Rockets center Alperen Sengun has been an All-Star the past two years, but his below-average three-point shooting remains an obvious weakness in an era of stretch fives. Sengun, who connected at 30.5% from beyond the arc last season, is working to improve that part of his game in training camp, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.

“Just feeling confident, getting a bunch of reps, and not thinking about it,” Sengun said. “I have said it before, it’s all mental for me. I feel good when I shoot it, but in the game, I kind of feel like I’m rushing a little more. But I’m working on that right now.”

Sengun cites “corner threes” as the spot that he’s been emphasizing so far, and he understands that he can help stretch opposing defenses to benefit his teammates if he can develop a consistent outside shot. He’s been working closely with new Rockets shooting coach Chip Engelland, who has a long history of success in developing shooters.

“He’s amazing. He’s a genius,” Sengun said. “You can already see it. Putting little details in a couple of the stuff that I need to get improved and Chip is really good at it. Watching a lot of clips, telling me all the details, taking videos.”

There’s more from Houston:

• The Rockets showed their belief in Amen Thompson by giving him a five-year, $208MM extension this summer, and he has a chance to take a huge step forward in his fourth NBA season as he returns to his natural position, Varun Shankur of The Houston Chronicle observes in a subscriber-only piece. Called upon to help share the point guard duties with Fred VanVleet sidelined by injury, Thompson handled the ball a career-high 29.4% of the time last season and logged his highest usage rate. He figures to return to a complementary role in the offense, utilizing his exceptional athleticism and his skills as a screener and cutter to create easy baskets.
• Veteran center Steven Adams is also returning from an injury, and coach Ime Udoka doesn’t plan to use him in back-to-back games early in the season, per Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
• Udoka believes his team was “overlooked” by the NBA schedule makers after last season’s first-round playoff exit, Guillory adds (Twitter link). “We pointed all those things out to our guys,” Udoka said. “… We played on opening night last year. We played on Christmas last year. Now, we’re not. That says it.”
• Former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was seen at a Rockets practice this week, and Udoka explained that he’s “making the rounds” at several training camps, tweets Michael Shapiro of The Houston Chronicle. Udoka added that Thibodeau is a good friend of current Rockets scout Ed Pinckney.