Amen Thompson - Point [Forward or Guard?]

Wow he fixed his jumper. Elbow isn't low when he shoots.

Does the coaching staff read this forum. I mentioned on here about Amens bad mechanics and Jalens bad shot habits and both have been fixed. Am I the new roosh?

 

I just think handling is stopping him right now from playing PG not his shooting. We are currently playing him as a cutting forward.

There's been non shooting PG's before, but they all had great handles.

 

One thing I noticed is that Amen, like most of the great rebounding PGs (Magic, Kidd, Westbrook) he loves to push the transition after getting a defensive rebound. He gets the rebound and immediately dribbles out. If his teammates aren't in front of him, he goes coast to coast for a one-man fast break which reminds me of guys like Westbrook and Drexler. If one or more teammates are racing ahead of him, he makes quick outlet passes.

 

Well, what he can he do.....settling for the jumper early? haha.

 

In the modern NBA non-shooters at the PG position have basically disappeared. Ben Simmons may be the only exception and even then there was always the issue of fit between him and Embiid, which is essentially the Amen/Sengun issue except on a higher scale. Even players people consider non-shooting PGs like Josh Giddey can somewhat shoot (Giddey is actually more efficient than Jalen Green this year). Where Amen is a zero threat to the defense outside the paint.

People are seriously underestimating Amen's lack of range due to his unique role right now. His path to success absolutely require at least a semblance of an outside game. Something that resembles the current Jalen Green at the very least (~38% from mid range and ~32% from 3s).

 

Amen might be one of the best I have seen at jumping very high very quickly without a running start. Him, Alpi, Tari, Steven Adams are just going to kill teams with offensive rebounds and second chance points.

 

Again I don't really think it matters what position you have a non-shooter at, you just can't have more than one of 'em. I think Amen is already proving right now that he can be a starting-caliber player in terms of his individual production, whether that be at the 1, 2, 3, or even 4 spots. How much he needs a functional jump shot doesn't just depend on him, IMO. We're going to have to see how the rest of our young guys evolve as well.

Although of course he should work hard on it this offseason and every offseason until he figures it out, and hopefully at some point he will.

 

Yep, this has quietly become a high utility team over the season.

 

This is essentially the James Harden defense problem the Rockets had to deal with. Yeah, Harden could play defense, but you have to surround him with the exact right players needed for him to play defense. It technically can work, but it requires precise teambuilding. And something you are willing to bend over backwards to make it work if said player is an MVP candidate every year. But making sure all your centers and power forwards are perimeter shooters is a lot to ask of any GM in order to accommodate a lesser player.

 

The question is twofold, I guess. One, how good can Amen be without shooting? And two, do we already have most if not all of the personnel we need for him to work as a starter if they improve enough via internal development? I don't know the answer to either of those but I'm willing to give it at least a couple years to find out.

 

It depends on how high the value of said player despite his one flaw. For a Harden, you take his defensive weakness because of how much he is giving you on offense. (I know this topic is debatable for some people because of Harden's other flaws as an offensive player. But let's just say that he is MVP level good on offense and leave it.) For a guy like Amen, if his value on everything else other than shooting is elite enough to give you a huge net gain, then you take it and build around it. Because this kind of players don't grow on trees.

Besides, while I generally agree that you can't have more than one non-shooter on the floor, I believe that a creative offensive coaching can device some system that can take two non-shooters and make it work reasonably well, provided that those two guys have pretty high impact on offense other than outside shooting (low post scoring, playmaking, high IQ, good penetration ability, etc.)

 

To me development is the issue. Because if you're going to test out the non-shooting version of Amen, you want him to play with 4 shooters. If you want to further develop Sengun, you also want 4 shooters around him. Playing them together clearly hinders development for both. So who do you want that optimal developmental environment for? Sengun or Amen? If we didn't have Sengun then what you say make perfect sense, and I probably wouldn't even be commenting about this issue. But personally I would prioritize Sengun's development first and hope Amen can fit around him, rather than the reverse.

And this is even assuming Jalen Green's current hot streak isn't here to stay (fingers crossed that 3rd time's the charm). Cause otherwise, the Rockets need to prioritize building around Jalen and Sengun before Amen.

 

This isn't necessarily true since Rox have dunked on teams with a lineup of Landale/Jabari/Amen/Green/FVV. In fact I'd argue that's our best 5 man lineup RN.

It's not just a case of 1 non-shooter 4 shooters, it depends on the quality of players you have as well. In Amens case sure he sucks at 3 but he is so dominant defensively he is gonna make the opposing player suck as well. And then you add the rebounding and passing on top that makes him a net positive. The passing means he can stuff people and then run a fast break which negates his ability to shoot, just like Ben Simmons.

And I know Simmons was a liability in the playoffs but remember he was treated as the second option or star in Philly. Amen would be fighting Tari and Cam as the 5th option behind Sengun, Jalen, FVV and Jabari.

 

His brother's situation is clearly bothering him. There was a photo circulation on Twitter and he was looking very upset. I don't really buy in to that "If one twin plays with his dick other twin cums!" theory but brother is your blood and can't move on your life while your brother's life is on the line because listen if your body can cause blood clots you will always be susceptible to them. That kid will need a life long monitoring. I know 2 people suffers from this. One is my very close friend who had a stroke last year and my another friend's mom who literally doesn't leave hospitals. Hope it never visits Amen but he needs to get checked as well.

 

On the first question, not a best player on a championship team.
On the 2nd one, probably no If Sengun and Amen don't improve their shooting dramatically, they will need defenders that are elite 3 point shooters to make spacing work deep in the playoffs. Regular season, they should be able to win a lot with internal development. I think JSJ can become a defender that is an elite 3 point shooter, but he's been a tad light in both areas over where I expected him to be right now. Can Cam improve defensively to meet this criteria? Tari, defense is there, shot is a little slow (i.e., allows defender to sag more) and just a tad bit worse on efficiecy than I like.

 

@KingCheetah
@J.R.

 

This was a great play by Amen, making a "Sengun like" pass to Alpi Sengun, now sitting on the bench in street clothes.