Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

Actually the only problem with Westbrook was that he was missing for half the game for most of his career (defense).

Those 1-2 extra TO’s are a drop in the bucket compared to 24 minutes of non-stop idiotic defense.

 

That’s why I hope he implements 2 things. A 15-20 ft pullup jumper and a post game. Westbrook and Dwade both had this despite poor 3 pt shooting. I think we will see it but not for years. These things aren’t easy to develop. Prob year 5 or 6.

 

I don’t know if that’s true about KD as a point. The Rockets have played that role by committee. Yes KD has played that role maybe more times than we like but Sengun has played that role as well as Amen and Sheppard.

I I agree that not all great rim attackers are pg’s and I don’t know if Amen can be a point but I see why @Hemingway likes him at the point since he can attack in the full court with the ball in his hands and his speed or quickly in the half court set making plays or off screen and rolls. His shooting does limit him as defenses sag off him

 

Amen is the guy in my opinion. KD, Reed, Jabari are good pieces around him for the next couple years as we grow. Even FVV and DFS could regain their health and play a couple more years on team friendly deals and fit in nicely. I also like Okogie but he would slide into the only other perimeter spot they could go without having a consistent three point jumpshot.

I imagine that Eason is back on the team, but if I remember right, if we match any offer, we have to keep him for a year before trading but I think we would do that

Sengun combines are really high ceiling with a great contract and I imagine he has to have some pretty significant trade value. Let’s say Denver declines to the point where the Joker wants out

Sengun/Capela/Adams/FVV/Nets pick/Suns picks/ For Joker and Aaron Gordon.

Jokic/Smith/Rando lob big/Gordon
Smith/Gordon
KD/Eason
Amen/DFS/Okogie
Reed/Amen

 

The tip-in was an super athletic play. He was flat footed and then sprung up very quickly and explosively but also with nice touch.

 

Thank goodness that Herro wanted no part of boxing out Amen lol.

 

Didn't want to get thrown to the ground like a sack of potatoes again

 

This. I’m going to try and shift to the backcourt/frontcourt nomenclature to get away from the useless PG, point forward, arguments. On offense Amen is best as a backcourt player with the ball in his hands and it doesn’t matter if it is in the half court or in transition. He has been steadily producing over 20 points a game and producing space by getting to the rim, shooting, getting fouled, or passing to the perimeter. He’s is doing that in the half-court setting as well as in transition, in spite of his lack of an outside shot.

I’ve noticed that Ime is trying to establish Amen as an offensive force getting to the hoop early in the game. He is actually setting picks to get him downhill in the half-court. As the game progresses he moves Amen off the ball more often and has actually started to run plays to feature Reed’s gravity from the outside. It is making for a much more dynamic backcourt and effective half-court offense. Having Reed in the line-up is also conducive to getting Amen space to do his magic in the lane. Getting Durant and to a lesser extent Sengun away from initiating the attack is the way forward for this team as currently constructed.

In order for Reed to be effective in the playoffs, Ime is going to have to commit to more picks and more movement altogether and Durant is going to have to shoot more 3’s than he is accustomed to. Team’s are going to be relentless in pressuring Reed when he has the ball in the playoffs. I’m afraid Ime’s answer will be to revert to his Iso-centric offense with Durant and Sengun or lean into the walk it up, chunk it up offense if FVV comes back.

 

In the last 20 games, Amen's usage is down, his scoring and TS% is way up.

The more he's allowed to play off ball, the better he is.

The ball dominant PG bullshit Ime tried to force him into was always stupid.

Reed is the exact opposite when it comes to usage over the last 20 games... his usage is way up and his scoring and TS% is also way up.


It's like these two things are related somehow...

 

Adams is already in position to grab the rebound if the ball bounces off the rim.

 

Im excited about the synergy brewing between these two guys.

 

The new Terror Twins?

 

As of right now, of the duos that have played a minimum of 1100 minutes together this season, the Amen + Reed duo is ranked as the 31st best duo (out of 93) in the entire NBA according to NBA.com net ratings. Currently sitting at a +6.3 net rating. Looks to be tied as the youngest duo on the list if you combine ages (Ball + Knueppel).

They're the top duo on the Rockets. Our backcourt of the future is set.

Lineups Advanced | Stats | NBA.com

 

It actually seems fairly reasonable to think that Amen might average something like 22, 8, and 6 in his prime years, and Reed almost the same but with the assist and rebounding numbers flipped (maybe more like 5 rebounds). With both of them highly efficient, Amen by drawing FTs and being an elite rim finisher and Reed with elite 3P%. I don't think that's quite enough to be a championship level duo though.

If Sengun were to fit better alongside Amen on offense and Reed on defense I might be tempted to say we could compensate for the lack of a "real" #1 option by having three stars instead. But I'm not sure I see it right now.

 

They're a good fit. Just need Sheppard to improve his team defense. He'll probably never be a good on ball defender but he can be a decent team defender.

 

Trade everyone except Amen and start over.

 

yeah just like last game we lost not because Amen went 0 of 1 from behind the arc

but because Jabari and Sheppard combined for 4 of 21 from behind the arc