In DEFENSE of Alperen Sengun - Analysis on why Sengun may already be an above average defender

Sengun has a stronger base and he still gets pushed around! Ja bodied him last night, which gave me Christian Wood flashbacks

 

I believe in Jabari's potential.

The reason I think he could play the three is that I view his strength on defense more on the perimeter. As I said, he is lighter on his feet. And his offensive strength is/will hopefully be perimeter shooting as well.

So I see him as a future lockdown perimeter defender who will hopefully eventually be able to knock down open threes (and get better at recovering and getting weakside blocks).

I'm far from out on Bari!

 

A question for the NBA historians out there...is there any player out there who has followed the improvement path that we would need out of Sengun? Like right now Sengun is too small and doesn't have enough length or leaping ability to be a rim protector, but he's also not quick or agile enough to switch out on the perimeter or guard smaller players at all. Does anyone have an example of a player who looked like this in his younger years, but later on was a plus defender? Someone who overcame these obstacles and limitations to become a serviceable or even good defender? I'm just curious how common something like this is, nothing immediately comes to mind, but this isn't usually the type of thing I'm able to come up with.

 

Yes, but I think it's also fixable. He is not unathletic at all. His mindset is just more on offense - he is a a bit of an offensive genius, come on, you can't tell me you don't enjoy his passing?

In a way, the unfair treatment by Silas and his gang might help make him a better player.

He is a good kid and he wants to be better at it, you can just see it.

I suspect he has just always been so much more gifted that he never had to focus on defense.

I was so much better in school than the other kids, everything came easy, every year I was offered to skip a year (but never did, I liked my friends). I just got used to not having to put in effort, but in college, I suddenly had to.

I suspect Alpi is going through that adjustment phase.

He really isn't unathletic. Look at his dunks and blocks compared to other centers.

 

Ja "bodied" some teenagers as well .

 

He’s not athletic at all lol.. he’s a better athlete than people give him credit for, but he’s still not good. He effort has also gotten bad too. Most undersized centers are athletic and switchable. We’ll see, but he’s awful without tools

 

Are you sure you are not as influenced by his (low) melanin levels as you think @hakeem94 is, with regards to other players? Objectively, he blocks a decent amount of shots, has good footwork, and is a great rebounder. He also dunks a lot. How would you do all that without athleticism?

 

What does it matter if the other guys have size length and athleticism and still get torched? Smart players can over come to those things if given the opportunity in the right system. He won't ever be a great defender but he should be serviceable if we had any structure whatsoever.

Our team is literally a bunch of Hardens falling asleep on defense and leaving people wide open for threes.

 

You're starting to catch on. They'll never admit it but trust it's there. Just a sad group of people all around.

 

I don't think it's lumbering bigs. I think all bigs eventually just get cooked. They can't keep up with the guards for 48 minutes. It just not possible. I don't even think Embiid can stay in front of the best guards.

warriors went small ball to win, death lineup didn't even have a center.

 

I don't think it is mean-spirited. If anything, it might be subconscious bias. I mean, we all know the title of that movie. But...Mac McClung...lol.

 

I'm pretty sure sengun can play center and hopefully his offensive greatness is what warrants him being able to stay on the court.

Pretty rare for bigs to not b played off the court by dem guards especially during playoff time.

Which big man's defense game matches most to sengun currently, sengun only fans?

 

Embiid isn’t a defensive liability in the playoffs…no team’s game plan would ever be to target his defense in a playoff series

lumbering bigs are often BBQ chicken

 

Al Horford
Draymond Green
Vucevic
Adebayo

Sengun is 29th in the NBA in blocked shots per game. He is 24th in rebounds.

That means, on average, there isn't a better shot blocker and rebounder on an NBA team than Sengun.

Per minute, he is higher.

He is the NBA's 9th best rebounder per 48 minutes, and the 12th best shot blocker per 48 minutes.

Please tell me, how would you do that, without athleticism?

 

In the end it will come to this. Good decision making, court vision, passing, creating your own shot, efficiency are extremely valuable in the playoffs.

As for the question I think Sengun needs to figure out how to surpass Sabonis, not just statistically but in the ways that prevent people thinking that a team with Sabonis as a building block is limited. He is years ahead of Sabonis in terms of development, and he has examples of Sabonis and Jokic in front of him. If he is smart enough and works with the right coach, team and staff, I think it is quite doable.

 

Really currently sengun is similar to these four?
Feels like u just threw 4 rando names out.

Green can play switch defense.
Vucevic gets abused by guards
Hortford is an old a$$ man
And then u have up and coming adebayo

Defense levels between the four are all over the place. They are not equal.

 

Tell me, how is someone who is the 9th best rebounder and 12th best shot blocker in the entire NBA (per 48 minutes) "unathletic" and "a bad defender"?

 

I don't think sengun is unathletic, I just dont think sengun's a good defender currently. It's happens, harden is a God at offense but he was alright on defense when he tries.

I think sengun could b serviceable center in the long run but also note that if old a$$ harden was targeting sengun and bullying him when they played against each other, the competent guards will feast on him for sure.

 

Aren't rebounding and shot-blocking part of defense? And aren't they parts which require "hops"/athleticism?

I wasn't even aware his stats in those categories were that good until I just looked it up.

To be fair, he is "only" 22nd in defensive rebounding...but 3rd in offensive rebounding - in the entire league.

And he gets more defensive rebounds per minute than Evan Mobley.

One other encouraging factoid - Sengun is 12th in blocks per minute, Jabari is 14th!

 

Just straight up delusional in here.