The Greatest YMCA player in NBA history | Alperen Şengün 

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I appreciate how Ben shows bad plays as well as the good. It helps us not overreact to highlight reels

The Rockets may be a disaster, but this guy makes them worth watching sometimes.

Rockets fan here. The way this organization has treated Jalen Sengun and Bari has been utterly ridiculous. They’ve been doing nothing but setting these young boys up to fail and it hurts my heart to see

Sengun = Charmander Sabonis = Charmeleon Jokic = Charizard

Who’s here after the start of the 23-24 season when Sengun has seemingly added a mid-range game and the beginnings of a 3 point shot? Ooooooo boy it’s lookin bright!

That behind the back pass to no one had me laughing hard.

With Sabonis and Sengun out there, we can see that Jokic is creating a new archetype for how you can succeed on the court.

this is a elite title ben😭and sengun i think could fully breakout into a all star next szn if the rockets fire silas and get a coach that will use sengun as the offensive hub similar to how the kings use sabonis and the nuggets use jokic

I'm still devastated my Spurs picked Primo (how's that going????) over Sengun. He seemed SO Spursian, I don't care that we had Poetl at the time! I'm punching air.

As a rockets fan, this guy is the only reason I watch basketball right now

As a Turkish fan of u, i cant tell how good this video feels me right now. I m pretty sure this ll be good moral support for many people in those hard days we live in Turkey. Thank you both Alpi and you, you are the best.

What's interesting is the amount of posters and chasedown blocks this dude has, so he clearly has bounce when he is able to get some stride in, but as you have said what he's lacking severely is his vertical without a run-up and his lateral speed. Great analysis btw, love the vid

As a rockets fan, all the things are on point. He does show some defensive IQ on positioning himself it’s just that even with good positioning, his vertical defense isn’t there. And we also have a coach worse than Dwayne Casey running the offense and defense with no vet installing a winning culture. Even though it looks grim right now, with coaching change and inviting some valuable vets can drastically turn us around!

At 6 feet 9 inches he should be a YMCA legend

This man's nickname should be the Whirling Dervish. That's such a cool name

He is one of the most fun player in nba alongside jokic and kyrie

This guy can master the post up game perfectly, he's made for it

Only you and Sengun could make a missed 5 foot hook, a thing of beauty

Not to detract from Sengun but its so wholesome seeing the Joker have players that look up and emulate his game.

Stephen Silas needs to be put in prison for prioritizing KPJ and Jalen over him🤦🏾‍♂️less than 30 minutes a night!

As a huge Rockets and Sengun fan, I think you nailed this analysis. When he's used as the offensive hub he looks like one of the best playmakers in the league but when he's made to primarily take plays made for him by other players, he struggles to get going. I can definitely see Alpy adding a 3-ball in the near future to take his offense to the next level, although I'm not sure he'll ever be anything more than an adequate defender. As long as the rockets continue to invest in players like Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, who could be future all-defensive team selections, he will only have to be a non-liability on the defensive end. Overall, the future looks bright in Houston if Alperen Sengun gets to captain the ship.

masterful edit with the: "there are real questions about his defense." *Segun turns around shocked* at 7:42

he is still so young, in learning phase , give him a few years and he'll become much stronger and much better.

This might be the first video I've watched from you guys that evoked a legit laugh-out-loud funny response from me, this sequence at 1:26 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Love the video. Would be interesting to see how Sengun plays defensively in a line-up without two of the worst defensive guards in the league.

I feel like Houston has several hidden gems on their team that they don't really use to their full potential tbh.

Ugh... the description of the YMCA player has never hit me so personally, at 20 I thought it was a phase, at 25 I still don't care about anything about anything but dropping those dimes, Sengun is already almost next to Giddey and Jokic for me as favorite passer, so awesome to have these guys that kind of represent the guys who's gift for the game is next-level passing.

