I think it is a little bit of all. And some bull-**** calls and not getting consistent minutes as well. He also improved as the season progressed. I don't think it will get worse and probably a little better with experience and consistent minutes. I am guessing he will be similar to guys like KAT, Sabonis, Valanciunas.
I agree that it is absolutely addressable and Sengun is too smart to not be able to figure it out. Until then though, it will be a problem until he proves it's not. I am optimistic however!
I agree that Sengun has a higher ceiling than Jokic on defense. But the difference between Sengun and Jokic is shooting. Jokic could shoot from the very beginning. He isn't elite at 3, but is much better than Sengun is. Jokic is very good at the midrange. Sengun isn't very good outside of 10 ft. Jokic's TS% in his rookie season was 58%, and had only one season below 60% since then. Sengun's rookie TS% was 55%. If Sengun does not improve his shooting, he can't be "our best player," not even close.
Is Turkey Euro? I thought it divided the continents? Anyway, I am not saying he is a bust. I am saying we are not going to make him the fulcram of our offense and he will need to change his game to fit in with Green, KPJ and others. We are not going to run a post up heavy offense, with a guy who is good 1v1, but can really struggled against taller more athletic bigs when they just have to stand there with their arms up. Al P needs to add to his bag, he needs a face up game, he needs counter moves (Dream shake? ) he needs a 3pt shot, and he needs to slip the screen from a PnR more often. I know he is only 20, my point is that if he wants to be a star - he needs to really add to his game - if he doesn't he will become a nice role player, but that may not be in Houston. I know the folks in Turkey are desperate to have their first real STAR player, i can respect that, and I do think AL P might get there, but he has a lot more work to do IMO than most realize. DD
Not only he cannot shoot, he is afraid to shoot as well. He passes open shots. I don't think his form is bad, but he refrains from taking shots.
You are right about his struggles with some bigs, but you are undervaluing the attention he gets from defenses and his efficiency when the help does not come, when he gets the ball at the right spot. Rockets can do a better job of getting him the ball at the right spots.
We're not going to talk ethnicity again (unless there is some urgent agenda) Turkey is partaking in Euro League and therefore should be considered as Euros basketballwise. Greeks do actually have a similar culture and they are considered Euros for millenias. They are in the same skill level, same playing style etc.
He won't get that attention and double teams in the NBA if he can't consistently beat his man, right now if there is a longer taller player he struggles. Was making a joke about how Turkey is half in Europe and half in Asia as the Bosphorus straight divides the two continents.....nothing more than that. DD
He was mostly getting the attention last season. Not all teams can keep such a big on the court for a long time. I think Sengun will learn to outsmart some of that competition and will continue to struggle some. At the end of the day, the best solution is to have a face up game anyway, which will completely elevate his game.
He was bust in that game but was not as bad as Sertac Sanli of Barcelona. Sanli played nearly 20 minutes, 0 points, only 3 rebounds. I wanted to watch these games to see Alpi+another big co-operation. Nothing happened so far. Ataman might decide to field Alpi-Ercani for the following games. Sanli sucks, Yurt7 left the camp in a Enes Kantaresque way, Saybir was injured, Haltali&Yasar are out of 12 men squad, Kabaca-Alpi defense is not best. Sunday against Serbia might be different than chaotic Riga game. Meanwhile Turks are certainly Asian people, originally from Altai Mountains and Siberia. I am one of Siberian/Sabir/Suvar Turk. Having one foot in European peninsula does not affect our Asianness. Turkish language is one of Trans-Eurasian (or some call it Ural-Altaic, some don't) language and sister to Japanese - Korean-Mongolian languages of Asia. Hungarian-Finnish-Estonian similarities don't make Turks as Europeans. Calling Turks as European is similar to calling Irish in the USA as American. They're Irish, we are Asian or Eurasian but never only European.
it will be a tough game vs Serbia because for Serbia its a must win game..if they lose they are almost 100% out of contention...
some call it afraid other think its smart and/or looking for the rhythm...3 pointer is not always a good shot even if youre open...harden often refused to take wide open 3 pointers...theres more to shooting than being open or not... however there are many people who are ignorant of this and very often these people never played basketball or didnt step on the court in the last 10 years...
Afraid is maybe not the most accurate description but nor is smart/looking for rhythm. He doesn't want to get out of his comfort zone, to put in another way And it is not just 3s.
