Rockets center Alperen Sengun has been an All-Star the past two years, but his below-average 3-point shooting remains a glaring weakness in the stretch-five era. Senggun, who connected on 30.5% from beyond the arc last season, is working on improving that part of his game in training camp, writes Jonny Askovnis of Eurohoops.
“Just feeling confident, doing a bunch of reps and not thinking about it.” Sengun said. “I’ve said it before, it’s all mental for me. I feel good when I’m shooting, but in the game I feel like I’m rushing a little bit more. But I’m working on that right now.”
Senggun cites corner threes as an area he’s emphasized so far, and he understands he can help stretch opposing defenses for his teammates if he can develop a consistent outside shot. He worked closely with the Rockets’ new shooting coach. Chip Engellandwhich has a long history of success in developing shooters.
“He’s amazing. He’s a genius.” Sengun said. “You can see it already. Putting little details into a couple of things that I need to improve, and Chip is really good at doing that. Watching a lot of clips, telling me all the details, making videos.”
There are more from Houston:
- The Rockets showed their faith in the Amin Thompson giving him a a five-year, $208 million extension this summer and has a chance to take a big step forward in his fourth NBA season if he returns to his natural position, Varun Shankur of the Houston Chronicle observes in the article for subscribers only. Designed to help split point guard duties with Fred VanVleet Sidelined by injury, Thompson had 29.4% possession last season and registered the highest usage rate. He figures to return to a complementary role on offense, using his exceptional athleticism and his screening and cutting skills to create easy baskets.
- Veterans Center Stephen Adams also returning from injury and the coach Made by Udok doesn’t plan to use him in back-to-back games early in the season, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Link to Twitter).
- Udoka believes his team was “overlooked” by the NBA’s schedule makers after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, Guillory adds (Link to Twitter). “We showed all these guys of ours,” said Udoka. “… We played the opener last year. We played Christmas last year. Now we’re not. That speaks volumes.”
- Former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was spotted at a Rockets practice this week, and Udoka explained that he is “making the rounds” of several training camps, tweets Michael Shapiro of The Houston Chronicle. Udoka added that Thibodeau is a good friend of the current Rockets scout Ed Pinckney.