One of the early season storylines for the Rockets that nobody saw coming is the chemistry big men Alperen Sengun and Christian Wood have developed together.
Not many people thought Sengun and Wood would even share the floor as much as they have so far. Theoretically, they're both natural centers in the modern NBA and you would think it would be a floor spacing nightmare. However it seems that the Daniel Theis and Wood pairing has been a bigger (and predictable) floor spacing issue. With the former, the Rockets loved what they saw in the preseason offensively.
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During Houston's training camp in Galveston, Wood made it a point to take the reigns as team leader and was vocal with everyone, including Sengun. After Sengun was cleared from his illness to practice with the team, the two hit it off. Wood figured out pretty quickly that Sengun liked to pass to cutters and unsuspecting players near the basket, so he became one of those players.
“He makes the game a lot easier for me,” said Christian Wood on playing with Sengun. “As soon as he has the ball, I know exactly where to be. I know he sees me the whole time. He sees me when I'm under the rim. I also cut off him when he gets the ball in the high post.”
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The list of players that have fumbled Sengun's out-of-nowhere passes is growing by the day, but Wood has reaped the fruit of knowing where to be. It's gotten to the point where Sengun is guaranteed to connect with him for an easy basket out of the high post at least once per game.
“We look out for each other, in terms of the big-big,” said Christian Wood. “I think I found him a couple times in transition. When he has that early seal, I know to hit him over the top. He knows to hit me [in the same situation]. He sees the mismatches that we both create.”
The Rockets have even started to incorporate throwback high-low action with Sengun at the elbow and Wood as the dive man.
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“Since training camp in Galveston started, I immediately realized that I'm going to play well with him,” said Sengun on the pairing with Wood. “He's also a very experienced player. That's why he helps me a lot.”
Long-term, it's probably better to pair Wood and Sengun with a more defensively versatile power forward. However, for the purposes of this season, it's the best big man pairing Houston has to offer right now. For a team with a lot of shaky lineups, it's impressive that the two are outscoring opponents by 5.2 points per 100 possessions when they share the floor together. As a point of reference, the Rockets are getting outscored by opponents 10.9 points per 100 possessions when Wood and Theis share the floor.
“I talk with Christian a lot on and off the court,” said Sengun when asked about his pairing with Wood. “He knows that I like to pass during the game. That's why he takes his position on the court according to me. That's why we have great chemistry.”
This is one of the rare cases where fans griping about a veteran starting over a young player actually have a point. It's quite clear to anybody watching the Rockets that Sengun has asserted himself as one of the best players on the roster. The Daniel Theis signing seemed like a good asset play by Houston, but from a basketball perspective, it made little sense. On top of that, it's put Stephen Silas is in the unenviable position of potentially having to bench a respected veteran for rookie.
It may not happen now, but Sengun is approaching undeniable territory. His pairing with Christian Wood could accelerate the process.
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