Alperen Sengun is Key to extracting the Beauty behind the Madness for the Houston Rockets

The hashtag @freesengun ran rampant across the timelines of Rocket fans’ Twitter this past season, as the 6’10 Turkish international flashes of brilliance were seemingly muted by coach Stephens Silas.

But with the man now fired and Ime Udoka former head coach of the Boston Celtics in place to take over the waning ship – hope remains for the big man and for the fans wishing for an easy ride on this tumultuous roller coaster that is sports fandom.

The Rockets deployed a 3-man centre rotation the majority of this season an extremely unique circumstance given the team finished their 3rd straight tanking season after the capitulation of the James Harden Era.

The distribution of game time agitated the big man’s development. Despite eventually coming in as the starting centre for the Rockets after Bruno Fernandes lost his place due to injuries and his unfortunate talent disparity forced a permanent seat on the bench – Sengun only saw an increase of 6 minutes per game from his rookie season to 26 minutes. Despite the minuscule increase in playtime, Sengun showed signs of a Point Centre archetype, averaging 15/9/4 with 1 block.

If you didn’t have your colours adjusted on your television, you’d think at times you were watching two-time MVP Nikola Jokic as Sengun boasts a collection of wrap-around, behind-the-back, no-look passes in his arsenal. His court awareness is unbelievable for his age as his strong stature allows him to plant his body well and provide screens and dribble handoffs giving his teammates enough room to comfortably let off a shot.

At present, the four assists Sengun averages as a centre at the surprisingly tender age of 20 is the highest ever seen in NBA history, and is much greater than Jokic at the same age. It places him on an extraordinary trajectory to eventually be not only one of the best passers as a centre in the league but up there with the likes of Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Tyrese Haliburton in the department of distributing the rock.

The Rockets finished the season 22-60, a culmination of a difficult period that was purposely manufactured by the front office to put the franchise in the best possible place to win big over the next decade.

They are positioned for another top pick in a draft frontline by the two generational talents of Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, and $60 million of cap space is freed up and ready to be weaponised over the next two years – till the rookie max extensions of Green and Sengun fall on the head of general manager, Rafael Stone.

Those two are currently positioned as the crown jewel of this rebuild as rookie Jabari Smith Jr severely struggled this year with his outlook as a player for the foreseeable future shrouded in uncertainty, new coach Ime Udoka can breathe easy at the Murray Jokicesque two man game developing between the two.

The makeup of the team this year was far from conducive for winning basketball and the brunt of that fell on Number 2 overall pick Jalen Green. He was placed in a breeding ground of bad habits and zero spacing as the primary opposition on teams scouting report with an expectation to succeed.

This environment negatively impacted the sophomore progression of Green even despite seeing a five-point increase in his ppg to 22.1 his effective field goal percentage of 51% is markedly below the league average.

The only time Green was faced with an easy shot or a rare open look was when he was on the receiving end of playmaker Alperen Sengun’s passes, particularly in the downhill pick-and-roll game or dribble handoff actions smartly executed by the Turkish international. It’s a development that should excite both the front office and fans as this blossoming chemistry akin to the one effectively utilised by two-time-MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the playoffs right now to dispatch of the Kevin Durant-led Phoenix Suns showcases a possible recipe for success in the postseason.

The Draft lottery falls on May the 15th, a day that with it has the omnipotent power to decide the fate of the NBA forever, all the Houston Rockets can do is patiently wait and as owner Tillman Fertitta puts it best..

“Pray for Victor.”