It must be some sort of curse that we got Amen and Sengun who are both guys not trained to shoot at all. Just realy weird.
Amen is playing a different position this season Amen was one of our best players yesterday. He can't cover Sengun letting players drive past him. Especially at the point. Amen can be more impactful at small forward defensively than at the point guard.
Amen can shoot, just not the three. Amen practices it, I am sure, but practice doesn't mean you will be good at it. He has a flat jumper, no natural lift in the arc. I want to see him get downhill more like Derrick Rose.
He's not close to as skilled as D.Rose was, his handle, shiftiness and explosiveness around the basket aren't at that level at all.
Amen has been a beast on defense all year. Even Kenny Smith said he and Ausur are the two best perimeter defenders in the league. Amen’s work on the offensive boards is also underrated. He got us so many extra possessions last night (and every game) on tip outs that don’t count in the box score. We aren’t even in the last two games without Amen’s defense and board work. I get it, he can’t shoot so we need to sh*t on him at every opportunity.
He has that explosion, just not the mentality to use it as often. I never know why they don't use Amen in pick and roll more as he can jump and not many can jump with him at the point.
Do we only judge shooting if you can hit a three? That is always weird to me. Stick to what you are good at. Distance doesn't make you a good shooter. Look at Luka, he has been bad from three this year and takes 10 of them a game. You don't hear people say he is a bad shooter. He is streaky. Amen has improved his free throws though.
Amen is a superstar with a good 3 point shot. He can still be a top 10 player with a Derozan like mid-game. He needs to concentrate on a stop and pop jumper this off-season. If he can add that, there is plenty of time for him to get to a reasonable 3 pt set shot down the line sometime much like Kidd and Magic.
Because he has neither the handling, nor the playmaking to leverage the advantages a PG gets. He'd be better off as the screen/lob threat in the PnR than the ball man, he isn't a PG at all. He doesn't even resemble a PG on the court ever, he's like a weird midget C who brings the ball up to pass to the SF.
Amen Thompson Career Defensive Field Goal Percentage (DFG%) Vs. All-Star Calibre Players (Min. 15 Total DFGA) : Donovan Mitchell — 20.0% Luka Doncic — 21.1% Anthony Edwards — 31.8% Ja Morant — 33.3% Jalen Williams — 37.5% Devin Booker — 43.8% Tyrese Maxey — 45.0% Jalen Brunson — 56.3% Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — 58.1%
I think it is more Ime's inability to run a proper offence, and Sengun loves to dribble the leather off the ball as he backs someone down. I said that he was the lob man in my post. We don't use his jumping ability enough Does any player resemble a point guard these days? Basketball can get quarterback-style these days, as Jokic plays. Amen needs to move more without the ball to the basket. He nearly pulled off a huge dunk yesterday doing that.
Ah that's on me for misreading, I thought you meant as a PG, sorry. I agree, we should be using him a lot more as a lob threat.
His handles have improved dramatically this year. People that keep harping on it are just using to further their pre-conceived liturgy on the subject. Our lord and savior FVV averaged 5.6 assists with 1.5 TO’s last year. Amen’s full year stats are 5.4 to 2.5. This is a guy that has only started for 1/2 a year at guard. He’s also averaging 17.9 points to FVV’s 14.1, FG% 50.4% to FVV’s 37.8%. Don’t get me started on rebounds and defense. Amen has two things holding him back from superstardom. A mid-range jumper and a decent coach.
I don't blame KD for the offensive problems. He was supposed to be your play finisher, now he's your play initiator because Ime doesn't have his crutch in FVV, wont trust Reed and Amen just can't initiate in the half court. What other options do we have? I think Durant has been about as good as one could expect under the circumstances. I expect things to go back to normal next year after they add a guard be that Fred or someone else. Makes me wonder if we are watching the same guy.
Ime should trust Amen or Reed in the 4th quarter. Relying on Durant and Sengun to initiate in the 4th quarter has cost us multiple games, but he keeps doing it. Why not try a different strategy? Because he is a narcissistic jerk that can never admit mistakes and doubles down on them.
He has a lot further than that. He's looking more and more like a defensive specialist 1 way player, that's not even a star, never mind a superstar.
Flat arc is a technical issue. It can be corrected by training and practicing. There's no reason for being unable to shoot in a higher arc. His FT trajectory is much improved. I'm sure he practiced it. What cannot be trained is shooting touch, not significantly anyway. That's what separates good shooters and bad shooters.
I don’t know who’s ******** on him and how. I think the discussion is more about superstar/1A/max contract outcomes. He’s pretty great as he is.
