Alperen Sengun: Birthday boy looking to unwrap NBA Draft gift / News - Basketnews.com

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The 2021 NBA Draft is two days away, and the Mock drafts keep updating based on the latest player intel. As usual, several young international talents draw the attention of NBA executives. Alperen Sengun remains among the highest-ranked (No. 10 by The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor) prospects.

Alperen Sengun

Position:PFAge:19Height:206 cmBirth place:TurkeyProfileNewsStatistics

So much ink has been spilled regarding Alperen Sengun, but his name still echoes like an enigmatic chant. BasketNews attempted to open an additional window on Turkish talent by referring to Ahmet Caki, current assistant coach of the Turkey national team.

There are specific layers in tracking the development, and one of them is mid/long run assessments. Sometimes, periodic checks on a player could extend the insight gathered from the micro-level to the macro-level. International FIBA windows provide an excellent chance to track such development.

Coach, let's start with referring to your "third-eye" assessment. Is there anything particular that caught your attention in Alperen's development in the recent months?

It was November when we first met Alperen. That was the beginning of the season, and we just got together as the newly appointed national team coaches. There was a game against Croatia, and Alperen struggled in his match-up against Miro Bilan. The Croatian center dominated the game (Bilan scored 30 pts, 10 rebs, Croatia won 79-62).

However, we re-assembled during the February FIBA window. This time, I found him much more concentrated and much more developed mentally and in his overall understanding of basketball (Turkey won against Sweden 88-80 and Croatia 84-78, qualifying for the EuroBasket 2022).He worked very hard to refrain from the results from this last time. I was impressed with his determination, overcoming adversity, and his willingness to give himself challenges.You cannot improve every aspect of your game overnight; some things must come with age, maturity, and experience, but his rapid development from November to February was impressive.

Usual scouting report for Sengun reads about his distinctive ability to score, wise distributional skills, surprising explosiveness, and good rebounding instincts. Occasionally, he has even been likened to Nikola Jokic. Sengun himself acknowledges and is honored by that comparison. But he also reveals his intentions to come up with an original brand of basketball.

In your view, which skills give him an edge over the others in his age group? What makes him so exciting?

His finger sensitivity is superior.He has that special touch and feel for the ball. His exceptional instincts for rebounding, his finishing skills at the rim are making a difference. His post-up movements and varieties are pretty good. Lately, he was trying to flourish these skills with improved shooting ability and his overall offense when facing the basket. In my opinion, he made significant progress in these areas.

Indeed. Sengun has a particular skill set that still perplexes many. When describing his game, one of the most appealed adjectives is "dominant." This is not for nothing. At the age of 18, he was one of the best bigs in the domestic league and won the regular season MVP. After joining Besiktas, Alperen started to play more and recorded impressive stats: 18.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals. His shooting accuracy, 66.7% FG (222-333) and 81.2% free throw (168-207) were equally impressive.

On the other hand, Sengun's ability to exert his dominancy is multi-faceted. He likes playing post-ups, but he follows a crafty path instead of muscling his way down. With an abrupt change of tempo and a quick drop-step, he could suddenly sneak in for a wild dunk. Besides, he utilizes spin moves to surprise the opponent. Source of inspiration? "Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon," he says. A keen follower of basketball basics and has a particular interest in the classics, too.

"Overall, he is the type of player who can dominate the game near the rim in his unique way. It has been a while since we saw such a talented big in Turkey or European basketball," saysAhmet Caki. "In Turkish league, it was discernible that he managed to exert such domination on many players around the rim, regardless of the opponent. The playoff series against Efes aside, he managed to challenge teams and opponents that seemed to be stronger in the frontcourt, especially in the second part of the season."

Getting drafted is one thing but making your way into the NBA is another. In many pre-draft scouting reports, Sengun has been projected to be picked in the first round. But if he makes it in the NBA, his playing position would be a matter of discussion. With his current strength and jumping ability, it would take an enormous effort from him to play at the center.

On the other hand, playing at four, would require Sengun to improve his shooting range and accuracy (last season, he made 7-33 3-pointers (21.2%). But there is an alternative way to see all this.

We live in the "positionless" basketball era, so do we even need to tailor positions to players anymore? Why drawing borders?

In his club, he played at five, and in the national team, we used him at four. In my opinion, there is no need for the position debate because, all things aside, he is a suitable "big" type of player. I would like to define him as a combo big. In both EuroLeague and the NBA, there are plenty of examples of such two-way players, Jan Vesely (Fenerbahce) or Trey Thompkins (Real Madrid). However, playing with this double option would require not only offensive but also defensive skills. He needs to improve his ability to defend power forwards at an elite level and his switch defense. But I think using him at both positions is the way to get the most out of Alperen's unique skills.

