Houston Rockets: Predicting the team’s leader in every statistical category
By Luke Duffy
Alperen Sengun will lead the Houston Rockets in rebounds.
This is as much process of elimination as it is anything else. Wood was the leader here last year at 10.1 rebounds per game, with Sengun finishing a distant second with 5.5. We’ve already discussed how the absence of Wood can be beneficial for others on the roster, and Sengun is no exception in that regard.
Although he’s not known for being a defensive standout this early in his career, there is no doubt that he took a leap forward at EuroBasket with Turkey. Only 20-years-old, he is already looked upon as one of the leaders of that group. As it should be as well, such is the talent, and upside, of Sengun,
As a result of this, he had a better two-way showing while playing at the tournament in Germany, but it will be hard to maintain this over an 82-game schedule against the NBA’s best. Despite this, really Sengun has to up his rebounding numbers, because the Rockets need him to so that they don’t get pummelled in the paint every night.
The Rockets tied for 18th in average height last season (78.4 inches), and the subtraction of Wood will not have helped that number. Basketball Reference believes a much improved season is incoming for Sengun on the boards, as they have him averaging 9.5 per game. As well as needing to grab more rebounds, what competition does Sengun have here?
The organization picked up Boban Marjanovic, and while he is a giant of a man, he will never see enough of the court to rival Sengun in this area. In fact, for his career, Marjanovic has only averaged 3.8 rebounds per game. Scandalous given his height, but then you remember he has only played 286 regular season games, averaging 9.2 minutes. Sengun has already played 72. Nobody is touching the Turkish center on this one.
At this point, you’re wondering why Smith Jr. has not been mentioned. After all, he averaged 7.4 rebounds in college last year and will certainly pick up a ton of loose balls. But while he may one day lead the Rockets in this category, they are unlikely to have him bang each and every night with bigger centers. Not this early in his career, and not when his best use is not yet known.