Fred will be the starting PG til he's no longer here. Obviously Jalen is your 2-guard. Jabari and Alpi are at the 4 and 5 respectively. So do you start Amen at the 3 over Brooks? I thought the plan was to eventually move Tari into that spot.
For next season I really hope they consider it as FVV won't and shouldn't be replaced. Then it's Green / Cam at SG and with Amen's size, he can hold down that SF position.
Amen Thompson has my vote to start at the SF position. The dude is going to be an NBA all defensive stalwart for the next decade and a half. I would rather have have Tari backup Jabari, Alpi, and Thompson at the front court positions. I know Adam’s will get a lot of minutes too, but with him being a bit older, managing his minutes would be wise, so he can give the rockets that depth on the playoffs. Whitmore backs up Green and VanVleet in any combination. The team is coming together!!! Wow! Talk about exciting basketball.
To be honest I have watched several hundred times more bball than soccer in my life. With son playing on ECNL and MLS Next youth teams I'm having a much harder time wrapping my head around soccer. Seems like there are more things to learn with soccer. It's also harder to pin down when someone has a good game in comparison to basketball.
Soccer has gotten super complicated after Pep. It is now super tactic oriented and borderline unwatchable. I grew up watching and playing it (at amateur levels) but i can't even sit and watch Champions League games anymore. Though it's extremely nuanced sport compared to basketball. A player can seem to be doing all the right things on the pitch but be a liablity. You can score lots of goals and still be replaceable because your game doesn't elevate the team. A gk could be great at one on ones but if he can't pass he's gone. Right footed right wingers and left footed left wingers are almost dead. You can have a great vision like Ozil but if you don't have the cardio you are gone. It's constantly evolving. You can't think more than 2 seconds before passing it to your teammates. Have to look around you every 2 seconds if you are a midfielder. Honestly i respect the game a lot it's the greatest sport ever but it's gotten extremely tiring to watch in the last 10 years. I just want to watch Brazilians run through defenders and not think about
Amen will b a starter soon or the very least playing heavy mins in ime rotation. I'm very happy with amen progress his rookie season, future is bright for our team
Exactly. For the last year or so my son and I have watched a decent amount of MLS and ESPN plus men's and women's college soccer. I found a good site to watch free replays of La Liga/Premier/Champions and the level is crazy. I have never watched much of that but the comparison of that to MLS is nuts. Liverpool vs Man City the other day we were talking and they just were not making many mistakes at all from what I can personally see. I am not sure if my kiddo is going back to MLS Next for 24/25 yet but this is the league he is currently in.
Yeah it's generally the best youth soccer in the US. There is a distinction though in that MLS Next Academy (teams attached to actual MLS teams) are the best. The non academy teams are generally equal to the ECNL teams i posted in the map. Last year my son's team beat the Austin FC youth 2010 team 2-0 and tied 1-1. Youth soccer in the US is still not in the same galaxy as south america and euro though. I watched a Barca (2nd best youth team under Barca) thrash my son's team last year in Spain 8-0 with only 30 minute halves.
We all know Amen should be playing 36 mins a night and should be a starter. However he will continue to be part of the bench brigade unless FVV, Green or Brooks get injured. It is what it is.
Thought experiment - what if Amen is the rim running big on offense we have been trying to pair with an offensive playmaker? I would like to see him improve but today he very much plays like a shorter PF/C.
As long as football, bball and baseball exist, soccer will not get the athletes it deserves in the states.
