Alperen Şengün Establishes Himself as Rockets' Cornerstone Amid Win vs. Wembanyama, Spurs: Notebook
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During a huge career game against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, Alperen Şengün officially took over as the Houston Rockets' team cornerstone.
HOUSTON Last year, the Houston Rockets dreamed of Victor Wembanyama. Since their 2021 rebuild, he was hailed as a generational franchise player who may rescue the Rockets from basketball obscurity.
He has lived up to the enormous expectations that made him the most sought-after prospect since LeBron James twenty years ago. Wembanyama has been able to live up to those expectations.
But during the Rockets' 114–101 win over the Spurs, it looked like Houston's future was in good hands with Alperen Şengün taking over as the next team cornerstone.
Śengün put on a show against Wembanyama at the Toyota Center on Tuesday night. He scored 45 points, which is the most in his career, by making 19 of 32 shots and 2 of 3 from beyond the line.
"I wasn't that good in my last game against him," Şengün said. "I didn't see a lot of double teams. They just left me alone with Wemby Wembanyama, and I did what I normally do."
"He's really tall, but he's not strong yet." I hit him in the chest and put him under the rim.Wembanyama's only big play against the Turkish player was a block early on.
The block forced Şengün to reconsider his offensive strategy. Şengün began playing more physically instead of smoothly and flashily. He started body-hitting Wembanyama, like Jalen Green, who scored 23 points.
Şengün's hard play resulted in several highlights, including a fourth-quarter one-hand dunk against Wembanyama. The change led to Şengün scoring 30 points in the second half.
Şengün had a great night on defense as well, even though he scored a lot. He had 16 boards and five steals, which was the most in his career. Two of those came against Wembanyama.
Egenün is only the second player in the team's history to score at least 45 points, grab 15 boards, and steal five balls in a game. The first player did this in 1983–84.
He joined Houston's former franchise star James Harden, who scored 61 points against the Knicks in January 2019."He was a beast, that's how he should play every night, but stuff happens — he played amazing," added Green.
That's the Alpi I know, so it's not surprising. He was the centre of attention in the paint. He blocked, defended, and rebounded while clearing driving lanes. It was fantastic to run outside."
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