Sengun being a second year player at only 20 years old shows great potential for a future all star in this league. It took Sabonis until year 3/4 to show the stats and potential Sengun is demonstrating in year 2. If the Rockets organization invests in this young squad and bring in a head coach with a more structured approach we could see some real progress. Coach Silas has lost this team and it shows on the court from the lack of accountability and the amount of hero ball we've seen this season.

This video aged really well with the addition of VanVleet. Having that 3 point threat, and having a good point guard for the pick and rolls/pops has made life better and easier on him and we can see he's still growing in his game.

I am surprised when I read the comments. We're talking about a 20-year-old boy from the other side of the world. It has been 2 years, he got used to a new country, a new culture, got used to the league despite being away from his friends and his country, learned the language and kept these statistics. Success is inevitable for someone with this character and talent.

Not sure if he will ever get his range but he has a pretty good touch and a good shooting form just needs couple of off season work. His strength and verticality will improve a bit in a couple of years remember he is only 20 and now he has a chance to work with the best trainers in US. Turnovers are a problem but man he made 11 assists tonight. One thing that is missing in this video is that he is extremely flexible and agile with good effort( he still lacks condition though) which will make him an average defender in time.

I freaking love Sengun. I wanted the Warriors to get him so badly, but they are still invested in Wisebum.

"Sengun's passes are outakes from a Jokic highlight reel" - Rob Lowe

Thanks for putting the time and effort into making these videos. Keep up the good work!

I really like Sengun , i am NBA fan also support him because i am also turkish but I appreciate that you also showed his weaknesses and bad plays . A lot of people just showing his talent and good sides , thanks for being honest and criticising both sides of Sengun. I just saw your video but be sure that i'll be watching your videos always.

Alpi reminds me of that one guy in COD online that you hate to play against because of how unpredictable his play style is. He does everything his own weird way and because of how unorthodox it is, it somehow ends up working.

3:55 This is so, *so* clean, I had to rewatch to figure out what the heck was going on. It's freaking beautiful. Which, to get on my soapbox ow my knees, is what infuriates me when there's the rhetoric that basketball is boring or dying. THIS, is basketball. Space manipulation. Passing into space. Anticipation. It's *really* hard to see realtime, I openly admit, but that's what makes it *insane* that these passes are happening at all. Basketball, more and more, is becoming soccer in a much more enclosed space (and, y'know, running over someone for a dunk obvs), and I love that.

Jokic, Sabonis and Sengun are my 3 favorite players to watch right now

I don't think its hyperbole to say that there is a possibility 6 years from that Sengun is the best player on the Rockets and an all-star level player. Its entirely dependent on his shot and if he can extend it, which is obviously a massive if, but the potential is there.

1:30 got me crying😭😭😭😭

It's funny when I was watching him score I thought of Rony Seikley with all of those spins, but Rony was a much more athletic big and moves like Alperen does would be dunks when Seikley would do them. Upon watching this breakdown I came up with another inside, below the rim score, with all the upfakes, the spins, the sneaky strength and contact initiating.... Aidrian Dantley. Of course Sengun is a MUCH more capable and willing passer than OG AD ever was but given rhe hybridization of the game you really can't come up with clean comps for modern players. Again love this channel! It is quickly becoming the only basketball channel that I can confidently leave a comment on that won't eventually devolve into a war of words.

Sengun averages a ton of blocks/steals/fouls which to me signifies he has high defensive effort. His wingspan is 2-3 inches longer than Sabonis. Hakeem said he was "amazed" how agile and flexible Sengun is. Kevin Durant said he was surprised how much hops he has. You are undercutting his defense and his athleticism.

Future all-star no doubt. The rockets just need to accept that he’s their true franchise cornerstone and give him the keys to the team

Very clear and concise voice over. I dont even play bball.

He is still so Young, got that raw big man talent and got time to develope into a great player. He is one of my favorite young up coming player. He already has incredible footwork and great vision for a big man. Hopefully his FT shooting improves and I'm sure his defense will get better down the line. Excited to see how he turns out in a few years.

