Anyone who has been a Rockets fan for any length of time should be a fan of the big guy in the middle based on our history of having some of the top centers in history including the GOAT Dream.
Rockets Alperen Sengun Ranks as NBA's Sixth-Best Player He is now 5th best player by this ranking system. https://www.hoopshype.com/rankings/players/
Jokic with a statement “you’re not me” game. Until Alpi becomes a better and more consistent shooter, he is not an MVP level player. Has become overall an all-star level player but shooting and finishing is his limitation.
He keeps improving. Jokic would have these types of games all the time at 24 until he didn't. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jokicni01/gamelog/2020
He's had great games and wins against Jokic in the past. Didn't have it today, that's okay. Learn from it and beat them next time.
Except at the same career point Jokic had a much better shooting percentage. Sengun somehow needs to find a way to improve his finishing inside and shooting from midrange.
Well that puts all the emphasis on the "Baby" and less emphasis on the "Jokic". Also, I told y'all we can't stop Jokic and it has nothing to do with the quantity of C's we throw out there. We just don't have an elite defensive C and he's the best offensive C in the history of the sport. No shame in losing a battle to Jokic, but he got absolutely demolished and that's not ok when an All Star goes up against an MVP. Not only did Jokic destroy him, but Sengun reverted into that mood where he just makes passive aggressive unforced mistakes (late 3rd). He has to keep his head in it for his teammates, he should believe in them to win even when he's off himself. Jokic is good at guarding the post and very good at disrupting the mid range shots. For Sengun to sit in the paint and mid range against a guy who's preference is to play drop coverage was stupid. Not sure if that was Sengun's or Udoka's idea. He should have taken 4-5 3pters this game and brought Jokic out of the paint. If he makes them, it's a win. If he doesn't make them, you still brought Jokic out of the paint so others can attack it. If he comes out of the paint to guard those shots, you also unlock your competitive advantage of being quicker and more agile than Jokic (drives). It was an unacceptable performance. We absolutely should forgive him, he has earned that. It was a good lesson for him, hopefully the subsequent film session will better prepare him for the playoffs. This loss might be worth the lessons we get out of it.
Apparently this video got him in some trouble in Turkey because he was drinking “Raki” on camera. I wonder what role that played in his assterclass performance tonight
He was in his head from the get go and couldn't break out of it as he does sometimes. Don't care if you airball a 3. You gotta keep pulling up if they disrespect you like that. Especially, if you share the court with Adams and Amen. Embrace Amen's IDGAF approach.
