{"id":202143,"date":"2025-09-05T11:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202143\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T11:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:13:09","slug":"senguns-eurobasket-dominance-a-sign-for-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202143\/","title":{"rendered":"Sengun’s EuroBasket Dominance a Sign For Rockets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun<\/a> has been on a tear in this year\u2019s EuroBasket. Most importantly, his native Turkey has advanced to the round of 16. They did so in style, going 5-0 in the group stage. Sengun has been the main reason why. What could it mean for the Houston Rockets\u2019 season in 2025-26?<\/p>\n

Sengun\u2019s EuroBasket Dominance a Sign For Rockets?<\/p>\n

Sengun is averaging<\/a> 21.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game in this year\u2019s competition. In an NBA context, those numbers are very good. In a FIBA context, where it\u2019s generally slower-paced and harder to score, they\u2019re excellent. Those marks are good for 6th in points and 3rd in rebounds and assists.\u00a0 In the additional context of Turkey\u2019s success, they\u2019re outstanding. Just a year ago, Turkey didn\u2019t even qualify for the 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n

The big test for Sengun in this event was always going to be how he handled double teams<\/a>. The early signs are encouraging. He\u2019s clearly thinking about the double early on while posting up, and his passes have been more decisive. He\u2019s had at least five assists in every game so far. That is to go along with 3 turnovers a game, but he is his team\u2019s primary source of offense. Even the great Nikola Jokic<\/a> is averaging<\/a> 2.6 turnovers a game.<\/p>\n

The Pinnacle of Point Center Combat<\/p>\n

Speaking of Jokic, Turkey\u2019s most impressive win so far came against his Serbian squad on Wednesday night<\/a>. It was the Balkan nation\u2019s only loss in the group stage. Sengun rose to the occasion and had his best game yet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Sengun had 28 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and, surprisingly, went 4 of 7 from three-point range. It would be fair to say that he outplayed Jokic<\/a>, who was his usual, unflappably productive self regardless.<\/p>\n

The big men weren\u2019t one another\u2019s primary defenders for the majority of the game, but Sengun\u2019s defense has looked excellent in the tournament. Rockets fans have already come to expect that of him after he held down the middle for Houston\u2019s fourth-ranked defense<\/a> last regular season.<\/p>\n

What Rockets fans will be more anxious to see in 2025-26 will be whether Sengun can recover some of his lost efficiency. The EuroBasket has been helping to ease some of that anxiety. Probably best not to get too attached to his current 46.2% from three, though. Still, Sengun\u2019s willingness to take all manner of longer shots has been encouraging to see. A really reliable midrange shot is the most important weapon missing from his otherwise dominant post game.<\/p>\n

How Far Can Turkey Go?<\/p>\n

As for the rest of the competition still to play, Turkey\u2019s situation looks promising. At first, Serbia was the firm favorite<\/a> to win the tournament. That Turkey has managed to beat them once already will give them a lot of confidence going forward. However, Serbia\u2019s loss of Bogdan Bogdanovic<\/a> to injury<\/a> has left them without their second-best player. They\u2019re still right up there, but Germany and now Turkey are in the same ballpark.<\/p>\n

Turkey will begin the knockout phase of the tournament against Sweden on Saturday. Germany and Serbia are in the other half of the draw<\/a>, meaning that Turkey wouldn\u2019t have to play either of them until the finals. A run-in with Greek superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> is possible before then. However, France and the one-man-band Slovenian squad are on the other side of the draw as well, making Turkey\u2019s path eminently traversable.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/p>\n

Fans across the NBA are loving the offseason stopgap of international basketball. Seeing Sengun blossom into one of the premier international talents is a particular treat for Rockets fans, though. And in the NBA recently, the premier international talent has been the premier talent overall. The Rockets are going to have a legitimate one-two punch in Sengun and Kevin Durant<\/a> next season. Sengun\u2019s making a very early case to be the one.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun has been on a tear in this year\u2019s EuroBasket. Most importantly, his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":202144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[8611,17269,1260,3369,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-202143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-alperen-sengun","9":"tag-eurobasket","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-nikola-jokic","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115151398785675521","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}