“You don’t need to have a dominant playmaker with a pivot like him who can pass and initiate attacks. We’re going to use it all over the field.”. New coach of the Rockets, Ime Udoka is full of praise for his young interior, Alperen Sengun. Often compared to Nikola Jokic since his arrival in the NBA, the Turk will be at the heart of Houston’s offensive systems.
“He does everything very well”, continues Ime Udoka. “He’s obviously one of the best low post scorers in the league. We must therefore take advantage of it. He is also very good offshore, with his ability to pass, to read the movements of others and his intelligence of the game.
In fact, the real challenge for the coach will be to finding the right balance between creation and finishing of his young pivot. Like the Nuggets with Nikola Jokic. Is it more useful and dangerous when creating or finishing?
“We want to use all his qualities. He can score, pass… He’s a very good offensive rebounder, and he can launch attacks from the racket or wide. So we try to take what he already does very well, integrate him into the group and help him progress in other areas. We have an idea of how we could use it. We have a good idea of what he does naturally well.”
Jeff Green shares his knowledge of Nikola Jokic
To help him exploit his full potential, Alperen Sengun can count on Jeff Green. NBA champion with Nikola Jokic, the veteran is well placed to compare the two players, but also to reveal some secrets.
“Their games are quite similar”confirms Jeff Green, who played two seasons with Nikola Jokic. “They both have qualities you don’t usually see in interiors. Their ability to shoot, their way of seeing the game, their quality of passes in the low post, their support, their qualities with the ball in hand… He asked me questions about him, about the way Joker prepares, about his routine daily. So he is curious. I imagine he caught wind of the comparisons. He is a hard worker. He is someone who wants to improve. He sees the comparison, but he also tries to be himself. He’s not trying to be Nikola. He tries to be the best Alpi he can be. For him, Joker is a standard, but not someone he wants to be. He probably wants to be better. »
And what does the person concerned think? “ I do almost everything from the top of the racket and that’s how I was used last year, especially in the second half of the season.” notes Alperen Sengun, who reveals that the coaches and his teammates ask him to shoot more. “My teammates and my coaches tell me that I need to shoot. This was not the case last season, but now they ask me to shoot, and I feel more confident doing it. I worked on it all summer. »
