What is missing in the analysis as shown in the videos is the context. It was obvious that Sengun was made to guard several players at the same time while the opponents were just whizzing by the other Rockets while driving to the basket. In defense of Sengun, he should not be put into so many instances when he has to cover for the defensive lapses of his teammates. Among the videos shown is the constant lack of defense by the Rockets' perimeter players most notably, Jalen. Even DB has been burned pretty regularly now. That is not to say that Sengun himself is not at fault regarding the Rockets' defensive regression. He has shown to be lackadaisical and lazy on many occasions during games. But the numbers only show one dimension since basketball, as in all other team sports or other fields of endeavor that involve the interaction of people, depends on a myriad of variables that have to be taken into consideration to achieve validity. Statistics may show a certain truth or reality but without proper context, they may mislead the person/s trying to interpret them. Anyway, the numbers provided by the poster showed some information that may shine some light on some aspects why Sengun's defense is lacking. They cannot be all the reasons though.
middle of the pack where only 1.1 point separates him from being 5th. And with the exception of 2 players, everyone ahead has 5 or more years of experience ahead of him. It's almost as if Centers and PFs across the league get got in the PnR. Interesting, like the entire intention of the Jerry Sloan overkill is to get you out of position. In Conclusion, we've been posting this info forever in the Sengun thread with even more detailed metrics. For a player to have gravity, plus the ability to draw fouls at an elite level and have a top defensive rating at his position so early on is special. All Defensive centers. 1st team: Hartenstein from Eugene, Oregon 2nd team: Zubac 3rd team: Sengun Where Sengun has really improved is that closing out on threes is becoming more instinctive. Only 7 games where the effort has been lackadaisical. To me if a player willingly gets there to close out, that's good Defense. Unfortunately a lot of them go in against this team. Wish Battier would team them all how to faceguard.
All of the plays shown here were high screen and roll actions, which is his responsibility to cover once the on ball defender is screened.
Points in the paint wasn’t the only statistic used. Def reb%, blk%, paint FG% were also used. This thread is specifically about paint defense only. This thread is not about any other defense other than paint defense.
Haliburton had Nesmith wide on right wing which Jalen defended. Jalen would be leaving a wide open 3 if he jumped out to stop Haliburton. Jalen had 3 options. initially jump out to show then recover and cover Nesmith completely sell out and try to stop Haliburton leaving a wide open 3 stick to Nesmith and let Sengun and weak side defense stop him
I'm just a fan of this brilliant thread and want to see a franchise of threads based on it. Let's get an "in defense of Michael Jordan" or a "in defense of Lebron James" at some point. Maybe later we can get an "in defense" video of all the best players in the league. It's a phenomenal idea. Maybe one day some mad lad will be brave enough to finally stand up and defend SGA too.
You are willfully ignorant lol. That's not even what the thread is about. The tile is a play on words and Please look up the word "ironic" or "irony". What's a "mad lad" by the way? Who says "mad lad" in 2025 lmao.
Thanks man. That's what this thread is about. An honest in-depth assessment of Sengun's defense in the paint. Just a balanced and objective assessment of his paint defense numbers and what the game tape tells us.
