Despite generally playing more minutes than the other centers on the court, Alperen Sengun has still not earned a start this season for the Rockets.
Much like we expected, this season is going to be far more about the players on the Rockets rather than the overall team success.
Zero wins and three losses through the first three games was to be expected, especially when looking at the teams on the schedule, but it is nice to see some signs of life from this team for the first time in the last few years.
Everyone knew Jalen Green was going to take the next steps towards being a superstar, and it looks like the Rockets are doing everything possible to ensure he takes those steps.
Why they aren't doing that same thing with Alperen Sengun is a little strange.
Sengun and his overall lack of use has been one of the more interesting storylines over the course of the start to the season. It isn't like Sengun isn't getting any minutes or chances, but zero starts and a lot of cautious minutes is not how you get a guy like this to grow.
Despite his minutes only going up slightly, Sengun has been exponentially more effective this year than he was last season, and that's saying something. There have certainly been some shaky moments and there are some obvious advantages to other guys like Bruno Fernando (on the defensive end), but Sengun is one of the guys on offense, and the Rockets need to let him go and play longer to accurately see what he can do.
The sparing minutes need to stop. Sengun can get way closer to 30 minutes based on how he has played, and that should be on the table for the Rockets if they really want to let their pieces of the future grow together.
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