Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. take a deep dive into Alperen Sengun’s season and if there is another level to his game that can be unlocked. Check out the full conversation on “The Dunker Spot” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Is Alperen Sengun, Sengun gonna hit those same levels?
Not that he’s not played well, but when you watch Sengun and he’s looking to attack, he’s looking to go one-on-one, how many times do you see the defense double?
It- And you will have the stat, I’m sure, but I feel like it’s gone down as the season has progressed.
The drives that we led to the early in start of the season were fantastic, but if teams are gonna stay home- Mm-hmm … and this now becomes, did you score or not?
That puts us- … in a different position than where we were are, when we were there early.
And so how do we kinda navigate and handle that, especially as teams are gonna put wings on Alperen Sengun, teams are gonna switch against Alperen Sengun, teams are gonna put guards- Mm-hmm … on Alperen Sengun.
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Salutes to Stephon Castle, he did.
Now you have to win those match-ups for us, or else we are- Mm-hmm … in a different spot.
You know, we’re counting on you as a pillar, right?
We’re counting on you to be able to get a bucket, to force rotation, to force a double.
Earlier this season, when he was getting doubled, you had the mix, you had the blend.
If it’s gonna be guard on you, go ahead and try, we’re gonna stay home or we’re gonna show help off.
I’m in.
It’s tough.
Mm-hmm.
No, I think that’s fair.
I think, too, the KD-Sengun two-man game, I wanna bounce off of everything you said there, ’cause that was great stuff.
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One of the things that I wanted to make sure that I looked at was, okay, what exactly is KD and Sengun doing when they’re in the two-man actions, and what does it look like when we get to the fourth quarter, when we get into some of the late offense looks in particular?
And so it was noteworthy to me.
Overall, they’re running about 15 picks per 100 possessions when it’s KD and Sengun.
Obviously, less than that when it’s Sengun-KD.
But with KD and Sengun in action, in pick and roll, 0.97 points per possession, that is fine.
You get to the fourth quarter, that drops to 0.87 points per possession.
They’re seeing switches on 20% of those.
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They are seeing two on the ball at a pretty high rate on those, but I think that is more to your point.
That’s more KD, let’s get the ball out of his hands, now let’s see what Sengun does.
Or you get into some of the two on the ball pre-rotate, now it turns into an isolation possession for Alperen Sengun.
And this is where, and one of the things that I’ve kinda harped on as someone that has enjoyed the Sengun season overall this year, you know how high I’ve been on him, the finishing does just kinda have to hit a certain level with him.
And to this point of the season, like, it has been sub-elite when you’re talking about what he’s doing inside of, like, six feet or so.