Depends on the coach actually, I have Udoka on the fence ....he does not encourage Offense as much as Defense.... My guess is Amen would do better on Defense with this type of coach but time will tell......at least early in his career. I would want to see if Udoka is still going to hire better Offense coordinators in the future.
Cam is certainly the flashier player of the 2. He's hyper aggressive when he's on the court, which is great when he's hitting his shots, but can be infuriating when he starts bricking and making dumb turnovers. I'm thinking Amen will be the steadier player between the two. Similar to Jabari, where the ceiling might not be as high, but you pretty much know what you're gonna get from him every game. Cam will be more similar to Jalen where he will look spectacular some games and a disaster others
I am being sincere here and I cannot keep up with all the young guys who would need playing time, good luck to all of them....may the best get the most minutes.
Not even the same skillset. Simmons had a mid and low post game. Couldn’t take people off the dribble because he wasn’t as quick. Hung around short corners and paint because of his size to get easy buckets from other scorers driving. He drove when he had the open lane and not necessarily beating anyone one on one. Very different player.
Define bad. If he was bad he wouldn’t be playing. Everyone knows he can’t shoot but he hustles. He plays defense. He finds open seams to pass to open shooters with dribble penetration. Again he is growing and developing. That’s why they got FVV. That’s why he isn’t starting. Growth and development
He looks better when he is the de facto PG on the court. When we force him to play off ball with Holiday, it's when he doesn't look good. Can't have a guy with his passing ability play off ball especially when his shooting isn't there. Holiday should be the 2 guard on offense when he plays with Amen. I would really like to watch Amen play with Sengun. Amen can become an elite cutter with Sengun feeding him on his cuts.
Amen looked every bit the better twin yesterday. Ausar without a jump shot is going to have a rough go of it. Hollins yesterday said "Ausar is more the spot up shooter" and I almost spit out my drink. Detroit was just a terrible fit for him where they need spacing around Cade who is still pretty bad. Amen playing PG can be plugged into a bench Rondo/Rubio role and will work with his athleticism and playmaking. I think they're both great at finishing around the rim and being crafty.
Amen right now could do the same thing that Ausar is doing - the Pistons are basically telling Ausar to play inside and just rack up rebounds, steals and blocks. Those are things that require physical and athletic talent. Amen is a better athlete than Ausar. The difference with the Rockets is that their emphasis is on Amen getting playing time when earned, but they also want him to learn to handle the ball and work on shot selection. That requires more skill than what Ausar is being asked to do. Long term, what the Rockets are asking Amen to do offers more upside. Also - if Ausar was really helping his team win, the Pistons would not be so terrible.... the Pistons have some very nice pieces, but they don't do the things needed to win basketball games at this point.
I have hope for him and as he has explosiveness off the dribble something Rondo and Rubio never had. He needs to get an 8-10 ft floater and 15-18 ft mid range jumper in his game. 3 would be nice but he really needs that mid range and floater to diversify his game. Rondo added those shots to his game after his rookie season. Adding a 3 pt shot would be nice but isn’t necessary for Amen. Rondo didn't develop a 3 pt shot until year 10. And Deaaron Fox still can’t shoot 3s. Hopefully with more time and experience Amen learns to be more patient weaving in and out in the half court to find scorers. He also needs to play more physical driving to the paint.
Amen’s shot mechanics are a major concern but the talent and instincts for the game are unquestionable. If he learns to shoot, his floor can be like a Lamar Odom in terms of impact. Ceiling would be something out of a salvador dalhi painting… On the flip side, if his shot remains broken, he’ll be playing overseas in a few years. Hoping for the best…
I think he was lazily regurgitating the pre-draft perception Ausar was a better shooter instead of actually having a clue about what Ausar was doing in the NBA.
Their roster does not blend well with each other. No shooting and lots of redundant players. I wouldn’t mind fleecing them for Cade Cunningham. I like his game.
Being identical twins I think it’s likely they’ll be very similar in the end with slightly different games but as their careers go on, they’ll probably end up close together with really just injuries, and fit making the most difference in their success just like with the Lopez and the Morris twins. Obviously Brook Lopez has been the better Lopez twin but there were times where one might have preferred Robin because of health and need on the court. I think you’ll see situations like that with Ausar and Amen. Right now it looks like Amen is more like Brooks where he’s taken the role of being the more skilled and offensive minded player and that’ll likely boost his value and exposure these next couple early seasons but I wouldn’t be shocked if Ausar has moments in his career too. The situation in Detroit and being coached by Stephen Silas isn’t likely to help.
Re: the Pistons... I look at the collection of talent and wonder "how are they this bad?". Is it really that much worse than what Houston trotted out the last ~3 years? The pieces just don't fit and they don't make winning plays. I like that the Rockets are slowly giving Amen more lead guard run. The one shot he missed was the end of quarter iso play, but that was also the first time he's been asked to do that. I really want to see how he looks with Sengun more. Or really, anyone but Landale.
They are an interesting team. They decided to not add veterans like the Rockets and it shows in their performance. They will get another very high lottery pick - so I will be watching 3-4 years from now to see which approach worked better. I agree that the Pistons do not fit well together. The lack of explosion in Cunningham's game has proven true - but I think he would do a lot better with better pieces around him and some veterans. I don't think the Pistons are going to trade Cade, but if they did - I would have interest as well.
