The team really does Sengun a disservice by not having any movement off-ball when he's got it back to the basket. There was a great camera shot from the game tonight showing Sengun several feet outside the key, back to the basket surveying the court. All Rockets on the perimeter - wide open key - zero movement. How many easy assists does he not get each night by having no one pick up the KJ role. Those beautiful behind the back/no look passes have definitely decreased significantly this season. They really need to from here on out start structuring the team exactly like Denver has.
I agree. Needs to stop dragging himself and the rest of the team down with negative facial expressions and body language when things aren't going well. Good learning experience. 2 out of 20 bad games is ok for a 21 year old.
Realistically it was always going to be hard to score in the paint in the halfcourt against a JJJ/Biyombo frontcourt. I think that explains a lot of Sengun's struggles last night. For as busted and broken-down as the Grizz are right now, they do still have that one thing going for them. Nevertheless, if he wants to get to the next level, he is going to have to find a way to make it happen against strong defensive frontcourts. Go to that little "flamingo" more, focus in on his passing, whatever it takes.
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I saw that as well. Just not a great night, still got almost a double double in 24 minutes. On another note, these are the most tweets from that account about Alpi after a game this season.
To me, Alpi has been showing a few signs of wear and tear: missing shots that he can make, slow responses on D, etc. He's playing the most minutes ever and that will lead to some ups and downs. We'll see these guys again tomorrow in Memphis. It will take a little more focused effort to get a second-road win. Not sure why Memphis is 1-10 at home vs. 5-7 on the road.
He needs to stop f*cking fouling on tip-offs. He got his 1st personal before the game is started, and he didn't touch anyone in the 1st quarter to avoid 2nd foul then he missed 3 bunnies and mentally collapsed. He really needs to work on the mental aspect of his game.
The good news for Sengun is that JJJ only scored 9 of his 44 points when guarded by Sengun. The bad news for Sengun is that JJJ went 4-4 against him in 96 seconds haha. And Alpi really struggled against Biyombo - went 1-7 - Bismack guarded him very well. Just a crap game from him all around. Deserved to watch the game from the bench in the end. Hopefully he bounces back next game.
When Jokic struggled against the Rockets last game, he didn't force his shot to try to get going. Alpi should watch how his idol plays in bad games too.
There seems to be a pattern of the type of players Sengun struggles against. This is the 2nd game against JJJ like this. Jokic/Sabonis/Williams plodder types with size don't seem to bother him. But tighter more nimble, long athletic types (Davis, JJJ, Adebayo, Giannis) seem to give him more issue.
I was thinking the previous night about Alperen's temperament... Bright kid, intelligent, hoopster... However a bit exuberant. It helps a lot in this league if you're an emotional invalid in the mold of Duncan/Kawhi... Or a thick country boy like Nicola... He'll need to learn to mute his emotions.
I think Ime said it best, you can't let a bad shooting night leak into the rest of your game. That's why Green and Sengun got benched. Their frustration with their offense bled into other aspects of the game and it showed.
The evening started shitty for Alpi already, getting a foul on the opening tip is kinda crazy. Then he was trying to avoid picking up the second, which made him pretty much a turnstile on defense. Then he missed some easy shots (yes, Biyombo did a good job guarding him, but those were shots he normally makes). And then it was kind of all downhill from there.
I think it’s too small a sample. This game reminds me of his preseason. Sometimes he just has zero lift and is a step slower for some reason. He missed easy shots right at the rim - that’s on him, not the defender.
He might just be tired. His outside shot hasn't been falling either. Rockets should consider resting him and FVV @ Cleveland and letting Amen and Aaron run the show. It'll probably be a loss anyway so may as well give Amen some run and get their legs back instead of running them into the ground some more.
He's had a rough little stretch here but I'm not really worried about him. Ime has shown no one is exempt from benching. Jabari came back really strong after his.
Maybe. With Sengun, I actually think it's more mental. Like most players, you tend to play down to your competition. But if you want to be a star, you can't have that attitude. The Rockets have been doing that recently. Ime was smart to play the guys with effort, energy, and focus.
