Lol the way the Rockets have been drafting players, pedestrian talents like FVV and Dillon Brooks look like down to earth players but hard working. Nothing but solid players.
Guys Amen has been injured twice to start the season and then had a virus for a week before playing in the last three games. He’s going to be rusty. You can’t take much away from the game. His handle has been shaky. His defense has been slow. His layup package has been off. But on the bright side. You can see him processing much faster at the end of his runs. He’s usually making the right read in PNR. Jock is a terrible pick and roll partner and even then Amen has made it work. He’s shown flashes of his freak athleticism to his advantage to slow down at the rim and hit ridiculous layups. What’s made me the most happy is he’s pulling on his 3s. Not making them but pulling without hesitation. Hes hitting free throws and immediately takes the middie, which he’s hit, when the defense goes way under.
It seems when you put Amen, Cam, Jalen Green, Jabari and Sengün all on the court at the same time, it becomes an All Star Game rather than an NBA game.
I don’t understand what you’re saying. That group has never been on the court together. Cam only plays garbage time. Amen is usually running with the bench which sometimes has Bari or Green with them.
It means they were drafted to be very flashy, now only Sengün and Jabari seem to be ready for the league as it is. Truly astounding how you can draft so many athletic players......
Cam and Amen are rookies who haven’t had any minutes. You can’t make any assumptions on them yet. I’d argue that Amen is not just a flashy athlete. He manipulates the defense with so many different things other than his athleticism. He’s a great PnR player and is making great reads and passes out of them. cam also has winning tendencies. Say what you want about his tunnel vision but if he’s playing the miles bridges role he’ll be pretty great at catch and shoot and quick drive and finished. He’s shown he’s a great off ball option with his finishing ability (shooting and driving). What’s exciting about him is his numbers as an off ball cutter and finisher are in the top percentile. He’s a good on ball defender as well with active hands. He would actually pair very well next to Bari and sengun and allow sengun to remain the hub. I don’t think you can just say they’re flashy athletes when we don’t know what they can be and haven’t been given an opportunity to play. Their draft profiles have attributes that would suggest they can play very good team ball. Also who would you have drafted in those spots? Amen was kind of the consensus number 4. Cam dropping to twenty was seen as the steal of the draft by every pundit. The lowest anyone had him was like 11.
But our conversation isn't about the NBA as a trade/commerce product, I thought it was about handle/dribbling a ball? Curry handle in NCAA was decent, his shot was way more ahead, which is why he worked hard on his handle in NBA which they even showcase it pregame, especially during their prime run, its not a big deal to me because I believe all guards show possess a handle, especially point/lead guards.....no diff. than a big man who should defend/rebound at high level, which is developed (refined/created/enhanced) over time, but the true dominant ones showcase it day one If you didn't come from an NBA family then I wouldn't expect for you to be given a ball to sleep with as toddler But if your mother/father were fanatics about sports growing up and wanted you to have a basketball or football or baseball bat at your toddler age, then props to them for doing that and making you feel that at least you come from a sports fanatic family Amen can dribble the ball up and down the court so that is basic dribbling, so he needs to tighten up on his handle, which that is part of your professional game development He doesn't have Kyrie/AI/Zeke/Wight Chocolate handle, but he definitely isn't B Cousy (one hand dribbler phenom) either
When you have to start off with Honestly ..... You know you are pretty much full of dung beetle ish and lying to keep harping on a pick you didn't agree with three years ago It probably tears you apart even more that they have surpassed your early win prediction with Green in that starting lineup Don't worry you just have you to grin n bear it for this and next season, then you may get your wish once he become RFA Then again you may be crying a Nile river if they reup on a JG4 extension, which Stone most definitely in his bias mentality wants to resign all his current 1st rd draft selects
I don’t mean to sound rude, but have you ever been to a gym with a basketball court? I used to play 7x week at Gregory on UT campus. I saw kids as young as 8-9 in there working on their dribbling. Sometimes dads would bring their kids and they’d literally just dribble around the gym for two hours. That isn’t an nba-family thing. That’s a normal thing. I mean we had kids in high school that would try to dribble around the classroom when bored. Kids in my neighborhood used to just stroll the streets and dribble as they walked and talked. im confused as to why you think the skill of dribbling requires any kind of pedigree.
I really like Amen's game. To me he projects to a game changer. I didn't expect him to be as much of a true point guard. He is more like a quarterback than a point guard to me because does so much to manipulate the defense. He is super crafty, his change of pace and his looking off the defense freeze them in place making the play much easier. Amen is truly a pass-first type player, even for his made baskets he never looks at the basket until right before he shoots. I think this is pretty common with true PGs especially the ones with shaky jumpers, though. The more amazing thing I notice is that on the assists he looks at a different player/the basket to until right before he delivers the ball. This is a skill that is usually developed over time by crafty veterans or used by older, slower, smaller, or less athletic guys to get more space. I think it is a great sign that he does not overly rely on his size or athletic ability to make plays. Not sure if he is able to do this because of heightened awareness and bball IQ or because he knows his teammates/playbook so well already from film. You can tell that his teammates already know that if they make a good cut he will get them an easy bucket. His change of pace, crossovers, and fakes look flashy because they are quick, well timed and effective even though the level of difficulty level is not as high. He definitely has room for improvement in a lot of areas, but he has shown that he already can be a positive force on the court and has displayed huge potential. I see a lot of complaints about his handles, but I would rate them on par or better than our other young players Jalen Green, Jabari, Alpi, and Tari. I guess he is being judged by position and not based on size/athletic ability/age. Either way, I expect his handles to improve rapidly with the drills and his work ethic.
Feels like Amen is the type of player that plays much better as he gets more familiar with his teammates. You can tell him and Cam have a ton of chemistry together. Same with him and Samuels. He knows exactly where they're looking to receive passes and they know to be ready to receive his passes. I'm pretty confident he'll develop that same chemistry with the guys on the main roster
Guys, keep in mind the Rockets as a team are starting to figure things out and develop an identity. They are playing late-December basketball. Amen is still in the early-November stage. He hasn't grown along with everyone else. It's gonna take some time for him because he's so far behind the curve.
Don't mean to sound silly, but have you been to every country in the world to do a sports preview on every family's children? Just because you saw something 7x a week by a small group of children, makes that to mean its happening the same way everywhere else? And your question is dumb because I Am from that cloth that use to dribble(and shoot) daily to develop better handles, from basic to rucker park style etc
I mean... you don't even have to look beyond the roster to find someone who improved their handle. Jabari Smith has made a gigantic stride with this skill in just a year.
The more Amen plays he's going to come around. However it'll come quicker the better we rebound. We need a rebounding big that'll jumpstart the fast break