The latter issue, Sengun's capacity to contain shooters on the defensive end, is frequently discussed. The current assessment of his defensive abilities is not full of superlatives compared to that of the offensive part. But there certainly will be progress. Sengun does not have any problems with individual defensive occasions, like blocks or steals. His instincts come into the fore and make him compensate for his relative defensive liabilities.

But coach, when we think of the defensive spacing, how could we rate his contribution to the hard hedging of the ball screen or keeping the compactness while dropping against pick and roll dribbles?

His defense needs to improve, especially in switch situations and his ability to stick with quicker guards. When hedging against the ball screen, I think he could improve his aggressiveness. There is room to grow. The ability to read the intentions of an elite guard in the pick and rolls is a skill required at the top level, and that is what Alperen needs to develop. He needs to figure out how to cope with the big man's double task: keeping an eye on his direct opponent and being a deterrent around the paint, containing the dribble by being aggressive. He would need to make those last-moment adjustments regarding switching and closing out the pass options. These skills need match-practice and depend on his role in the club and also the league. Playing at five and sitting deep as a rim protector somehow limits the number of occurrences, but he is well aware of required defensive spacing on the outer perimeter and working hard to close open gaps.

As has been repeatedly expressed, Alperen Sengun's areas that need to improve are his shooting range and accuracy. His shooting mechanics are pretty solid to make such progress a reality. There was a discernible improvement in volume and accuracy during the season, which was a clear indicator that Alperen Sengun could be a competent shooter (until February, he only made one 3-pointer out of 13 attempts; after that, he made 8/20 3-pointers).

As his confidence gets growing, do you see any room for further improvement?

I do, indeed. His mechanics are good. During the Olympic Qualifiers, I saw that he strongly concentrated on the shooting, especially compared with September, November qualifying windows. We must keep in mind that shooting improvement could sometimes be destructive for big players, and we had those kinds of examples in the past. When we say "improve your shooting" to the big player, they sometimes overdo it. Hence, they only focus on shooting and neglect other aspects of the game, the parts that they already were relatively superior. It becomes a negative step in their overall development. I like what Alperen is doing so far. He is much better at using his unique, natural skills, and also, he is taking those extra steps to improve his shot. He does it in a very deliberate manner, too. He does not attempt five 3-pointers in a game, mainly focusing on his strengths close to the rim. But when the right time comes, he delivers that shot. He is a forward-looking player and well-aware that long-range shooting is a required skill. Therefore, he prepares himself for the future, for those moments when he would need to make those shots. Right now, I think he is about the level 3 out of 5.

Going back to the comparisons with Nikola Jokic, Sengun's basketball IQ should be underlined. Due to concerns relating to mobility and athleticism, Jokic was picked 41st in 2014 but eventually became the lowest ever-selected player to win the MVP. So it's safe to say that no one wants to miss the next Jokic. That makes Alperen's case even more interesting because he is much more mobile and agile. There are other comparisons; his passing skills are well-appreciated, bringing similarities to Domantas Sabonis and Nikola Vucevic.

Do you think Sengun has yet another aspect to his game, apart from the times he is attacking the rim?

He has a high basketball IQ and court vision. What is more, he is open to further elaboration on these issues. He has superior distribution skills in the post. When double-teamed, he has a remarkable ability to find the open man. Once again, he could carry this passing to the center of the court, after a short roll, for example. He was frequently rolling deep last season, so he does not have many occasions to show these skills. I am sure that Alperen would have no difficulty whatsoever to excel in his distributional capacity once he gets to play around those parts of the court more often.

Any predictions about his pick?

When compared to other players joining the draft at his position, he needs to be in the top 15. He is a very talented and unique player. But NBA is a different world, and many factors come into the picture. But if we leave aside all these other complicating factors, he has a strong character and will keep his focus, no matter what.

We thank coach Ahmet Cakı for sharing his thoughts as well as his prediction for the upcoming draft. As for Sengun, everything seems to be well according to his latest social media post. After the Olympic qualifiers, he had workout sessions withSacramento, San Antonio, Orlando, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, and Golden State ahead of the NBA Draft. Reportedly, the Orlando Magic are pondering about the possibility of Vucevic replacement. Sengun just celebrated his birthday (on July 25th), and a few days later he might be in for the greatest gift of his life.

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