Is the Houston Rockets early season success for real? In this enhanced segment from the Thinking Basketball podcast, Cody and Ben break down Alperen Penguin’s 2024 leap to stardom and why the Rockets have improved enough to make the playoffs in the competitive Western Conference.
–Full episode–
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrBnwBYE0no
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Th3qJyvg9T0StWe2wiZ9N
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/233-most-improved-player-predictions/id1428290303?i=1000635108489
Support at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thinkingbasketball
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1532968175
Podcast: https://player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-basketball-podcast
Website: https://www.backpicks.com
Twitter: @elgee35
Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
http://www.pbpstats.com @bballport
https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
31 Comments
Sengun doesn’t need to be Dirk but if he can develop as shooter his ceiling will go from all star to hall of famer
Rockets beat teams without Fox, Davis,Mccollum and Murray. Dont be surprised now that they are losing to teams with their two beat players playing.
Letting Sengun drop to 16 in the 2021 draft was a mistake. Houston saw the upside and snagged him.
Sengun is HIM
Now we need one of Green/Bari/Amen to step up
As long as he is a willing defender/rim protector is a plus for him.
Şengün is the pride of our country
Why is Cody in a sauna
Sengun is really damn good, Ime is such a brilliant coach to come there the 1st year and realize the center is their best chance at a stable offense
Would love to see you do a breakdown of Dillon Brooks and his defense, plus the improvements he's made to his offensive game this season
VV is as cp3 game controller like as it gets . Will it last ?
Hey, first off, love the content. Secondly, what software do you use to edit your clips? When you draw the circles and cut and paste different clip segments together?
True generational talent unlike Wembustyama
Thunder sold
Sengun is very smart young guy. He just need experience. Couple years after he is gonna be veteran.
Let's not set unfair short term expectations. This is a very young team. What this shows is that they have big time potential. Their most clutch pickup was udoka IMO
this channels gone light years into the meh
With Alperen’s rise, I recently thought about the value of picking from high seeds. You can tank and keep picking from 1st-4th year after year but in the end, your 16th pick carries you to whatever achievement you’ll do. If you pick someone like Wemby, it’s obviously a greatly valuable pick, but it happens maybe once in a decade for only first pick. There are more misses than correct picks. Reigning FMVP is 41st pick for god sake.
Sengun is definitely the go-to guy of Rockets. No question about it. I don’t think this will change in the near future. We have seen enough.
Yess, now my boy Alpi Şengün is receiving some love
In a recent interview, Alperen said that he added the one-legged jumper to his skill set just by working on it in the entire summer. He also said he wants to add new things to his game every single year. This year’s thing was that shot. This is the mentality I want to see from a young talent. He also improved his English a lot in the last 2 years. He didn’t speak a word once he first came to the league. Now I actually enjoy his interviews. He doesn’t give standard boring answers and he genuinely tries to give some informative answers.
Bringing in Udoka was a very smart move. He seems to be a good coach and after the debacle he went through in Boston he must have a tom brady sized chip on his shoulder so he has a ton to prove. Van Fleet is a good pick up. Having a young team that can grow together is great but bring in a veteran point guard see what happens… remember when CP3 took a bunch of guys half his age to the playoffs?
please make a video on Andrei Kirilenko! Or a video on the most scalable players among the all time greats!
I guarantee u the rockets won’t make the playoffs 😭😂
Sengun is really good. Very frustrating as a laker fan seeing him carve lakers' defense.
I believe okc or houston rockets will be the next dynasty and the other team a lottery usage for a super star or 2. Its almost set up that way through history. All that young talent for both teams and one will be a dynasty and the other will be used for lottery picks and a potiental star or two coming to the team. Just my personal opinion
I might get some flak for this, but I thought, since he was a rookie, that the Rockets should build around Sengun, not Jalen Green. I’ve sold my Franchise-Player Jalen Green stocks a long time ago. Basically, I’m not a fan of athletic, shot chucking small guards. Those guys are a dime a dozen. Sengun is not.
i’ve been talking about al p since his rookie year he was bursting with potential ⏸️
Maxing Jalen Green will be a mistake
It’s crazy how good he is😂😂 the development and extra 2 inches transformed his entire game
2:15 damn that was subtle but nasty
I need one of these on the magic
Can we do a dive on Haliburton and Lamelo, how their games are similar and what makes them so effective as lead guards?