Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka is watching Alperen Sengun closely this summer, as the 23-year-old center is deep into the FIBA EuroBasket tournament with Turkey, and he is pleased with what he’s seeing.
Sengun is a major reason why Turkey is through to the semifinals, where they’ll face Greece. During a recent media availability session, Udoka shared his honest thoughts on the Houston Rockets star.
“For him, we want him to work on specific things. The way they guard him over in EuroBasket, he’s doing a great job of getting high assist numbers, being very efficient… (He also) had some really big end-of-the-game plays defensively that won them games. It’s great to see the work he put in be rewarded,” Udoka said about Sengun via SI’s Lachard Binkley.
During Turkey’s 91-77 quarterfinals win over Poland, the 23-year-old Sengun became the youngest player in tournament history to register a triple-double, having notched 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists on 8-for-14 shooting from the field in 31 minutes of action.
Houston Rockets News: Alperen Sengun drops blunt admission after Poland victory
As mentioned, Alperen Sengun put up video game numbers in Turkey’s 91-77 win over Poland. After the game, the Houston Rockets center said he didn’t care about his superb performance since his priority is to lead his team to victory.
“I’m a team player, so I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win,” Sengun told reporters. “So, you know, if it’s defense day, defense day… offense day, offense day. I don’t care. Whatever you tell me, I do.”
“It didn’t mean anything if we would have lose today and I got the triple-double,” he added. “So, I’m happy we won. And I give my everything defense and offense, so I’m just happy.”
