Who is Alperen Sengun? The All-Star sleeper leading the next phase in Houston،
The Houston Rockets have entered what the franchise calls “Phase 2” of its rebuild.
Phase 1, which began following the trade of superstar guard James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets on January 14, 2021, saw the Rockets post an NBA-worst 56-171 score from the day of the deal until 'at the end of the 2022-23 season. season.
Then, thanks to some spectacular acquisitions this past offseason, Houston accelerated its transition to becoming a playoff contender. The Rockets hired former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka in April and spent more than $200 million to sign free agents Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to provide veteran leadership.
But the Rockets' ceiling in the Western Conference will be determined by the development of their young core of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson — and 21-year-old center Alperen Sengun, who has quickly become a star. in the Turkish League just four years ago, he has become one of the best young players in the NBA today.
“He’s so talented,” VanVleet told ESPN of Sengun’s play. “He's uncontrollable. He's got a thousand moves. He's learning the higher aspects of the game now that he's going to be a star player and probably an All-Star this year.
“He will continue to learn the steps to [be one of] the grown-ups, and what they have to face every night. But yes, it’s a problem.”
Sengun saw his numbers skyrocket, setting career highs in points (21.6), rebounds (8.9), assists (4.8) and steals (1.2) per game, and his individual improvement reflects Houston's massive jump, as are the Rockets 19-21. one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Sengun gives much of the credit for this improvement to the leadership of Udoka, VanVleet and Brooks, as well as the new standards set in Houston.
“When I grew up, I was always a winning player,” Sengun told ESPN. “I've had a lot of championships. Like little ones [ones], but I got them all. I have never been a loser.
I just want to win. I can do anything to win. And the whole coaching staff, everyone just wants to win.”
Houston has a lot more wins this year, largely due to Sengun's improvement, particularly his exceptional offensive play. When Houston sent two protected first-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2021 draft to acquire Sengun at No. 16, there were few doubts about his abilities as a scorer.
That promise is coming true this season, as only Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Julius Randle average as many points, rebounds and assists as the Rockets big man. The top three have combined to win the last five MVP awards, and Randle has been an All-NBA selection in two of the last three years.
Not surprisingly, this production launched Sengun into the All-Star conversation in his third season.
“You just have to play hard and give your best on the field,” Sengun said. “Of course it would be exciting to play with all the top stars you watched as a kid.”
But even though Sengun's offense is his calling card, the Rockets are focused on his gradual improvement as a defender, even if Udoka says he has fallen “back into some old habits” on that end.
“His offense is always there, every night,” Brooks added. “His defense is here and there, and we need him every night. He's our center. He's the backbone of our defense. And the more he understands that, the better he'll get.”
Sengun and the Rockets have actually made real progress defensively. Last year, Houston was 29th in defensive rating. This year? The Rockets moved up to eighth place. And after Houston was six points per 100 possessions worse defensively with Sengun on the court than off it last season, that number was cut in half. Houston's defensive rating with Sengun on the field is 112.0 — just below the team's mark of 112.4 for the entire season.
“It’s a process,” VanVleet said. “We shout a lot on defense. He's not the only one, but his biggest challenge has always been on the defensive end. He's capable. He's more than capable.
“I played with a guy named Marc Gasol, who probably wasn't half the athlete [Sengun] He did, and he was amazing.”
For his part, Sengun embraced everything. He admitted that defense hasn't always been a priority and credited the team's veterans and coaching staff for pushing him to improve.
“I’ve never been a defensive player in my career,” Sengun said. “I was always scoring. But if you want to be an All-Star and the rest, you have to do everything.”
Sengun also made it clear that he's not afraid of tough coaching, whether from Udoka — who made a reputation for doing just that in his lone season in Boston — or veterans like VanVleet and Brooks. As a child growing up on the shores of the Black Sea, Sengun said that was the only thing he knew while developing his game professionally in Turkey.
“Where I grew up, it's like all tough coaches. I was in a small town and my coaches were always arguing and…, cursing and… I grew up in that and then now , I'm like Fred is like that, he's a player, but he can be a coach on the field.
“They just want us to learn and improve. They don't want anything else.”
Sengun and the Rockets walk a line — trying to win now while developing the future of the franchise — that rarely ends successfully. Even adding VanVleet and Brooks, Houston is signing three players under 22 in Sengun, Green and Smith and has other young players like Thompson (20) and Tari Eason (22) on rookie contracts in the rotation .
But heading into the midseason, with a playoff chance still on the line for a team that hasn't reached the playoffs without Harden since 2009, the goal is set as the franchise moves into the following its reconstruction.
And the hope is that Sengun is the rising star to get them there.
“We don't like to lose. Nobody likes to lose,” Sengun said. “Then we’re just going to go fight.”