You gotta love this kind of passing and court vision on a big man. Seems to me, the game is changing that big men are the primary playmakers and little guys do most of the scoring.

BASKETBALL IS A BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL GAME. It’s lovely how it translates to the younger generation

Sengun is 20 years old. No, he's not perfect, as Thinking Basketball makes abundantly clear in this video, but he's a lot farther along in his development as a player than Sabonis and Jokic were at that age while also playing for the worst coach in the entire league. He's going to be a regular All-NBA guy at some point in the future.

he reminds me of Hakeem O.

The reason of his poor vertocality on defense is to prevent fouls. He used to contest evwry shot with all his might and got subbwd out cuz of that. A lot. Nowadays he just puts his arms up and even steps back to lower thw contact as much as possible. His chasedown block game is strong though. He has good timing on that.

Glad you said something about him. He has been catching my eye with his witty plays for a while now.

the shimmy at 1:30 is seriously the funniest thing I've seen in awhile

This video is spot on. I agree with your later points - to me Sengun reminds me a lot more of Domantas Sabonis than Jokic due to his shorter range on shots and smaller stature (you can see it when they're next to each other. Like you said in the video, he's a solid 2 inches shorter than Jokic at least, despite being listed 6'11. Jokic is listed 6'11 but probably closer to 7'0, and Sengun is probably closer to 6'9) and just... well, he's not quite as ahead of the defense as Jokic is in terms of reading and controlling the game. Still, he's gonna be a great player and if Houston is smart they'll build around him going forward in the ways that Denver has built around Jokic and Sac has built around Sabonis. Sengun and Jalen Green has the makings of a deadly 2 man game, if they can just get themselves more organized and precise.

OMG, never heard of him but his game is indeed old man basketball from the YMCA. He's that 40yr old guy who use to play but now is a little overweight and much slower than his youth but smarter than ever. That 40yr old knows all the little moves and tricks and sometimes likes to just pretend he's 20yrs old again enjoying the game like a kid.

Never heard of this dude great breakdown and an interesting player for sure

Georges Niang played a lot like this in college before honing his "jump" shot. He was a bucket in the post with those YMCA moves to shoot over bigger and bouncier defenders. However in the NBA, his lack in other post player necessities like rebounding and shot altering means he has to play alongside other big men which means he's not going one on one when in the post which tends to negate this kind of offense.

Dude is literally this guy John we used to play with. Guy was in his late 50s early 60s, slow as hell, inconsisten outside shooting, but when it came to passes, post moves, leverage, and general iq there was no one better

Came back 10 months later to say that this video put Sengun on my radar, and this season I've been watching the guy cook. Long Live the YMCA King!

I've always told people Sengun is the weirdest athlete in the league. Man goes from looking like Zach Randolph to Lauri Markkanen.

Your video quality is absolutely unbelievable, I almost never comment on youtube but I figured you should know. Keep it up

Can't wait to watch the updated video on this guy.

The traditional post moves disappeared from the late 2000s to the late 2010s, but since the last two seasons, it's on the rise again : Embiid, Jokic, Vucevic, Ayton, Doncic, Sabonis, Nurkic, Valanciunas, Porzongis, Sengun, Davis, Giannis [etc.] are using it more and more. Even the mid-range game has returned with players like Doncic, Curry, Durant, Paul, DeRozan... Everything is cyclical.

Man is an absolute master of the groundhook.

Title is crazy😭

Alperen Sengun evolves into Domantas Sabonis who evolves into Nikola Jokic

He’s going to innovate the game in ways Jokic did and many others that came before him, His moves may seem weird and unorthodox, but once he becomes a multi time all star you will see young guys trying to use his post moves and floater. Dirks fadeaway was unorthodox at the time, Kareem’s sky hook was unorthodox at the time, Manu Ginobli euro step was unorthodox at the time. Senguns floater is unorthodox at the time.

He's strong with good body control. Awesome video! Fun watch!

