this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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Small sample size but so far Sengun has been the best player on the Rockets who are 5-3. He is anchoring a top 10 defense and is the engine of a top 10 offense. He has 19 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists to only 2.0 turnovers and has 63.7% TS. Additionally, his advanced stats have been off the rails including WS/48 of .252 and 7.2 BPM which are both top 10 in the NBA. His on/off +/-numbers are insane as well on offense and defense.

Nikola Jokic has always been a beast statistically on both sides of the ball even before his MVP seasons and Sengun has matched it so far. Compare Nikola Jokics stats at 24 years old to a 21 year old Sengun's stats and they are pretty neck and neck. Jokic has better FT%, 3%, rebounding but Sengun has better TS%, and assist/TO ratio.

Jokic will likely be a top 15 nba player when it is all said or done and the chances of Sengun being that just aren't likely. Jokic was pretty stagnant for 4 years before he suddenly took a leap his MVP season and there is no guarantee that Sengun will hit that leap either. There is no guarantee that Sengun keeps playing as good as he has either for the whole year but even if he doesn't he should still get credit for the fact that he played so good so far.

Sengun doesn't have the height of Jokic but Sengun is much more athletic. I have never seen Jokic nearly his head on the backboard while doing a chase down block 2 feet out of the restricted area. Sengun had 77 dunks last year, Jokic had 21. Sengun had 70 blocks last year, Jokic had 47. There is no numbers that prove one player is more athletic than another but these numbers suggest Sengun is the more explosive athlete.

I was conflicted as whether or not I should talk about Sabonis in this thread but I will, I think preMVP Jokic is better than Sabonis. There should be a new meme were preMVP Jokic is Charizard and MVP Jokic is mega Charizard while both Sengun are Sabonis are Charmeleon instead of this

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[–] thatisgangster@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

best player on the team

[–] ATadOfTomfoolery@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Spurs drafted serial flasher Primo over him, smh.

[–] RealPrinceJay@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Sengun’s really talented, but this doesn’t matter. Comparing to players with nontraditional paths and growth curves is always a recipe for failure.

[–] Mikegetscalls@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jokic statistically took a leap because coach finally realize they should run through him

Dude was basically underused the first 4 years of his career

[–] DyslexicAutronomer@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Exactly, Jokic wasn't even playing in the NBA for the entire first year after he got drafted and couldn't benefit from the advanced NBA facilities/staff earlier.

They were just living in different circumstances. Jokic and the Nuggets had to prove the point-center system was viable against the small ball era.

No doubt scouts now also keep an eye for "Jokic-type" players and they get drafted higher up and given more chances early on, after seeing Jokic's success.

[–] Mikegetscalls@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

If Jokic got the starting job from day 1 and the team played through him he would be rewriting history at a ridiculous level.

It’s never been a guy like Jokic so it’s fair they didn’t understand how a guy like that changed the game. Then guys like Sabonis and Sengun come along and teams get it.

[–] VoidMageZero@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Damn, the unicorn bigs seem to be quickly rising to replace the small ball era.

[–] Shekface@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

The levels of athleticism in basketball are so awesome. Sengun is LEAGUES more athletic than Jokic and both are about 100000x less athletic than our lord and savior Wembanyama

[–] larry_birb@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

In like half my bball gm leagues Sengun is like a top-3 all time player. I don't know the programming behind that game but if loves Sengun lol. I think he had like literally 15 straight MVPs in one of my leagues and averages like 40/20/10.

[–] jacobythefirst@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is he seen as “the guy” like Jokic is in Denver?

I know Jalen Green for whatever reason gets a lot of the attention for the rockets, but Sengun is legit. Walks dmg pelicans up and down the entire game.

[–] Jean_Luc_pickled@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

In the eyes of hardcore fans yes, but casual fans probably think Jalen is the guy. I feel like front office also wants Jalen to be the guy. Most of the fans I see at the games i watch are wearing Jalen's jersey, especially younger audience.

[–] LegateDamar13@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Kinda fits 'my long time ago' prediction of Sengun ending up somewhere between Joker and Sabonis. He's a great player who was misused previously.

I struggle to see anyone of that archetype reaching joker levels though. He's so unique with so many otherworldly skills it's truly impossible to find someone else in the history of the game.

[–] Baileyandco@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Not shooting well from the FT line and 3 will limit him, so areas of improvement. That said, he isn’t a better defender yet, but easily projects as the best defender between him, Sabonis and Jokic.

He’s also getting a massive head start compared to the two. Just gotta work on that form so he’s more like Jokic w that jumper or else he’ll be more like a Sabonis

[–] KangorKodos@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I the thinking basketball box plus minus model is he currently 6th in Box Plus Minus. behind Tyrese Haliburton, and ahead of Jayson Tatum

[–] shazam482@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

If he doesn't have a good 3 point %, then his high TS % is due to the majority of his makes being close to the rim. He's not in that Joker territory where the defence has no go-to schemes because he can score from anywhere.

Please don't take this as me talking down to Sengun. I'm glad he's had a good start and it's always great to see a player develop their game. However you also need to put things in context, and not just immediately jump to comparing their progress to a great

[–] epitomeofdecadence@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Comparing anyone's athleticism to Jokic to argue for them being good is really dumb. But whatever. I'm just glad Sengun isn't getting frozen out by the team like past few years. Hope he ends up being as good as he can be.

[–] juzzbert@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

He’s scrappy as hell too. A real do everything to win type. His attempted steals near the end of the game comeback over pelicans were impressive.

[–] Prince_of_DeaTh@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I think Sengun is comparable to Jokic in his second season. Both of them at 21 play at the same level.

[–] Ghetteuax@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I wish he was more of a defender tho

[–] Bokiverse@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

No offense but he just doesn’t have the same skillset as jokic. Most of those games jokic was coming off the bench. Sengun isn’t anywhere near the passer and facilitator that jokic is. He’s a Marc Gasol on offense which is nowhere near Jokic’s level