Will Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun rise or fall in the playoffs?

This is a great post and highlights why I always had reservations of turning Sengun into a "score-first" option and mentality. For me, his ceiling as a floor raiser is much higher if he could maximize his playmaking duties and when the mismatch happens, then punish that. Otherwise he is too inefficient to rely as our first scoring option. In dream scenario he is our 3-4rd option to finish the play.

 

Sengun’s problem is how slow he makes the decision. In fact, that is the problem with our offense as a whole. When Amen is control, he makes the decision within a second or two where to go with the ball. FVV, Jalen, and Sengun play with their food too much.

 

I’ll just say that even if Fred does well in the playoffs, it’s not going to remove the stain of this season for me. Fred can’t continue in the heavy minutes starter role next season.

 

It depends who we play. I think Sengun's experience in the Turkish league will help, I don't think he's easily fazed by pressure. I think Jalen struggles against bigger/aggressive players but he has shown to rise up to the occasion under pressure. I'm interested to see how teams will play Amen. We'll see, but I'm REALLY excited to see our young squad perform.

 

These are very good points. The style of play we have would benefit from a longer rotation just like it's been most of the season up until the last few weeks.

 

I don't understand why posters on here complain so much about Udoka...he accomplished a 50-win season after our team being the joke of the West!
Yall think Silas would've done better with this roster? I remember Silas saying in an interview describing his offensive philosophy as "chaotic offense"...smh, what a joke of a coach!
Silas alone set back the development of our young players so Udoka coming in to change the mentality of our players, breaking bad habits, and cultivating future All-stars is one hell of an accomplishment!
Look at JJ Reddicks assistant coaching lineup with Scotty Brooks/Nate McMillan vs our assistant coaches...I think Udoka deserves more credit than what most people are giving on this forum.

 

It's about the team, not about Jalen or Alperen. They are just part of the team.

And do not underestimate this team.
It will rise and surprise like it did all season.

 

This is their first-ever playoff experience so let's give them some slack. We can determine whether they rise and fall in the playoffs next season if the Rockets make it again and both of them are still with the team and relatively healthy. Until then, let's just enjoy and see what these playoff babies can do. That also includes Amen, Tari, Bari, Reed, and possibly, Cam. The good thing is that there are veterans on the team including ones with championship rings and experience. Let the games begin!

 

I hope both does well, but if I had to choice one I think it could be Sengun that could get expose this playoff.

 

Almost all previous posts have Sengun penned as failing in the playoff test. Maybe, but there is a caveat to all that. It is almost with absolute certainty that the team that they will play against will focus ALL of their defensive schemes against Alpi. The burden is really on his teammates to do their part in taking advantage of this total defensive focus on Alpi. If they play smart, and if Ime and the coaches would adapt their offensive schemes to have the other players take advantage of this and turn it into the opponent's weakness, then Sengun might not have seemingly mediocre stats but that could result in wins for the Rockets. It is not purely a matter of who will play better or worse between Sengun and Jalen, it is a matter of the coaches and the whole team understanding what they have and what is thrown at them when the playoffs come. The fact that the team has performed this well during the season, and the fact that they did it by spreading the scoring and every player giving their best contributions and not relying on one single "superstar", there is every reason to anticipate that the Rockets' success will largely depend on the team as a whole and how Ime can raise his coaching to a higher lever. The good news is that he has proven that he can do this with the Celtics. Maybe, we will need to treat these playoffs as first of all, a learning experience, and secondly, not as a series dependent on one or two players but on the whole team which was the formula for this season's success in the first place.

 

We're not a great 3-point shooting team so doubling Alpi in the post plays into our opponents' strategy of making us a perimeter team. That's also true for Amen.

 

I haven't watched the video...
So Clutch's saying Jalen'll shine while Alpi stinks it up on both ends, right?

 

Im sure it will be a rough start as you can never be prepared for what the playoffs bring...
We will need to lean on our veterans to get us going.

 

I expect them both to do well

Rocket River

 

Psst!! THAT WAS PLAYOFF BASKETBALL!!!

Rocket River