The Rockets did not come out all guns blazing last night with their season on the line, as the Lakers closed out their first-round series on the road in Houston during their 98-78 Game 6 win.
In the absence of Kevin Durant, the Rockets had all their offensive hopes on their young stars, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr., to force a Game 7, but both of them struggled to find momentum as the Lakers cranked up the pressure on defense throughout the night.
Alperen Sengun ended Game 6 with 17 points, 11 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. He shot 5-12 from the floor (41.7 FG%). Meanwhile, Jabari Smith Jr., whose three-point shooting was a key reason why the Rockets won their last two games, only had nine points, 12 rebounds, and three assists tonight while going 3-11 from the field (27.3 FG%) and 1-6 from beyond the three-point line (16.7 3P%).
Alperen Sengun, the Rockets’ Turkish All-Star, spoke to the media at the postgame press conference and addressed them on his future, his offseason goals, his relationship with Kevin Durant throughout the season, and more.
Naturally, one of the first and most uncomfortable questions that comes to one’s mind when their franchise has been eliminated in the playoffs is potential changes going into next season. When asked about his potential inclusion in trade talks, the Rockets’ All-Star acknowledged the possibility that even he may not be on the same team next season.
“Well, I cannot do anything about those conversations, you know, it is what it is, you stay with it, and you know. That’s the front office’s job to do it, so I cannot do anything about it.”
“And you know, wherever I go or whenever I’m staying over here, if I stay here, you know, I’m just going to stay with it. I’m going to do what I’m doing. And same goals, same everything,” Sengun said.
While Kevin Durant was on the sidelines for most of this series due to his ankle injury, Sengun took up the leadership role on this team. But he also learned a lot from the NBA veteran and developed a solid relationship with him.
“It’s been amazing, man. Just trying to learn a lot of things from him. Obviously, he’s a legend of basketball, the NBA, whatever you call it, just, you know, trying to learn.”
“He’s been in here for so long, just off the court, try to talk to him. We’re talking, I mean obviously, on the court, just playing with him has been amazing, learning a lot of things from him. We have summer coming, hopefully we spend some time together, learn more, and get ready for next season,” Sengun further added on the importance of capitalizing on the summer with Kevin Durant.
As a young leader on the Rockets team, Sengun took some time to also reflect on the season that went by, the loss tonight, and what the Rockets need to focus on during the offseason.
Alperen Sengun Talks Game 6 Loss, Rockets’ Injuries, and Offseason Goals
At the beginning of the press conference, Alperen Sengun opened with candid remarks on his assessment of tonight’s game and the aftermath in the locker room from the loss.
“I mean, nobody was ready to be finished. Honestly, it hurts, of course, but you know, we’re proud of each other. I’m proud of them. I love them. We fought until the end. I mean, people gave up on us, but we didn’t.”
“So I mean, I’m proud of them. We fight until the end and end of the day, you know we win together, we lose together, and you know we stay together. Got to learn a lot. There’s a big summer coming for us, you know, and whatever happens, we’ve got to stay together, and you know, come back stronger next season,” said Sengun on the team’s reaction following the loss.
“It really hurts going home in May. You know, we didn’t expect it; that wasn’t the goal at the beginning of the season this year. So, but it is what it is. At the end of the day, we know what it is and got it locked in, still, season end. Maybe get, you know, one, two weeks off and just start working for next season, man.”
“We’re still growing up. A lot of young guys out here. I’m young, too. So, you know, got to work hard and come back stronger here. just set the tone from the beginning and stay consistent, and you know, hopefully his goal is going to be the same, and hopefully you know everybody healthy stays healthy, and we’ll be here next season,” Sengun further added while reviewing the developmental targets of the team.
“One of those nights, we missed a lot of shots or [failed to] find them. I mean, they play good defense obviously, and you know we found the shots, but we missed them. It happens.”
“It’s happened in the first two games, and it happened tonight too. They played better than us. They play harder, I will say. I mean, you know it hurts. We tried. We really tried to come back, but it didn’t happen. Hurts,” Sengun said while reflecting on his own and the team’s offensive struggles tonight.
Sengun further dove into how he wanted to translate the experience he got while leading the Turkish national team at EuroBasket into his leadership role with the team.
But at the end of the day, he acknowledged that this was only the second playoff experience for himself and a major portion of the young core that was also with the team last season. And this was also the first time Reed Sheppard got real playoff minutes (spent most of last year’s playoffs on the bench).
Therefore, he gave credit to the growth that the team showed in the absence of Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams for most of the season and the absence of Durant in the playoffs, and seemed confident that the team would bounce back stronger next season.
“Well, it’s a big summer. It’s four or five months out and just, you know, got to get better. A lot of stuff, you know, body-wise, mental-wise, you know, this season.
“It was a lot of ups and downs for me, but I stayed with it. I always try. I trust myself. I have that confidence, you know. I always go back. I’m a fighter. So, just, you know, my shots and everything. I’m just going to work on it the whole summer and hopefully, come back next season and show it on the court.”
“Well, work hard. Work hard. Don’t forget this. I will be feeding off of losing in the playoffs again, and just work hard and hard and hard, be a better leader, you know, I can get better in everything. I know this court, and that’s what I’m going to do. And I expect the same thing from my teammates, too,” concluded Sengun on his offseason goals and expectations from the team.
The Rockets’ All-Star also reflected on how Fred VanVleet, Kevin Durant, and Steven Adams’ absence on the court was not a primary thought in his mind. He did take advice from them during the timeouts, but was not busy thinking about what it could have been like if the veteran were in action.
Playing with the cards you are dealt instead of thinking about what-ifs is a solid sign of growth in Sengun’s leadership skills. In the final question of the press conference, Sengun was also asked about what he thinks the Rockets need to go to the second round and beyond in the future, as they have now faced consecutive first-round exits.
“I mean, last season we were really close. This season, game three obviously hurt, and [we were] still trying to fight, and last season we stayed with it till… It’s just a learning, man.”
“A lot of legendary players didn’t go all the way through their first two playoff experiences, you know, and we didn’t do either, but we are a good team. We have a lot of talent in this team. We are fighters, end of the day, you know, we all stay together and just learn, man.”
“Learn to take care of your body and mentally, everything. Just, you know, we’re going to learn a lot of things from this, and there’s, as I said, a lot of things to do this summer, to get better, and that’s what we’re going to do,” concluded Sengun.
Alperen Sengun averaged 20.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in this series while shooting 46.5% from the field. Sengun got too locked in on finding his own shots that he forgot one of his key strengths: playmaking.
Sengun averaged 6.2 assists per game in the regular season and only managed to hit that number thrice over these last six games. In Game 5, the Rockets were able to feed off the defensive attention that Sengun drew and hit some crucial shots on open looks. But they failed to replicate that tonight.
In essence, the Rockets have a lot to work on going into the offseason. It starts from deciding on Ime Udoka’s future, to even potential roster changes that the front office may initiate.
But if they run it back with a similar roster and coach for next season, it is heavily on the shoulders of the Rockets’ young core of Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason (if he extends), and Reed Sheppard to exponentially improve.
