The case for giving Amen Thompson starter's minutes

Dwight's ft is .570, Amen's .650. It's really bad haha hope they fix it somehow.

 

Amen already winning my heart over as my favorite rocket

 

Man, I'm glad to say absolutely nothing and let the previous posts do the talking themselves and make no personal attacks towards you.

 

If your goal is winning, Amen will not be on the court much this season.

 

Amen should work on improving his jump shots before becoming a starter. On a sidenote, if we are unable to acquire Brook Lopez, I think it would be reasonable to give Whitmore some playing time as a starter. At present, he appears to be on par with KMJ, with better defensive skills but not as a good cutter as KMJ.

 

While Senhub has some playmaking, the other share (likely majority) should come from a vet guard. Jabari needs to tick up in stats in sophmore year. Plus need Green and Sengun in a stable system to properly evaluate their upcoming worth in rookie extension.

 

They are not going to let Amen start if he plays well in the Summer League or not. He should start on the bench and work on free throw shooting and at the 3 point line. I think he will play 20-25 minutes a game but this team needs a veteran point guard.

 

Hard to say without knowing the roster....

I think Ime is going to be an "earn it and execute it" type of coach and it's possible that we acquire a veteran wing that can outplay Amen this season. Even so, I think he gets at least 20 minutes on a much different Rockets roster.

 

No matter how much you try right now it won't change the fact that Amen's shot is more problematic than Lamelo's shot. So far i've not read a single report implying that his 3pt will/might come or that he has nice shooting touch while i provided you 3 Lamelo reports in which you can see some optimism.

 

Start him right away.

I don’t think most people would have an issue starting Scoot Henderson right away and these guys are not THAT far apart as prospects.

Initially I wanted van fleet as a stop gap, but I’d rather have a vet pg like George hill. Somebody who is a steady enough vet if you need them, but won’t get in the way of Amen or TyTy.

Also Amen isn’t some huge project at pg. I see people pointing to KPJ, but KPJ was needing to think and play the game a different way than he had been accustomed to.

Amen has been playing pg pretty much his entire basketball life. He’s not some huge project that is going to have to make major adjustments with the way he plays.

His only glaring weakness is his shooting. That’s it. He should be an impactful defender, passer, finisher…should instantly improve fast break offense…his handles are not poor….

At this point in time, I think he’s clearly the best pg on the team. I don’t think KPJ is going to play pg much if at all next season, but even still I think Amen is a better option there.


The goal is to be better than last year and push for a playin spot. They can absolutely do that with Amen as the lead guard.

 

I don’t understand Amen’s role until he can develop a shot. I’ve watched enough of him play to understand that he is not good off the ball. He gets lost in the offense when he is off ball and doesn't move around a lot. Are we really going to take the ball out of Sengun’s hands to have Amen run point?

Amen is turnover prone as well with nearly 4.3 TO per 36 min at the OTE level. No idea what that projects to at the NBA level but we will find out soon.

Maybe he can be a glue type guy but that means he needs to play more like Tari Eason/Marcus Smart but he doesn't seem to have that style. I don't see him averaging 2+ dunks a game in the NBA like he was at the OTE level either. Jalen Green is only around .75 dunks per game.

Another thing we will find out soon is how well he does without his twin. I hope he can adjust quickly and we will find out soon how this transition is.

Honestly, as I wrote this I'd love to see him develop into a bigger, more athletic version of Marcus Smart (another guy who couldn't shoot) if he truly does have the defensive mindset that people keep saying he has. I haven't seen it from the games I've watched but maybe it will come out with a better coach.

 

Ideally you sign a “point guard” that can play off the ball as well. FVV makes the most sense to me. I know it’d probably be an overpay, but it’s probably worth it.

also would love to go after a vet like Harrison Barnes. Not a PG obviously but would help a lot when we have Amen running point.

If I had my way, opening day starting 5 is:
FVV
Green
Amen
Jabari
Sengun

 

Honestly you have to reward guys like Tari if he outplays Amen in training camp. Everyone including Green needs to compete for their spots.

 

Play the best players, pretty simple

 

I would definitely give Amen starter's minutes.. with the Vipers.. He needs some time in the g-league before he will be ready for the big boys.

 

He needs to improve his shooting to get minutes under Udoka, let alone starting.

 

Im thinking you want Smith/Green/KPJ on the court with Amen when he comes in.

 

I don’t think u give him starters minutes off the bat. He’s coming from the overtime elite and he can’t shoot. He will benefit from learning behind a veteran point guard. Yes, give him healthy minutes, but give him at least one year to adjust to the NBA and earn a starting role. I never liked just giving guys a starting role because of where they were drafted or our view on their “potential” when they haven’t earned it. It’s time to turn over a new leaf with this new coach. Amen will and should have to earn a starting role.

 

Play him starter minutes just like you did the previous lotto and other first rounders even if he comes off bench with the G squad, Ime should tell him to play like Celtics Rondo with the attack the paint motor of a young Westbrook/AI

While his shot is hella flawed there is still the other half of the court plus he can dish and run the break which is a part of Off, but he really needs to develop at least a decent mid range and free throw shot within first few seasons

If they plan on starting KPJ at three and end up striking out on the free agent pg's avail then it would be basically a no brainer to start him so he bring defense size n energy and can feed the scorers/shooters along with Sengun and build chemistry on fly because outside of a dunk or layup he isn't going to be taken shots from Smith/Green/Porter/Sengun

Rockets need to see what they have in TyTy as well, even if they bring in a vet PG

Which is why i felt day one they should have traded/exiled all the vets once they traded Westbrook/Harden and played all the young picks to see who is who and what is what on a larger scale(sample size)

Ime is basically in Silas situation, but this new said phase the young talent is entering their number 5/3/2nd seasons so that small experience helps somewhat more and they are trying to re-add a couple vets that impact winning games which should help the young bulls as well

 

breh is 20. in the middle ages that’s equivalent to 45. he’s more than ready