Alperen Şengün of the Houston Rockets | 24 Under 24
Sam & Bryce discuss Alperen Şengün of the Houston Rockets during their 24 Under 24 In ’24 rankings.
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13 Comments
I would remind y'all that he anchored a top 10 defense.
I want to see him improve his rebounding, outside shooting and yes defense. Sky's the limit with this dude.
Also, i think the Rockets have a future number one guy. Sengun will be in a couple of years. Green could be. Jabari, Amen and Cam will develop into number two guys.
I hope the front office doesn't touch the core for at least one more season.
fred was good as an interim starting PG while the young guys developed but he was nowhere close to our best player. fred played the whole season being able to take an open 3 whenever he wanted to with a Sengun screen. thank god for those screens because fred had the lowest fg% in the league when shooting at the rim. And not only did a majority of Fred's scoring come from Sengun screens but also the majority of his assist were just pocket passes off the PnR while Sengun did the heavy lifting by creating and finishing at the rim.
some assists, the passer deserves 80-90% of the credit. Like when Harden would gift Capela a perfectly placed lob at the rim right were he could get it. but the passes from fred to Sengun, i give 60-70% credit to the roll man.
another thing to note that might escape someone that didn't watch all 82 rockets games was that Sengun looked like he was testing himself at times. he rarely tries to force a switch with a weaker, smaller defender. more often, Sengun looks to attack the best defenders on purpose. Wemby, AD, Rudy, Chet, walker kessler etc. he never shies away from a difficult matchup and he often delivers in such scenarios. I don't think there's a player in the league that can lock him down consistently.
additionally, you say he's not athletic but that's cap. he's one of the most athletic big men in the league. h'es strong, quick, flexible, and has elite body control. athleticism needs to stop being used as another word for verticality.
Defensively, most people just look at the EPM stats and assume he's gotten a bit better on defense since his rookie year. The full story is that when he came into the league, he was an aggressive defender that fouled a lot which limited his minutes. after Ime arrived (because Silas taught these guys nothing it seems) Sengun learned to defend in the paint without fouling. a lot of his contest this year looked completely different to how sengun would contest a shot in his first 2 seasons. in previous years, at the rim when someone goes up to dunk, he's jumping with them and partially at them with his arms outstretched over them. that led to a lot of foul calls becasue offensive vets knew how to get the whistle. last year, Sengun played defense in the paint a bit less aggressive and at those crucial contests, he would stick his arms straight up to avoid fouls as much as possible. he stopped jumping at guys as much and realized he could just let them jump at him and absorb their contact and most of the time they would miss. he's still improving and learning what he's allowed to get away with before the official blows the whistle but he still anchored a top 10 defense at 21 in his first year with a real coach.
After 3 seasons, Sengun is still the underdog. This guy has never been respected enough for his talent, unselfish gameplay and great work ethics.
Sengun is a creative genius who can crack open any defense in NBA.
I think jalen is gonna have something to say about that
One factor to not disregard in evaluating Sengun (and to a lesser extent Tari & Jabari), is the world of difference in development under Udoka vs. the unstructured limbo they all suffered under former coach Silas. One almost wants to restart the clock completely for Green and Sengun at last year. Sengun, not only was he not a developmental priority, like Green and KPJ, but it almost seemed like he was in the doghouse under Silas, playing behind Theis, Christian Wood and even Bruno Fernando. The best player on the team treated, at best as an afterthought, and almost as an annoyance by the Silas coaching staff. The whole Rockets defense sucked under Silas. Last year was the first year with data on what is Sengun's defense like under a defensive minded coach with four other guys actually trying to play defense.
Considering some of the names you put above him, it is clear that y'all are still underrating him. You don't realize that his winning impact is related to the Rockets' 3pt%. And it's funny that you don't see him as the #1 player. I will laugh more at this video when he misleads y'all again and again.
sengun disrespect is real lmao number 14? ydkb
11:14 Sengun is good vertically but he prefers to use his flexibility and post moves offensively. There are not many offensive options once you jump.
Sengun can open the distance between himself and the defender at least 4 feet only by bending his spine backwards.
Sengun is the #1.
Green is one of the biggest variables, but also imo the most natural fit as a true number 1. If his outside shooting levels out as…not as high as his hot streak, but somewhere between that and his career…and continues to put in the effort on D and on the boards and look to pass, with the talent around him I think he can be that guy.
Of course he’s also the most likely to play himself out of a role, so…but his skill set imo translates the most naturally, there isn’t really an offensive skill he doesn’t possess at a high level except processing, and that’s gotta better with Udoka.
Sengun WAY too low… JFC. When will he get his respect…?