2024-04-08 07:01:32
Comedian Groucho Marx once said that the best attitude is to “keep an open mind, but not so much that your head pops out.” This is something worth pondering. Rockets fans should keep an open mind now, and the management should be the same. Although the record has soared a while ago, the team itself still has many unsolved mysteries.
When center Alperen Sengun was injured and missed the game, I originally thought that Houston’s season would be over. Unexpectedly, everyone was wrong. Instead, the Rockets pulled off an 11-game winning streak.
Jalen Green played like the team’s star in those 11 games, averaging 30.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, with a true shooting percentage of 61.2% and 8 consecutive games. Score more than 25 points.
This also makes people can’t help but raise a question, are the Rockets a better team without Sengun? The answer is no. Sengun averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5 assists per game this season. No team will be better without its main star.
But the second question is worth pondering. Are Green and Sengun the best match? Can they complement each other?
Green and Sengun are both players who perform well with the ball. It’s not a problem that they both need to hold the ball, but there is a lot of overlap in the positions they seem to like. Sengun is the core of the ball distribution and can launch attacks from the elbow area, but he is better at attacking opponents in the low post.
When Sengun holds the ball in the low post, his main defender is usually a long man who is also in the low post. This makes it difficult for defenders who are good at breaking through to take advantage. Unfortunately, this is Green’s advantage.
The best way to resolve a dilemma is to keep an open mind and consider every option, including the wildest possibilities.
While keeping an open mind, we will consider the following three options: keeping only Sengun, only keeping Green, and keeping both Sengun and Green. Here are some things you need to know during the process:
1. We are talking regarding the long term, without any off-season reinforcements.
2. The integration of Amen Thompson will be another important issue. Sengun, Green and Thompson are the three core players of the future Rockets. What these three people lack in common is shooting range, but this article only discusses the coexistence of Sengun and Green. .
3. Without discussing whether Jabari Smith Jr. can play as the five, we question whether Green will need a center that can stretch the floor.
4. Green’s discussion will be much longer, because based on the current situation and future, it would be more meaningful to discuss the situation without Sengun in depth.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Keep only Sengun
The argument with Sengun at its core is simple: he performs extremely well.
Yes, Green did explode in his absence, which is easy to understand because Sengun’s absence in the penalty area gives him more room to cut. However, from another perspective, if Green is replaced by Buddy Hield, will Sengun’s assists per game increase significantly?
To a certain extent, players are like genes, with dominant dominant genes and recessive genes. When Green and Sengun are on the court at the same time, Green often gives way more to Sengun to lead the offense. There is a reason for this.
Sengun’s Value of Replacement Players (VORP) is as high as 5.8, while Green’s is 0.4. This represents the gap between the substitute players and the players themselves. This data will be able to see who is the most irreplaceable player for the team; Sengun’s plus/minus The value is 2.0, and Green’s is -1.8; in the end, Sengun’s win shares (WS) were 14.4, and Green’s was only 5.5.
Of course you don’t have to like these advanced statistics, but you can’t ignore that every important indicator that affects victory is that Sengun is much better than Green. While we haven’t seen Sengun perform at a better level when Green is injured, every indicator points to Sengun being an elite player who can impact the game more.
But does this mean he is the right choice?
Only keep Green
After Sengun was injured, Jabari Smith Jr. moved to the center, and the tempo on the court became faster. However, if you break down the data, you will find that the Rockets originally wanted to speed up and have tended to play faster following the All-Star Game.
Sengun’s inability to play at a fast pace is a mistake. When he grabs rebounds, he can use his passing vision to accelerate. He is one of the best big men in the NBA when it comes to releasing the ball and guiding passes.
After Sengun was injured, the Rockets’ team fast break score has reached 18.7 points, exceeding the season average of 15.6 points, but once once more, the Rockets were already committed to speeding up the pace before Sengun was injured. So if Green performs well in a fast-paced and wide-space environment, then pace is not the decisive factor, but what regarding space?
Space is indeed an important factor for Green. After all, no matter how frequently he runs, basketball games are still played in the half court for most of the time.
Since Sengun was injured, Green seems to be more comfortable in the half-court offense, averaging 30.2 points per game, shooting 49.5% from the field, which is the data of the league’s first-tier stars, and scoring 8.9 points in the penalty area, 7.2 points higher than the season average. better.
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