baby Giannis? his body physique is indeed going towards Giannis type--should be the way forward ..with better court vision--BB IQ--talks better to media.. point 4ward/wing
Ok. The shooting between Amen and Shai as rookies is actually not that different. Amen is shooting 69% within 3 feet of the bucket and Shai shot 63% Amen is shooting 54% within 10 feet of the bucket and Shai shot 41% Amen is shooting 32% from 10-16 feet and Shai shot 41% Amen is shooting 40% from 16-23 feet and shai shot 43% So - no, there really isn't a major difference when they entered the league - Amen is bad from 10-16 feet, but he is almost the same from 16-13 feet and he is better from within 10 feet. As for shooting free throws, that isn't the end all/be all when it comes to the ability to hit mid range shots. Even then, Amen is close to 70% and shot almost 80% his last 20 games. Also - Shai He isn’t really well below average from mid range, it depends on where he is in the court. It’s a good thing he is a rookie. We can have this discussion in a few years if he hasn’t improved.
Giannis is a freak and an anomaly…an all-time great that dominates the paint and bulldozes over all his defenders…Giannis dominates like he’s Shaq with some ball handling…that is not Amen…he can get away with not having a decent jump shot because he dominates anyone and everyone regardless Giannis is 6’11 with a 7’3 wingspan…they’re not even in the same realm Jrue Holiday was the one running and initiating the offense while Giannis was more of the finisher if Giannis had Amen’s height and wingspan and was a full-time PG, we wouldn’t even be talking about him like that, but Giannis is Greek Freak for a reason, emphasis on Freak
Amen shoots better in the paint than rookie year Shai…ok overall, the rookie year shooting between them is actually dramatically different…Shai is way better *Amen 10-16 ft - 31% *Shai 10-16 ft - 42% Shai +11% *Amen 16 ft to 3P - 39% *Shai 16 ft to 3P - 44% Shai + 5% *Amen 3P% - 16% *Shai 3P% - 37% Shai +21% *Amen FT% - 67% *Shai FT% - 80% Shai +13%
OK, so if a defense does this to Amen in the playoffs, just have him do a dribble handoff with Cam/Jabari/etc. Or something along those lines. You can make counters to this defense that don't necessarily mean you have to shoot 3s. I'm assuming Amen is OK doing things like setting screens. IIRC Westbrook doesn't, which along with poor shot selection, is one of the things that prevented him from being more efficient (though a Westbrook-esque career is still pretty damn good). Having said that, I *do* think it is important for Amen to significantly improve as a shooter. I'm not trying to downplay how important it is for him. That said, if he does end up elite in other areas (a big *IF*), I'm not as concerned as that could make up for the inefficiencies with his shooting. You need elite skillsets in multiple areas with your playoff lineups, and if Amen can offer things like elite playmaking, finishing, transition play, defense, rebounding, etc., then you can load up on other guys who are elite at shooting but aren't elite at those skillsets. Guys like Sengun, Cam, Jabari, etc., all have strengths and weaknesses in their game, and you build around those things to give your team the best chance of winning. Some guys offer bigger or smaller margins for error, but I don't think any single player can prevent you from winning in the playoffs if they can offer multiple elite skills. Now if Amen turns out to be a terrible ball handler, meh playmaker, 48% rim finisher, etc., then yeah that's a problem. But if shooting ends up being one of his only weaknesses (maybe only?), then I say let's run with that and see how it goes. In the case of this team, I actually think all the guys compliment each other well (in theory), which could be interesting depending on how things develop.
Amen has pretty freakish physical tools as well. They're not quite as insane--so he probably won't become a superstar 2x MVP if he never learns to shoot. Unless he grows a few inches like Giannis did (unlikely at age 20). But that doesn't mean he isn't enough of an athletic freak to play a key role on a championship team without a jump shot. I think you're underselling just how special Amen's combination of athleticism and size really are.
Guess we're not that far off in our views after all--I just think the odds of him learning to shoot are pretty good. You clearly don't, and that's fair enough, I suppose. He is truly abominable at anything much beyond the FT line right now, I won't deny that.
Even if Amen doesn't have a shot, he can be a taller, smarter, and humbler version of Russell Westbrook. That's pretty good. Or he can be a smaller, faster, kinder, more handsome version of Draymond Green. Not bad either.
