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Alperen Sengun had an opportunity to prove that his 2024-2025 All-Star campaign wasn’t a fluke, and that Raphael Stone and Ime Udoka were right to hand him the keys to the franchise when they traded away Jalen Green and brought in a 37-year-old Kevin Durant. The result? I guess you could say he did that? He did average 20.4 points, almost 9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, and he was technically an All-Star, albeit as an injury replacement.
Sengun had a good season. He is a good player, but something just doesn’t feel right with him. I’ve come to the conclusion that Alpi just isn’t the kind of guy that is going to put a team on his back. Perhaps it’s been silly for anyone to expect him to do that, but after the Rockets anemic performance against an injury-riddled Lakers team, one that proceeded to get swept in the Conference Semi-Finals by a true contender, it’s hard to argue to the contrary.
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When Kevin Durant got here, the plan was not that he would carry this team on his back. At least I hope that wasn’t the plan, because if it was, we have to have a whole other discussion about holding Rafael Stone to the fire. I don’t believe it was the plan. Kevin Durant was supposed to be the compliment to Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, the guy who could reliably knock down shots, contribute on defense with his length and athleticism, and on occasion be counted upon to go get you a clutch bucket. What happened was that the offense was far too reliant on Kevin Durant all season long.
Alperen Sengun was one of the main characters in the “let me try to give the ball to KD before I do anything else… and if I can’t I’ll just go iso and try and score myself” storyline. Against mediocre and bad teams, that worked out just fine. But other than a fluky first few weeks of the season where the Rockets were hitting threes like crazy and had the number one offense in the league, this team just never felt like a true contender, and unfortunately Alperen Sengun just never felt like that number one guy that you look at and you say “That guy is gonna win a championship.”
It’s not that I…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rockets-2025-2026-season-review-111717230.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-24 11:17:00
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