By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The Houston Rockets dominated the Portland Trail Blazers, improving to 8–3 with a commanding victory and another excellent performance from Şengün.
The Turkish center finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and after the game discussed his performance.
Defenses across the league are focusing on him more than ever, trying to slow him down, but he still finds ways to contribute at an elite level.
“It’s annoying,” Şengün said jokingly. “It’s fun at the same time. I found my assists, my teammates, I’m happy. That’s going to be like that every year. I’m going to get better and better offensively — finding my teammates, scoring. I want to keep finding shooters, get my points, offensive rebounds, attacking the rim, staying aggressive.”
Similarly to what happened at EuroBasket, he was subbed out just one assist short of a triple-double.
“That’s happening every time. When I’m getting closer to a triple-double, it’s always in a blowout game. It’s still alright, though — I’m going to get my things right. Last season, when Amen got hurt, he was trying to get his triple-double, and that affected us a little bit. I’m still happy.”
Şengün is in excellent shooting form, hitting 45.9% from beyond the arc through 11 appearances — a major jump from last season’s 23.3%.
He credits the improvement to a strong summer of work and his time with the national team, where he won a silver medal with Turkey and had a standout tournament under Ergin Ataman.
“I worked out a lot this summer. Cam was over there, I had a Serbian coach, Djordje, and we worked with him from the beginning — my shooting style, everything. The big thing for me this summer was working out and getting tested in the national team. My teammates gave me confidence, Ergin Ataman gave me confidence. I wouldn’t shoot, he would tell me to shoot more. That stuff gave me confidence. I know I can shoot; the only thing for me was confidence, shooting consistently. And that’s what I’m doing now,” Şengün concluded.