I've like what I saw from him way back in the Summer league where, yes, hard to miss his whisper-to-the-ball free throw routine. Very very interesting big who have plenty of room to grow and it'd be exciting to see where he goes from here.

There is a lot of Joker mentioned here and I think thats unfair to Sengun, he is his own player and not a copycat of joker. Yes Sengun loves Joker and is a fan but his game is his game and its not that way because of Joker. I think Joker is being given far too much credit here. Passing big men are simply a big thing in Europe, and it was here for awhile too and its not because of Joker the great player that he is. For instance as a basketball fan of Sengun I know that he was first asked about Joker because people namely media keep bothering him about similarities in his game. Sengun said yes im a fan and now that has evolved into "Sengun only plays this way because of Joker". Like the skip pass you mentioned, Joker didn't invent that but you act as if he did and Sengun only could've gotten it from him lol Sabonis for instance had a dad that played in the same manner he does that skip pass too to assume this is just from Joker is beyond casual.

"Bizarro Jokic" 😅 that is gold!

Super interesting player. The Sabonis and Jokic comparisons are obvious, but there are shades of Luke Walton and early-career Draymond Green (not on defence lol) as well. If he doesn't develop athletically or find a real jumpshot I think his career will sadly be cut short, but if he gets either of those down he certainly has a role. Been watching him since he was eligible for the draft, excited to see more! :)

I know Jokic is pretty reserved and doesn’t really do too much outside of his normal routine, but I hope that he will let Sengun train with him at some point

Bizarro Jokic is the best Sengun description I've ever heard

That’s the most hipster video of the season, and I love it I haven’t watched a single rockets game this year, and you gave me a reason to do so

He is one of those players who will get traded to a contender and people will be amazed how good he actually is, when he's been doing these for years now like Aaron Gordon, Jreu Holiday or Jimmy Butler.

The way Silas uses (or more like doesn't use) Sengun should get him fired. So talented

Those clips of him running back made me cry oh my god he’s just amazing

He needs to play with a defensive rim protecting 4 that can shoot the 3. He’d be EXCELLENT on the Grizzlies. Sixers should let Harden walk so the Rockets can sign him as the rumors suggest. Then Trade for Embiid with their assets. Reroute Sengun to a 3rd team (Grizzlies) etc…

he actually reminds me more of Sabonis Senior.....but still a lot to evolve in that

Thank you for recognizing him. Was hoping for you to make a video about him.

He is so fun to watch

You sir have a beautifully described with humor this wondrous being. Thank you kindly for sharing your talent. Alperen seems like a class act, love the humility & kid-like love for the game. Edit: your chuckle makes me chuckle, spot on analysis!

My favorite basketball channel makes a video about our pride and favorite Al-p 🇹🇷 Ty for the quality content 🙋‍♂️

He is the new superstar 👍👍👍

One thing particularly wrong here Sengun has good arsenal of vertical jumping dunks and blocks. He also has coast to coast dunks.

1:40 fake the behind the back pass to no one just to mid the shot is hilarious 😅

This is my favourite Thinking Basketball video

I have never heard a more accurate way or comparison to describe Sengun's game

Sengun is efficient! I love him even if he looks like an NBA2K My Player Creation that glitched.

Quickly becoming one of my favorite RU-vid channels keep up the great work

He needs to be paired up with a stretch 5 that can also protect the rim. Imagine him with Porzingis

Wonderful analysis. 5:37 >> He said himself that he's confidently seeing everything in the field and this makes him sometimes lose critical time to decide because there are many possibilities. I believe his role changed this year, but as for his overall talents&skills(yet-to-master) This video tells a lot.

This might be my favorite vid of yours Ben. The lighter nature of this one was awesome

Glad we have Udoka as head coach, now. He'll know what to do with him.

Well if it's his performance come playoffs you're worried about, I've got some good news--

This is by far the best thumbnail I've ever seen. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

There's no school like old school!

love how the two scariest things in the NBA are athletic americans and unathletic euros

His ceiling is much closer to Sabonis than it is to Jokic