Alperen Sengun knows exactly what’s standing between his current game and the next level: the three-ball.
The Rockets center has already made the leap to All-Star status in each of the past two seasons, but his 30.5% shooting from beyond the arc last year is still a glaring area to clean up in a league that keeps rewarding big men who can space the floor. That work has been front and center in training camp, and Sengun said the focus is less about mechanics in the moment than getting out of his own head.
“Just feeling confident, getting a bunch of reps, and not thinking about it,” Sengun said. “I have said it before, it’s all mental for me.
I feel good when I shoot it, but in the game, I kind of feel like I’m rushing a little more. But I’m working on that right now.”
For now, Sengun said the emphasis has been on “corner threes,” with the bigger picture clear: if he can become a reliable outside threat, Houston’s offense gets a new layer and opposing defenses have to make harder choices. He’s been doing that work with new Rockets shooting coach Chip Engelland, and Sengun didn’t hide how highly he thinks of him.
“He’s amazing. He’s a genius,” Sengun said.
“You can already see it. Putting little details in a couple of the stuff that I need to get improved and Chip is really good at it.
Watching a lot of clips, telling me all the details, taking videos.”
The Rockets are also counting on a major Year 4 jump from Amen Thompson, and they backed that belief with a five-year, $208MM extension this summer. After being forced into more of a ballhandling role last season while Fred VanVleet was sidelined, Thompson carried the ball a career-high 29.4% of the time and posted his highest usage rate. This season, the expectation is different: Thompson should slide back into a more natural supporting role, using his explosiveness as a screener and cutter to pile up easy looks.
Another familiar Houston face working back from injury is Steven Adams, and coach Ime Udoka already has a plan for easing him in. Per Will Guillory of The Athletic, Adams won’t be used in back-to-back games early in the season.
Udoka also took issue with how the league’s schedule came out for Houston after last season’s first-round playoff exit. He said the Rockets were “overlooked” by schedule makers, and pointed to the difference in treatment from year to year.
“We pointed all those things out to our guys,” Udoka said. “… We played on opening night last year.
We played on Christmas last year. Now, we’re not.
That says it.”
One more notable visitor showed up at practice this week: former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. Udoka said Thibodeau has been “making the rounds” at training camps, and added that he is a good friend of Rockets scout Ed Pinckney.
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Thompson said he has been focused on that part of his game all offseason, and he is aiming higher than just becoming a steadier shooter. He wants All-Star and All-NBA recognition, and the early signs from within the locker room have been encouraging, with teammates noticing progress in his shot and his physical condition. If that improvement keeps building, it could change the way opponents defend him and, in turn, open up another level for the Rockets. [Read more 🡒]
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For Smith, the changes are less about bulk and more about staying mobile, which matters on both ends for a player expected to keep expanding his role. The challenge is finding the right version of that evolution without sacrificing the agility that lets him handle smaller defenders, and that balance will be worth watching as the Rockets try to blend Durants veteran polish with the energy of their younger core. [Read more 🡒]
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Even with Durant still producing at an All-NBA level, Houston has shown no appetite for opening the door on his market, and a move before the season starts looks unlikely. That stance says plenty about where the Rockets see themselves right now - not as a club tempted by star-chasing noise, but as one committed to protecting the pieces that have made the roster so promising in the first place. [Read more 🡒]