All of Amen Thompson’s makes and misses at the rim

See, I watch these highlights and start convincing myself that Amen should be the pick.

 

This is where he shows the most potential, but even still it’s not nearly enough to make up for everything else. NBA defenses aren’t going to be as forgiving as the junk being played in these highlights. He’s not good enough to take at 4.

 

Seems like the classy thing to do is just have one thread of these highlights….

 

Most of his layups rely on the backboard bounce.

 

haha yea that first step is lethal combined with the rest of his athleticism. I wish he was a better shooter, but not gonna lie I wouldn’t be mad if we ended up with him. A long term project for sure, but not many defenders in the league will be able to stay in front of this dude, especially with the spacing in NBA.

 

Classy?

This is a basketball forum

Why does it matter?

Thanks for the videos @Reeko

 

Reminds me of a smaller Ben Simmons. He is not better than KPJ.

 

Props for not only posting threads about his terrible jump shooting

 

I like him
But he could easily be stopped the way they guard Westbrook, his career will depend on if he can develop a good midrange shot

 

Hard to get pumped up about drafting a guy at 4 and then having him come off the bench for a few years. Not many defenders can stay in front of Jalen either and we've all seen his struggles especially being an infinitely more capable shooter than Amen Thompson. Question will be if Amen is going to offer that much more in terms of defense and transition buckets in order to make it in the league until the shot arrives. Ben Simmons doesnt do it for me on this team that cant shoot a lick without Amen as it is.

 

Lol. It was tongue in cheek, don’t get your panties in a wad over a basketball forum.

 

I think there are kind of two separate questions with Amen if you're treating with him honestly (and not coming from a position of automatically assuming he sucks because he played in OTE):

1) How good will his contributions be if he doesn't hit jump shots? Will he be good enough at playmaking, defense, and getting to the rim to still be playable?

2) How likely is it that he will develop as a jump shooter and become at least average in that category?

With #1, the biggest thing for me is his size and length. He's not far off from a guy like Tari in his measurements. He's a great size for playing the 3, could play as a slightly undersized 4 if he added some bulk, and yet he projects to play point guard for us. Couple that with his vertical abilities and lateral agility and he is closer in potential defensive impact to a power forward than he is to your prototypical point guard. I also have a lot of faith in Ime Udoka's ability to get a coachable rookie to buy in on defense.

The other thing is, I'm also a huge believer in the playmaking. I think he should have averaged a lot more assists this year--so many blown dunks by his teammates. I think he's truly elite as a passer. He is far from perfect at ballhandling, layups, etc (but does show flashes), but I couldn't be more sold on his abilities at creating shots for others. That has a gravity all on its own and it completely transforms the way defenses will respond to our whole team.

With #2, I do think his shot is very broken. So I have a lot less faith in his ability to correct that issue. But, I still have more belief in him fixing his shot than I do in a guy like Cam Whitmore suddenly learning to be a decent passer, or Jarace Walker suddenly learning to play tough in the paint and finish hard through contact. Those tendencies (tunnelvision, playing soft) tend to be a lot more "baked in" to a guy's personality. Jump shooting is just a skill, and it's a skill the NBA has gotten pretty damn good at teaching. So I definitely think there's a chance. And everything else is so good that I feel very confident if Amen does learn to shoot he will at least be an all-star caliber player, and potentially as good as All-NBA first team.

 

You're describing Ben Simmons to me. He never moved the needle and finally collapsed under the pressure that his broken shot and playoff struggles created. Great defender and passer and good in transition and just didnt provide what teams need to win high leverage games. If you cant shoot in the sport of basketball as a guard/wing that is a big deal. You're going to have defenses camped out in the paint and multiple players will suffer.

 

Well, I think this has been repeated umpteen times but once again I think Ben Simmons was an extremely talented and productive player when he wanted to be, and his main problem was between his ears. Even if he were pathologically incapable of learning to shoot he could have found ways to work around that issue, he just didn't want to and folded under pressure instead of playing up to it. Do you think Amen has the same mental problems?

 

People need to stop bringing up Ben Simmons. Simmons at #4 is a player you take any day. Amen is a player that one shouldn't touch in the lotto period.

1/ Simmons' jumper wasn't this broken. Simmons mentally psyched himself out of shooting jumpers in the NBA.

2/ Simmons is capable of playing all-NBA defense in the NBA. Amen plays plays with merely 'defensive potential' against 16-17 year olds in the OTE.

 

Ben Simmons' one and done year at LSU was way more impressive than Amen Thompsons OTE year. Hindsight offers you that which I dont have in answering your mental aspect question comparing these two players. Simmons did enough of everything else for years and people were 'ok' with it and he got himself a pretty big contract out of it. That experience may start to impact some of the guys who come after him that have the same warts. Its a gamble on a player who isnt ready on day 1 for a team who has told everyone involved that they will do everything to compete next year. I dont think wasting another pick on a developmental player would be the best use of the resources for this particular draft. The upcoming years need to be about the guys who we did identify as possible foundation pieces and whether or not they will stick or flame out and giving them every chance possible to succeed.

 

"I don't stand for bologna'