profile, a former youth point guard himself, and it’s even less surprising both have incorporated a one-footed fadeaway that’s proven virtually unguardable.

After helping the Turkish national team compete in pre-Olympic qualifiers, Şengün returned to Houston eager to learn the Rockets’ new principles from assistant Royal Ivey, a former point guard. There were long days, down in a stance, shuffling those dancing feet for every necessary rotation. “He took that step initially right when we got to camp,” Udoka said. “He kinda took that challenge on and he’s been really good this year.”

“They taught us all the things, but now we see how it works,” Şengün said.

Another former player, longtime Spurs center Tiago Splitter, is Şengün’s personal development coach. Assistant Ben Sullivan, who followed Udoka from the Celtics, is yet another towering presence at 6-10 who can impersonate Şengün’s particular shooting mechanics as easily as the coach offers him tidbits and low-post sparring tricks. “He’s always giving me advice,” Şengün said. This is as new of a challenge for Houston’s coaches as it is for their young core, a staff largely hailing from contending clubs and learning how to best impress day-to-day practices that culminate into victories. Şengün marks one clear success story. Their lunch-pail style has melded perfectly with the demanding approach Şengün always craved from his European coaches.

“They’re all helping us. Like, Ime’s a perfect coach. He’s the best coach I ever had, probably,” Şengün said. “But not just Ime. Our whole coaching staff is amazing. Everybody’s doing a great job. Everybody wants to win. I’ve never seen a coaching staff like this in my life. And when you see, you understand. They’re tough. They’re talking to us. They’re not scared of anything.”

All this, two years after Şengün arrived for Summer League from Turkey hardly comprehending a lick of the NBA’s language. Last season, our conversation would have required the help of Şengün’s translator, the former Turkish player Orhun Gungoren, who was also represented by Excel and lived with Şengün during his rookie campaign. They went everywhere together, Gungoren coming along for road trips, helping him understand daily walk-throughs and the minutia being described during player’s association meetings. “He knows, but he’s not really that good at English either,” Şengün grinned. “He was just trying his best.” Now Şengün’s adopted big brother has transitioned into a full-time role within the Rockets’ video room.

Şengün gave Gungoren one of his best clips in early January, when a certain Eastern Conference contender rolled through Houston. With just over 90 seconds to play and the Rockets nursing a six-point lead, Şengün drove hard out of another pick-and-roll from VanVleet. He plowed a shoulder into his mountainous defender, drawing defensive help from Antetokounmpo on the baseline. And there was nothing the Greek Freak, nothing Lopez, nothing anyone anyone could do to stop Şengün from wrapping a no-look bounce pass. Not just around his back, but around Giannis as well, leaving Smith wide open in the corner for a triple and a dagger in the Bucks’ loss. Another sip of revenge for a budding All-Star.

 

Really great article.

I want to let bygones be bygones, but reading this, I cannot help feeling annoyed that Stone and the previous coaching staff basically wasted two years of Sengun's development and prioritized KPJ and Jalen chucking.

And after wanting to start Bruno freaking Fernando (and getting props for this from parts of the fan base) over him at the start of last season, they were still trying to push him back to the bench at the start of this season.

Sengun is just too good, so he persevered anyway and broke through.

But he did it in spite of "the front office" and certain parts of the fan base, not because of them.

Our rebuild could be further ahead if we had prioritized Sengun properly and if we had not had an utterly inept coaching staff for the first two years of him being here.

I will never forget or forgive the almost hateful disdain one of the assistant coaches had in his postgame interviews when he spoke about this kid who was trying his best.

And even now, not all fans are supporting this kid. And even now, we hear from Jackson Gatlin that "the front office" views him as less important than Amen, Bari, Tari.

Stone has some questions to answer. If people who are definitely not basketball savants like several of us could see it a long time ago, how did he not see it?

Sure, he can try to spin it as he has started doing by saying "nothing that Sengun does surprises me", but the fact of the matter is that he has not been supportive of Sengun and prioritized lesser players.

In my opinion, the only way he can save his job is to come out like Mike Malone did when he said he would not trade Jokic for anyone in the world.

And to just flat out state that the franchise will be built around Sengun.

Fertitta is a savvy business man. At this point, he knows.

He will tell Stone to shut up and listen. Or show him the door.

 

Amazing insider insight, thanks @Nook.

Do you have any insight on how they actually view him now? I mean, as recently as a week or so ago, Jackson told us they view him as less important than Amen, Bari, Tari.

 

I believe Clutch said on RocketsWatch that the plan was definitely to start Lopez and move Sengun to the bench (if my memory does not betray me).

 

I honestly believe that if Tari had been available the whole season and if we had had a shooting guard with a good 3-point percentage and defense and otherwise average efficiency, this team would have a winning record already.

Stone did not build around Sengun. He was trying to do the opposite. He was still trying to prioritize Green. He possibly still thought that the Rockets core is Jalen Green.

We need to just properly build around Sengun this offseason.

Get Reed Sheppard. Get Tyus Jones.

I mean, we would have a big part of the winning core of Memphis...Tyus, Dillon, Adams...lol

 

But Sengun is too good to be a backup.

He is "not no 6th man".

 

My eyes hurt. WTF is this.