1 Thing each young Rockets player must improve down the stretch

Alperen Sengun-Defense

Alperen Sengun has been a hell of a find for Rockets GM Rafael Stone, selected Sengun 16th in the 2021 NBA Draft. Stone has drafted the aforementioned Eason with a non-lottery pick and Cam Whitmore, however the Sengun pick the signature move of his reign as Rockets GM.

Sengun has regularly drawn comparisons to Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis- two All-NBA bigs- which isn’t too shabby. His craftiness as a passer and court vision for a center make the comparisons fitting (although each player has a different flavor of the playmaking big archetype).

On defense, however, he’s got a lot of work to do. And he’s been the best defensive version of himself this season, especially earlier in the season.

Lately, however, Sengun has been regularly blown by., because he's struggled to establish deep post positioning.

This was especially the case in Thursday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, as Zion Williamson was getting to the rim with ease.

A player like Williamson, who has had issues with his conditioning quite extensively, shouldn’t be able to blow past Sengun.

Even though Williamson is a supreme leaper with uber explosiveness, he's a power athlete. He shouldn't be able to blow past him off the dribble.

Pels big man Jonas Valanciunas also had his way with Sengun and outmuscled the 21-year-old quite regularly. And if that wasn't enough, Phoenix Suns big man Bol Bol had a career night against Sengun on Friday.