Great to hear Shaquille O’Neal compliment Alperen Şengün: "He reminds me of a young Pau Gasol… If he was on a team that has a lot of talent around him, they would definitely do well."
Shaq compares Alperen Sengun to Los Angeles Lakers Legend Pau Gasol
NBAThursday, 29 February 2024 at 04:00
Just a few years ago, few NBA fans knew the name Alperen Sengun but the Houston Rockets star has steadily been climbing the list of the most exciting and promising young stars in the league. And on Tuesday night, he got a massive compliment from the legendary Shaquille O'Neal.
"He reminds me of a young Pau Gasol when he first came out. That guy's fundamentally sound, he can do things like this," Shaq said about Sengun.
However, as much as O'Neal likes Sengun, he does believe the player is being limited because he belongs to a team that needs to get a lot better.
"I really like this guy. I'd like to see him on a better team. If he was on a better team like LA or like a team that has a lot of talent around him, he would definitely do well," O'Neal said.
How exactly does Sengun remind O'Neal of Gasol? He said that the Rockets star "does all the little things" that Gasol did during his years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sengun has been in the NBA for three seasons now but this is his best season by far. He is posting 21.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. Like Gasol and other talented big man in NBA past, he is a threat on both ends of the court and has also increased his shooting abilities and the ways that he finds his teammates on the floor.
However, O'Neal is right to wish that Sengun was on a better team because the Rockets are currently lacking a lot. They are the 12th team in the West with a 25-33 record which means that, as of right now, they are out of contention for the Play-In Tournament at the end of the season.
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