Alperen Sengun's EuroBasket performance reveals key to Rockets' championship hopes

As the Houston Rockets attempt to take the necessary steps toward becoming a true contender in 2025-26, the most obvious swing factor lies in their blockbuster acquisition of superstar Kevin Durant.

Yet, as Alperen Sengun dominated Serbia in EuroBasket group play on Tuesday afternoon, his marquee matchup against Nikola Jokic has revealed the extent to which he must elevate his game against opposing bigs in order to propel his team toward a championship.

Through just over 36 minutes against Serbia, Sengun logged 28 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists while leading Turkiye to a 95-90 victory. Now, he must carry this momentum into the season, taking on opposing bigs on both sides of the ball with the same level of boldness and dominance.

Alperen Sengun must become even more dominant this season for the Rockets

Last season, Sengun truly came into his own as both a dominant offensive and an emerging defensive threat. Although his scoring was down slightly, his rebounding and defensive metrics all improved markedly, with the young center receiving his first All-Star nod in tandem with these developments.

Yet, Sengun had one lingering problem last season: his ability to dominate rim-protecting centers on offense and matchup with other elite centers on defense.

In 2024-25, Sengun's scoring averages went down almost across the board when matched up against other elite centers. He averaged just 12.5 points against Kristaps Porzingis and the Boston Celtics, just 13 points against Kel'el Ware, Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat and just 13.3 points against Ivica Zubac and the Los Angeles Clippers.

All three of these teams have one quality in common. They have tall, bulky centers who were largely able to prevent Sengun from getting to his spots on offense.

Moreover, in the team's first-round matchup against the Golden State Warriors, Sengun allowed the vastly undersized Draymond Green to, at times, disrupt his game and his mentality. Although he averaged 20.9 points in that series, his poor shooting from the field and the free throw line could be attributed to the fatigue of such a physical matchup.

Yet, against Jokic, Sengun looked absolutely fearless. He danced around the towering Serbian with his footwork, hit mid-range floaters and drained 3-pointers with ease. Moreover, apart from a couple mistakes in his positioning down low, he played a very staunch defense against Jokic, preventing Serbia from relying purely on their star player in crunch time.

Ultimately, this is the next step forward in Sengun's game: not just to match up against Jokic but against almost every center in the league. While it remains to be seen if this will carry over into the regular season, hopefully EuroBasket has merely given us a preview of what is in store for the rising star.