Alperen Sengun is the Rockets' REAL franchise player - all other threads are copycats

I think the Ime offense is just way less freewheeling than it was under Silas. Jalen is obviously struggling, but Alpi is having a bit of trouble adjusting (in terms of being a passer) as well. His bballiq is just so high that it looks like he's already got everything down, but this is only the beginning for him as well. As he gets more comfortable I think we'll see more of his best trait: making everyone around him look good.

I have a feeling that'll also be when Jalen starts to break out, if it's gonna happen at all

 

I would say that the FVV/Jalen P&R with Sengun is a vast improvement over past seasons. People underestimate Green in that regard. If he could consistently just stop and pop when the feed isn’t there, he would be a much more potent offensive force. Hope he can get better at that and finishing.

 

Also, as an addendum, I don't want to compare Alpi to Jokic because it's not fair comparing ANYONE to possibly the best big man passer to ever play this game, but one of the reasons Jokic is able to make so many crazy passes is that he's intimately familiar with where everyone is going to be.

It's his unreal vision and intelligence that allows him to then manipulate the defense to his will. In Denver, there is continuity there and chemistry, neither of which tends to come easily to a greener squad like ours.

We have a new system, new starters, a young roster and yet we're already overachieving. Everyone seems to like each other, and there aren't any bad apples in the locker room. It's only going to get more fun from here on out!

 

Jalen has definitely gotten way better in the pick and roll, and the next step is for him to play more freely. He's doing a good job of hitting Alpi's pocket but I can tell that a lot of times he's already decided on a course of action before the play has even unfolded. Once he figures out how to take what the defenses give him instead of forcing the issue, he'll be a really dangerous ball handler in the pnr.

In essence, he's learned how to play the song, but he hasn't figured out how to improvise on it yet.

 

Great analogy.

 

I am actually surprised that his passing profile did not expand. He is easily finding the open 3 point and the mismatches but not much else. Even a decrease in passing to cutters.

 

Got caught in no man's land 3 or 4 possesions in a row. His short wingspan (7'1-7'2 at best) is not helping him. Trae is an elite playmaker and knew Sengun wasn't gonna recover. Luckily there are not a lot of Traes in the league. Ime should have benched him earlier.

 

overrated

 

That was painful to watch. This might just be a really bad matchup for him. He’s been off for several games, it seems, but hasn’t looked this bad defensively all season.

 

Man, when he’s bad, he’s really bad, especially defensively. I know the Kanter comp is a low hanging fruit but NBA players used to openly mock Kanter for his PNR defense. But man, I’m getting worried.

 

He's looked really tired lately. Not as sharp as earlier in the season. A lot of his shots have been short.

 

Yea it was painful. Bad matchup maybe i dunno Trae to Okongwu worked very well. Sengun probably should have made adjustments and stayed close to the rim. He is slow so he can't recover. I mean he needs to be aware of his shortcomings and make adjustments in certain games because he can't afford to fall asleep on defense.

 

Just a bad game and a bad matchup, he'll learn.

 

I agree with this, he's been playing with less energy lately.

Usually if he made a defensive mistake he'd cover it up with pure hustle but there hasn't been much of that lately.

 

and some people wouldnt trade this guy from embiid smh

 

There was a sequence earlier in the season where Alpi turned it over but then hustled his ASS off to basically single-handedly win us a game.

I think early on he was definitely playing with a lot of that frenetic energy but that would drain anyone, and we're seeing him play more methodically now...which is not always how he plays the best. I think the long breaks followed by intense bursts in our schedule is really not doing Alpi--or anyone on our team, really--any favors.

He'll find his second wind, I think. But he's definitely looked rougher these last 5 games or so. He's young, he's smart, he'll bounce back.

 

He wasnt great on d today but if they ask Sengun to show on the pick and then recover another man has to drop in the paint so okungwu doesn't just get a free run at the rim and give him time to get back.

When Sengun went out you saw Jalen help on that same play and it ended in a turnover. Don't know why no one was helping sooner. It's an impossible cover for Sengun or anyone without some help.

 

Right. Sengun seemed a little slow to react on the slip and he’d make the lob tougher if he had a few inch longer wingspan but there was some scheme breakdown as well slowing down the slip. I think this will get cleaned up some after their film session. Not super worried about it.