Alperen Sengun's Defense Wasn't an Issue in the Rockets' Series Against the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were viewed as a favorable matchup for the Houston Rockets in the first round of the postseason. The Lakers were missing their best two players in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, which played into the calculus.

The Rockets were tabbed as overwhelming favorites to win the series. Even though Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams were out for the series.

Alperen Sengun was viewed as a matchup mismatch for the Lakers, as Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes are not nearly as great all-around players as Sengun. In fact, neither of them are viewed as defensive stalwarts.

Sengun averaged 20.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks during Houston's Western Conference Quarterfinals matchup. One of the key talking points was Sengun's defensive effort, or lack thereof, in some cases.

Sengun found himself switched onto LeBron James in many situations, and...well, that went about as well as one would have imagined. Sengun clearly loses the athleticism matchup.

But he fared quite well and held his own.

The Lakers continually targeted him in switches and in drop coverage all series and, for the most part, Sengun manned the fort (excluding Game 1).

He certainly had defensive lapses, which shouldn't be a surprise. He's never been a lockdown defensive anchor. And likely will never be.

But his defensive effort his picked up at times since the arrival of Ime Udoka. And we saw much of that in this series.

In spite of that, Sengun was called out by ESPN's Kendrick Perkins for his lack of defensive tenacity. Or Perkins' assessment of it, at least.

"How about Alperen Sengun? When are you gonna get your big ass down and start playing some damn defense? You're the center now. It's no Steven Adams.

You gonna at least try to protect the basket? What is going on with you?"

Again, it's a bit unclear exactly what Perkins was watching, to garner that assessment. Sengun was largely effective on the defensive end throughout the series.

Even in spite of his athletic limitations. In general, he does need to slide his feet on that end a bit more.

And it would also be nice if he would get back on defense rather than complaining about non-foul calls on the offensive end. But again, he's never going to become Ben Wallace. And that wasn't exactly Houston's biggest issue throughout the series.

But when you get sent home in disapppointing fashion, sometimes blame can be misaligned.

Add us as a preferred source on Google