Turkey’s EuroBasket campaign has been eye-opening for Houston fans. The reason is obvious: Alperen Sengun’s legendary run. Is it luck? Is it skill? Or is it just a young star learning how to shine? Houston fans can be forgiven to ask where the real Aperen Sengun had been hiding all this time, and let’s not forget we were talking about one of the most elite young Centers of the NBA already. That is how huge his run with Turkey has been.

Either way, FIBA even called their live notifications, “The Alperen Sengun Alert System,” which is the organization’s way of saying that the Rockets forward has everyone’s number, and they’re all scared of a call. But what’s making his campaign so special right after his first All-Star season?

The answer might lie with the Houston Rockets coach, Ime Udoka. While talking to the Locked on Rockets team, Udoka explained the directives he gave to Sengun before his EuroBasket 2025 campaign. “It was really [to] be aggressive, and get back to dominating as you have throughout your career basically.” He said, explaining the shift in intent for the six-foot-eleven wing. “We wanted him to work on specific things, and you know the way they guard him over in Europe, in EuroBasket. He’s doing a great job, obviously, getting high assist numbers, being very efficient, but doing all the things, trying to be well-rounded. So it wasn’t just about scoring the ball.”

Udoka’s instructions were pretty simple to follow–take the shots that are there, play good defense, and don’t let loose. And credit where credit is due, Sengun has done just that! The Turkish big man has broken record after record during this competition. He’s the first player to put up 150+ points, 50+ rebounds, and 50+ assists in a single EuroBasket tournament over the last 30 years, and about 114 of those points were in the paint!

Simply put, he’s being aggressive, and he’s dominating the paint in every single way possible. That’s not something scouts and GMs expected from the Turkish forward. Standing at six-foot-eleven, Sengun has always been an exciting prospect, but there wasn’t much brute force associated with him. People who saw him, however, got to see an exciting meld of footwork and soft touches that gave shades of Nikola Jokic. So now that he’s absorbing contact and dunking over people, we have to wonder what made his game evolve?

If we just go by what we’re seeing in the EuroBasket and what fans are expecting from Sengun in the finals, there’s not a lot he can’t do on the basketball court. Even Turkey’s head coach, Ergin Ataman, admitted that the six-foot-eleven forward’s versatility makes him very dangerous. Sengun didn’t have an amazing day against Greece, missing 8 straight shots, but Ataman was convinced he would help them win. “He missed a lot of his shots in the low post, a lot of open shots, but in his character, he always scores, and he has assists.”

And his effort isn’t constricted to one side of the court either!  “[Sengun] had some really big end-of-game plays defensively that won them games… Great to see the work he’s putting in being rewarded.” Udoka said. The Houston Rockets head coach also pointed out that he’d asked Sengun to take more threes. “It’s really take the shots that are there. Be aggressive, and take the shot you want more than settling for other things…We want him to be confident in it, but not settle for it.”

Imagine telling the young Rockets rookie in 2021 that he’d reach these heights early on in his career. Come on, being the star player on a EuroBasket finalist roster? That’s crazy for any NBA rookie to think about. However, he has done it, and it looks like he’ll do it against Germany in the finals. Sengun’s success is a testament to his hard-working attitude and willingness to persevere–something that even the Rockets front office appreciates.

Houston Rockets GM showers praise on Alperen Sengun ahead of EuroBasket final

There’s one question floating around in the German locker room that we don’t really know how to answer… How do you guard Alperen Sengun? We discussed it earlier, but the young Turk is really going wild in this tournament. No-look passes, contact posters, everything seems like a 2k animation for Sengun this year. Isn’t that just crazy to think about?

We all knew the Rockets’ star would develop; however, because of two reasons. Firstly, when Sengun came into the league in 2021, we already had Jokic and Giannis dominating their respective matchups, and the craze behind international talent was at its peak! And secondly, the team has backed the six-foot-eleven forward for the last four years, putting him in positions to succeed until he finally did last year!

Houston Rockets GM Rafael Stone talked about what makes him special in his eyes. “He’s really young, I mean, all our guys are, but he’s actually one of our ‘older’ young guys.” Stone said on The A-Team show. “He needs to improve a lot from last year to this year, and he owns that more than anyone, and keeps improving for the foreseeable future. He’s not a 31-year-old established vet trying to stay at his peak. He’s just turned 23, and he needs to be getting better, and there’s obvious areas for growth.”

Not to mention, Sengun ticks the biggest box for Stone–loving the game. “One thing that I care about the most, or that we collectively care about the most, it’s the game. It’s that you really love basketball and that the driver isn’t fame, wealth, whatever, etc.” He said. “And for sure, Alperen loves the game of basketball and wants to be as good as he possibly can be.”

And the Turkish star has proved it with his performances over and over again. He’s the biggest team player and wants to win more than anything. That is evident with the way he has not only emerged as his team’s primary scorer, but also in the way players around him seem to be having their best time in a Turkey jersey in years.

Ercan Osmani has averaged 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, Cedi Osman has been Turkey’s second highest scorer with 15.1 points per game, and Shane Larkin has averaged 11.4 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. Sengun is a player with the ability to elevate the game of those around him, and that has resulted in a historic run that ended all the way in the final.