Who knows. One thing i do know is you can have 4 top 20 players on one team and pay them all. So having a few guys that fit together and somehow fit under a salary cap is uhm what you kind of want.
Regarding the makeup of the team. Anyone that is a real fan of the Rockets wants the best for all these players the team has drafted. You can only pay so much for them though and keep everyone together. So if you think that he will never be more than an above average role player that is not the worst thing in the world if you want to do things like keep Sengun etc all on the same team.
No - we were talking specifically about mid range shooting and no, Shai didn’t shoot significantly better. It depends on where it was on the floor. Amen struggles from two spots on the floor - the 10-16 foot range and three. He already shoots better than most players in the 16-23 foot range and he shoots well in the 3-10 foot range and is excellent at the basket. He has areas he needs to improve on as a shooter for certain, but he is a rookie and is already improving in the deep midrange area and after starting poorly in the 3-10 foot range he is shooting well. Everyone assumes he needs to be a 35% three point shooter to be a star. He doesn’t- he needs to be able to consistently shoot around 50% from a spot in the 15-20 foot range and be able to get in the lane and finish and draw contact. He is already starting to do that. Will he do it? I don’t know for certain, but I can say a deeper dive shows it isn’t as bad as some think. Will Cam Whitmore learn to not play with horse blinds on? I don’t know - some do like LeVine and others never do and become 6th men. Will Sengun learn to shoot 35-37% from 3? I don’t know, but I know he hasn’t focused on it in the past and has said he intends to work on it - I think he will. I just find the absolutes around Amen by some people odd. He has played less than half a season - has noticeably improved as a player and shooter but for some reason he is not going to keep improving.
Are u trying to gaslight me? Shai didn’t shoot way better? C’mon man, stop, the numbers are right there
and u can do this “player X shoots well from certain spots” for any player there’s a spot beyond the arc where Russ is shooting 39% on over 30 attempts this season…there are spots from midrange he manages to shoot it decently over 40% there are spots last season Russ shot over 40% beyond the arc on over 60 attempts…spots from midrange he was shooting 46% he is still a garbage shooter because guys are judged on how they shoot overall
No - I’m not gas lighting you. Thompson is so far shooting better than Shai as a rookie at the rim, in the paint and they both shot well in the 16-22 foot range. Shai was clearly better from 3 and from 10-15 foot. Even in the 10-15 foot range, young guards tend to improve - so Amen shooting in the 30’s there right now doesn’t mean he will not shoot well there long term. I don’t even care what Shai shot, he is one of the best shooters 18 feet and in. The point is that Amen hasn’t show an absolute inability to shoot from the field anywhere this season other than the three point line - and players with Amen’s athleticism and quickness can play at a very high level if they have spots on the floor where they shoot well - and Thompson is promising at several of those spots. He has areas to improve as a shooter - but it isn’t as helpless as some seem to think it is. Overall on two point shots this season, he is shooting 58%. There are several ways/options for a player to spread the court. Shooting threes is the most obvious but with the gifts Amen has, he can do it by firming up his 10-16 footers or improving slightly on his 16-22 foot shots. No one can argue with you on his 3 point shooting. He is bad right now and he may never be good at it - but that isn’t the only option for him.
You want to judge him how he shoots overall? He shoots overall 58% on two point shots and 49% overall from the floor as a rookie. This isn’t his 5th season - he has already improved as a shooter this season from everywhere except 3 point shots. If you want to say he is a terrible 3 point shooter this season - that is true. The claim he cannot shot at all is false and certainly isn’t true enough that the Rockets should give up on him being their long term point guard.
In the first 15 years of Westbrook’s career, how many times did he have an EFG% 50% or higher? Zero. What is Amen Thompson’s EFG% as a rookie, coming from OTE? 52% What is the highest field goal % that Westbrook had in his entire career? 47% Amen Thompson is at 49% as a rookie. For his career - Westbrook shoots 35% from 3-10 feet from the basket. Amen as a rookie is shooting almost 20% higher. The only place on the floor that Westbrook for his career shoots higher than 39% is 3 feet from the basket…. and even there he only shoots 60%. Amen as a damn rookie shoots 69%.
