It does help that the Croatian NBA players seem ready for this moment. The Turkish players (Sengun included) seem like the moment is too big for them. Croatia isn't taking forced shots. If the jumper is open on the wing, they pass and drain it. Turkey was playing together and making shots but that hasn't been the story today.
Sengun committing stupid fouls, then getting benched, then moved around on defense to Croatia's off-ball players to avoid further fouls, so Croatia targets him, draws him out and shoots open threes over him (and makes them) because his feet are too slow. His gravity on offense is undeniable, he will be an effective player for the Rockets this year, but he has to improve on defense. I hope Udoka is the right coach for him.
Honestly probably the best outcome. This Turkish team never looked that good and was just beating up on terrible competition until this point. That they get bounced here just help Sengun concentrate on NBA instead. One can complain about the guards all you want, but Sengun is also showing that he clearly has ways to improve.
Dang. That is the qualification for the qualification, how crass is that. Only the winner goes to the real qualification. Double frustration to fail in the final test.
yes, Turkey will get to try again for the 2028 games. They lost too many games in the early qualifiers, and some of them were scheduled when 2-4 NBA players were unavailable.
I think he played the worst game of his career. I hope it's just one time thing because he was completely lost on both ends.
Sengun played terrible as our franchise player against Croatia. I'm pretty sure we can find a way to blame coach Silas or KPJ for his poor performance. Somebody needs to be held accountable for Sengun at all times
My hot take that I've been simmering for a little while: Sengun is going to be more like Julius Randle with a little Jokic mixed in than the other way around. That's strictly on offense. His defense is very much TBD, I feel that you don't know how good young big men will be defensively until they reach at least age 23-24 or so, and sometimes it takes even longer. He could turn out to be a better defensive player than either of those guys, we just don't know yet. He's already a better shotblocker than either of them are. I don't see much Sabonis in his game. Sabonis is more of a traditional center. Though I do think Sabonis is an underrated passer and I would be perfectly happy with his playmaking if Sengun averages similar assist numbers in his prime.
Well, that game had the status of a mini Final. We lions not hyenas lmao. Going a tad Lion King there.
It's not the "one" game itself, it's the timing of the game. His first game during the qualifiers against a team with actual NBA level talent and he underperforms. Saric looked like "The Franchise Player" (couldn't help myself ) out there. Seriously though, this game does not mean that Sengun isn't as talented as we believe he is, it just means that like all of our young players he has more work to do before being crowned 'franchise' anything. He is going to be improved this season, free to shoot from beyond the arc, more involved as a playmaker and by nature of being in what we all hope is a better defensive scheme he and others will be better defensively. Next season can't get here soon enough. I'm excited for the future of this franchise.
Big fan here but he fouled out and while on his way out he elbowed or shoved a player standing next to the guy he fouled. Not a good way to exit and there are maturity and leadership issues, good thing he is young. The toxic environment last year and body languages of players got to him as well. It is not even basketball, but the whole persona of the Rockets last year and 2 years ago was beyond bad.
Here we go. Last year is last year. Blaming his poor attitude on last season is more excuses as expected. Sengun's a grown man and is accountable for himself like everyone else. This is the biggest problem with Sengun fans
How in the world did I miss you I when finally utilizing the ignore feature? Oh well that oversight is about to be solved.
