It goes without saying that two games into the season is never the time to panic. That’s especially true for the Houston Rockets, who have dropped both games in a young campaign. Both contests came down to the agonizing razor wire, though. The opener versus the championship Oklahoma City Thunder probably even qualifies as a classic. Moreover, there is one specific sign Rockets fans should feel encouraged by as they await the team’s first win.
An Encouraging Sign Amid Rockets’ 0-2 Start
The play of All-Star center Alperen Sengun was certainly a very encouraging sign after opening night. In fact, he signed his name to various (albeit slightly obscure) opening night records. Sengun was fantastic against the Thunder. He scored 39 points, going 50% from the field, including 5-for-8 from three. He also netted 10 of 11 free throws. That was all as Houston’s primary facilitator, leading the team in assists against one of last season’s best defenses.
The close loss may have stung a little for Rockets fans, but the whole NBA fandom in general expected OKC to beat them. That it took a classic to do it was consolation enough. That Sengun looked like an (absurdly) early All-NBA candidate took it to another level.
How the Rockets Got to 0-2
After the classic against OKC, there was the Rockets’ second game of the season against the Detroit Pistons. Sengun had a much harder time. Detroit presented Houston’s point-center with far more size around the basket. That was partially a personnel matter, as Detroit is simply a bigger team than OKC. There was also a greater willingness to sag way off of Houston’s least threatening perimeter players. The outright doubles were hardly even necessary with every defender 10 feet inside the three-point line.
Sengun tried playing through the contact. He tried getting right under the basket. He even tried pump-faking his opponents to death. Whatever he did, Sengun could not score on the interior all night. That is, besides the occasional breakaway dunk. He went 2 of 7 from within 5 feet. Even with Detroit’s defensive adjustment on him, Sengun would probably convert better on the shots that he got 9 times out of 10. He’ll get the opportunity to show as much, too, as other teams around the league will do what they can to shut down Houston’s primary offensive engine. And even if Sengun won’t normally misfire that badly on his layup attempts, there will be plenty more ugly games to come from the low-post artiste.
Spacing Issues
Houston simply doesn’t have a lot of players who demand respect populating the perimeter. In fact, Kevin Durant is really the only exception. So far, he’s been everything Houston fans had hoped for (though apparently he didn’t get the memo that the league doesn’t want its superstars passing up heaves). Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr. both have the potential to earn some measure of perimeter respect themselves, but Smith’s 3-14 night against the Pistons won’t speed the process up any. Sengun is going to have to work for his shots in the paint all season long. One-on-one, he can razzamatazz his way around almost anyone, so it stands to reason teams will give him an audience of more than one.
Houston Still Has a Shot
But even as Sengun’s difficulties around the rim are likely to persist, he does deliver good news for Rockets fans. Sengun’s jumper has looked excellent. The three-point shot wasn’t falling for him against Detroit, but his midrange was the only part of his game that was working for him. He knocked them down off the dribble and fading out of the post. Just against Detroit, he was 3-4 from 10-19 feet. That’s after the 5-8 three-point display versus OKC, all while going 17-21 from the free-throw line overall.
The numbers at this stage of the season are less meaningful than the aesthetics, though. Sengun’s jumper looks polished. Gone is the rotating band of oddities, such as the uncontested one-legged flamingo-shot or the 16-foot one-handed push-shot. Instead, there is the uniform confidence of someone who looks like he knows what he’s doing. It’s as well, because Sengun may have to lean more on this shot as the season goes on. Without a starting point guard, Houston is going to need every bit of offensive juice it can get in the half-court.
The Last Word
The Rockets’ thrilling opener went just about as well as fans could have expected. Now they’ll have to settle in as the cries of “overrated” pile up until the team finds its winning ways. The team’s opening schedule is light on heavy hitters, so fans shouldn’t have to wait long. Of course, if the Rockets can’t beat the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors, then the detractors will really have a field day. Not that Sengun and the Rockets need any extra encouragement to get their first win of the season. Fans, though, will take whatever encouragement they can get.
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The post An Encouraging Sign Amid Rockets’ 0-2 Start appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.