I was very encouraged today by Sengun, in the first half Turkey was trying to feature him and he was struggling facing triple teams. I have been worried if he can be effective when he is NOT the focus of the offense etc.....and in the 2nd half he wasn't, he was just another team player out there and was highly effective. I don't believe he will be "THE GUY" in the NBA, but if he can be an effective role player then hell yes !!! DD
I watched the game and decided to watch again when I read the comments (very different than my thoughts). Finished the second watch now. My thoughts: 1.Before the game I commented that it was time to start Alpi-Osmani duo because Sanli was not good at the moment. It happened. 2.It would create more effective Alpi on offence as Osmani would be more focusing defense. It did not happen because Alpi played alone against Jokic which is not easy for any player in the world.Alpi was substitued. 3.Coach realized that Turks needed double-team Jokic (Serbs were winning 21 then) as 7 footer Osmani as main defender and Alpi as helper.It worked. 4.The things became more easy when veteran forward Lucic was fouled out at the end of 3rd quarter.With the help of another defensive big Alpi started to grab rebounds- 13 total but more importantly 6 offensive rebounds against Jokic's team.No other Turk grabbed more than 1 offensive rebounds (Jokic had 5, Lucic had 2 off rebs for Serbia) 5.Alpi was on the floor more than 85% of playing time. 75% would be optimum. Little bit too much. 6. Finished 17 p, 13 r, 2a, 2b , 3to, +/-3 and team high 25 efficiency (tied with Jokic for game high). Scored 1/4 of total Turkish points, grabbed 1/3 of rebs, 40% of blocks and 12.5% of assists. Except assists all wonderful numbers. Considerations: 1. Alpi should play with another defensive big. Today's pair Ercan Osmani was his teammate in Bandirma, they knew each other and it helped. 2.30 mins/game in FIBA and 32-33 mins/NBA seems optimum at the moment. More than that might be too much for a certain period. 3.Alpi never played in a challenging team as an adult and these international games might be the first he feels pressure. Banvit was a nurturing team, Besiktas focused on soccer as a club and Rockets were tanking. No winning pressure, no winning culture. All he should do shine within the bunch. I hoped him to learn winning mentality from Ataman, 3pt shooting from Memo Okur and to play with a defensive big. I did not see the hunger at the end of the game. OK, Cedi Osman killed the momentum (similar to overtime loss to the USA) but if Alpi or Furkan Korkmaz used the ball at the end they might win the game. Hopes: 1.Alpi will handle offense when Jabari and Garuba/Bruno will be defensive anchors. 2.Alpi easily play 30 minutes per game and catch 18points/8rebounds/5-6 assists and 2 blocks/steals. Easy. 3.He needs to play for a winning team. Success/winning-Failure/losing is contagious. No more tanking please.
When his rookie contract finish and the others offer him max, we will see whether he is starting caliber or not.
The thing is, Jabari Smith isn't really a defensive anchor type either, from what I've seen. In this game Sengun was more effective at the power forward position, which is Smith's position. So I'm really curious see how/whether Smith and Sengun's games will mesh on the court.
As far as I understand it was like a positionless 4&5. Osmani was mainly 5 in defense against Jokic and Alpi was 5 againt Nikita Milutinov. Alpi was more 5 at the offense. Ataman did not let him to play-make when attacking and combo-guard Larkin struggled in solo play making. Wished Ataman let Alpi to create more chances. When Ercani was doing dirty job Alpi was grabbing the rebounds in CWood style. He learnt one thing or two last year
thank you for the analysis... btw in your opinion what are the chances now for Turkiye to qualify for WC?
I'm not sure how you could have watched Smith and come away with that hilarious take. Also, name a player who is more effective going against an MVP caliber player than they are against a random scrub.... I'll wait. With Sengun and Smith, you have 2 "bigs", it really doesn't matter what you call them. Why would you think it would be difficult for a plus passer to "mesh" with a spot shooter? Seems like a fairly perfect pairing.
Qualification format is a little bit strange. They played in another groups as the first stage and Serbia lost two games against Belgium due to absence of NBA stars. Otherwise Serbia would be automatic qualifier. The remaining 4 game days will be quite likely without NBA stars. No Jokic, no Gianni, no Porzingis, no Alpi. It seems that Greece and Latvia will qualify and Britain is a role player. The Gordian's knot will be cut in Serbia-Turkey game in Belgrade. Serbia will beat Britain in two matches as Turkey will beat Belgium in 2. Greece might beat Jokicless Serbia in Greece and Turkey can easily pass Porzingis&Bertans-less Latvia in Turkey. The game in Serbia will be decider. 65%Serbia,35%Turkey is my guess. I don't see Belgium to win any game except Britain.
By defensive anchor, I meant the traditional rim-protecting big who plays near the paint. From what I've seen, that isn't Smith's game, though his defensive skills are already excellent. But rereading Ankara1923's post, I think he may have meant it in a different way.
Don't worry. The city name Ankara comes from Latin Ankyra means anchor. We are accustomed to use anchor word in different ways. Old habits die hard
Yeah I do agree they look like an ideal pairing on paper. There's a good chance they'll work well together. (I don't believe I said it would be a difficult pairing.) Among the rookies, I can see Easton cutting toward the basket and benefiting the most from Sengun's passes. I can also imagine Smith being used mostly as a spot-up shooter at the start of the season, but I'd be interested to see how he reads and reacts when Sengun has the ball.
Losing to Jokic in OT is nothing to be ashamed of, Sengun played very well and still only 20 yo. Especially when Jokic embarrassed the most recent NBA champion who holds both MVP + DPOY awards.
Bam Adebayo is one of the best defensive anchors. He isn't a great shot blocker. Jabari Smith hopefully becomes a defensive anchor like Adebayo.
Alpy with another inconsistent game -- really bad shooting vs Montenegro. It is what it is .. biggest takeaway? Shane Larkin is a Turk?? Genuinely surprised. At least Turkey won! Consistency is key with all the young guys on the team.
Maybe not today, but today doesn't matter when you are rebuilding. The question of how good Sengun is - is irrelevant. The right question is, how good will he get and how quickly? And the answer is that no one really knows for sure as a lot depends on that. We can only wait an see how he grows. But the potential is there in his strengths. It's all a question of how much he can mitigate his weaknesses and develop those strengths further. In my view, it's a wait and see, and there's no reason not to start him on a redeveloping team. It's a low risk move to give him that opportunity. If it doesn't work out, at worst you get better draft position in the lottery, and you go after Miles Turner in free agency. And if does work out, well H-Town is Happy-Town.
