In the CQFR of the day, the debate quickly slipped a fairly calm news to the lessons of the Eurobasket 2025. In particular concerning one of the great men in the competition, Alperen Sengun. What the Turkish pivot has shown this summer reinforced an intuition that has become convinced over the matches: we may be one of the next big figures in the league.
From “nugget” to patron: summer in the rocking
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« We knew his talent, he was a player who was All-Star last season, but I was not sure that he was able to really be the figurehead of his country and take him so far, in the final, being excellent all along. He could even have been MVP of the tournament, it would not have been a scandal », Pose Shaï.
The cursor has changed places. We are no longer talking only about touching, playing the post and extraordinary vision for our age, but the ability to take on the heaviest role: leader of an ambitious team, under pressure, faced with the best FIBA defenses.
This dimension was not limited to the attack. “” I was surprised by his defense too Adds Shaï, recalling that Houston’s staff often “challenged” him on his defense and hardness. On the euro, Alperen Sengun opposed volume, relevant aid and a real presence in the circle. All without denying his creative identity.
Following comparisons with Jokic
The analogy is tempting, but misleading. “” Comparisons with Jokic, we understand them … Now you have to stop. He’s not the same player », Slice Théo. Yes, there are commonalities-sense of the pass, reading halfway, ability to punish aid-but Alperen Sangun is not a clone. Summer especially showed that he knew how to impose his tempo in Fiba without diluting which makes his NBA singularity.
The word “superstar” remains heavy to handle. “” I put on the term, I have trouble because there are very few, but Star NBA which will weigh in the years to come, it is validated », Subscribe Théo. Semantics matters little: what Sangun offered this summer is the credible projection of a future top 10/15 of the league when it is surrounded as a real Player franchise.
Confidence, aggressiveness, responsibilities: the trio that changes everything
« I found it hyper inhabited, hyper aggressive. Everything that is positive about a basketball game, I found it really good “, Insists Shaï. And this aggressiveness has not erased his accuracy or night to his creativity: his game of passes continued to structure the Turkish attack, he assumed the heavy possessions, and – revealing detail – his “too ambitious” attempts at the end of the match are less like gaps than to the learning of a boss who lives with the ball.
On the NBA side, the shock wave is expected. “” He will play in a very ambitious team, he was never really the first option. With Turkey, he completely kissed this function “, Observe Shaï. For Théo, the stake is clear: transposing this leadership every night, faced with calibrated game plans to stop it, without losing the economy of gestures that makes its game so productive.
What the euro changes for the Rockets
The Rockets staff has already built part of the project around it. The euro brings a major confirmation: we can entrust him with the initiative and the offensive keys without fear. “” I was afraid that Houston is the checkout with him. Fortunately, that was not the case, we saw the way they decided to bet on him and to empower him … he is a player who is not afraid and who wants to be one of the bosses of his team “Pourtes Théo. Shaï even projects an additional walk: ” There, he asserted himself as potentially an NBA superstar in the coming years. »
This CAP imposes some evidence on the Texas side: give it even more touches at the head of the racket, multiply the strong cuts around him, and make his reading the number 1 option of the quarter-time. The euro also suggests that its defensive curve is ascending: more minutes in classic drop when the context requires it, but also more daring sometimes, with mobility has surprised.
Now the ceiling?
There remains the big question, that which signs the entry into the caste of “game-changers”: consistency. “” I expect the ceiling to be higher than what was imagined 18 months ago Shaï sums up. Théo locks the frame: to stop the permanent comparison, to enhance your unique profile, and to judge its progression on three axes – influence without the ball, defensive discipline, and management of the last minutes.
If the euro is not a verdict, it can be a revealer. That of Alperen Sengun tells a player who has ceased to be only a treat for hardcore fans and who begins to weigh on the outcome of tournaments. This is precisely where the superstars are born.
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Türkiye: the renewal around şengün (and window 2027)
