Rockets' Alperen Sengun is flashing growth in the most important area in EuroBasket

Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun has been showing out in the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket tournament. He's also demonstrated growth in the one area the Rockets need him to grow in the most.

That's not all he's doing. Sengun has been generally dominant. He even outplayed arguably the best player in the world. Turkey beat Serbia, and Sengun's 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists trumped Nikola Jokic's 22, 9, and 4.

For the tournament, Sengun is averaging 21.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game. Rockets fans will take note of those dimes. With Kevin Durant joining the fray in 2025-26, the team will look for Sengun to function as a primary playmaker. Somehow, that's still not the most significant stat from Sengun's EuroBasket play:

That would be his three-point shooting.

Rockets' Alperen Sengun can't miss from deep

In the tournament, Sengun is shooting 46.2% from three-point range.

Granted, that's a limited sample size. Sengun is 6/13 across 5 games. Of those 6 makes, 4 came in the contest with Serbia. Let's not bury the lede:

Sengun hit 4 threes in a game.

He attempted 7. Sengun was unconscious from long-range. One of those triples was even a self-created pull-up. Against Serbia, Sengun looked like a bona fide shooter.

Skeptics will point to the competition level. They'll be conveniently forgetting that Nikola "should arguably win MVP every year" Jokic was on the other team.

So were Nikola Jovic, Flip Petrusev, and Vasilije Micic. This is perhaps the second-highest level of competition in the league. It looks like Sengun has been working on his three-ball, but it's still worth asking:

How will it translate at the highest level?

Rockets need modest shooting growth from Alperen Sengun

Sengun won't replicate 46.2% shooting in the NBA. If he does, he'll garner serious MVP consideration. He's already been hyper productive in the NBA with a career 27.2% mark.

That's not the only figure to keep an eye on. Sengun is attempting 2.6 threes per game in EuroBasket play. That's exactly double his 1.3 attempts per game average in the NBA. The Rockets would be happy to see him hit similar volume marks in 2025-26.

In terms of accuracy, somewhere around 33.3% tends to be the threshold. If Sengun could reach that accuracy on his EuroBasket volume in the NBA, defenses would respond when he was open beyond the arc. That'll open up his already-impressive offense in a myriad of ways.

It'll help him show out in the NBA in the process.