There is no question that his 3 point shooting is horrendous. There have been other players that came into the league struggling from the outside - but Amen is really bad. He sometimes struggles to even get the ball to the rim from 3 point range, it just doesn’t look natural for him at all. We will see improvement in his shooting, the question is whether it will improve enough. I suspect we will not see improvement from 3 point range first, he will develop a mid range jumper off the sag. He has shot well from 16-20 feet this season and non are assisted, but it is still a limited sample. If he improves his 3-10 foot percentage (it’s going up) and starts to develop a pet jumper over the next year - I’ll be happy. A pet jumper will open the court up for him in the half set - and maybe over time me can develop a 3 ball like Rondo, Butler, Redd and others.
good thing is he starts his NBA career with a competent coaching staff and a winning environment[hovering around .500] and plenty of time to improve and develop on the right way also [no extra pressure added]
I think using screens can help him drive if defenders sag off of him, at least to some extent. He also needs to make quick decisions before the half court defense gets set.
Yeah, in the summer I shared some examples of plays teams ran for guys like Zion, Giannis, Westbrook, etc., for this exact kind of thing. Of course I'm too lazy to look for those, but you can take my word about it. It is not great to have a star player who can't shoot, but if that player is involved a lot on-ball, that lessens the shooting weakness some. A player can have a "gravity" even if it isn't shooting gravity, and that gravity can definitely create some easy points. Now Amen doesn't have the handle, craft, strength, confidence, finishing ability, etc. to really have that kind of gravity right now. Maybe he won't ever have it. But it seems possible given his current abilities and work ethic. For me, I generally grade Amen on these non-shooting skills. If you think there's a good chance that Amen will be able to get to the paint at will, finish well, playmake well, keep the TOs low, etc., then don't really worry about the shot too much for now. Personally, I'm more concerned about his finishing at the rim on drives than his shooting, though I think he's gotten better with that. I've had similar concerns with his handle and general aggressiveness, though those too seem to be getting better with time. The shot is what will take him from a really good player (assuming he hits on all other things) to an elite player. And that's just assuming he gets to the low 30s I think. It will probably take a couple of years until we know exactly how that will turn out though. I was optimistic that Ben Sullivan could work some magic immediately, but realistically probably won't see any substantial 3pt improvements until next year or the year after I'm guessing (if there is any improvement).
That blocked shot from Thompson is one that will etched in me for a long time. A 6'7 is not to supposed to block that shot.
He kinds of reminds me of guys like Shawn Marion, Andrei Kirlenko, and of course Rondo - kind of those jack of all trades, masters of none guys but that sort of versatility is really huge on court. I agree with the comments above that it's much harder to "hide" his bad shooting in the modern NBA where teams really key into those metrics now so he will never be able to 'get away' with some of the things other historically bad shooting but useful players did, but I have hope that with his work ethic and intelligence, if anyone can improve here, it would be this kid. He is definitely a project - but to be able to do what he does today after 20ish games under his belt, I would say he already has some things that he does better than the average NBA player. I mean what 20 yr old GUARD 20 games into his NBA career has a 15pt/14 rebound/5ast game while guarding many of the best players on one of the best teams in the league guarding four positions? He's doing these things while still being completely raw in a number of ways skills wise. It's really rare what is happening here....ALMOST as rare as Jalen Green regressing so mightily in year 3.
We can b**** about Jalen. Pump up our 19 year old future star. And, play Amen. All at once. C'mon now, we have a board full of GM's. Business as usual here. Multitask much!?!
Magic only developed a set shot later in his career. Amen is a pg that can guard at least 4 positions. He has the bbiq and court vision of Magic. Not as strong yet, but already a better defender. A lots of guys are laughing at me, but Amen is going to end up being one of the best PGs of all time Yule see.
Neither could guys like Lebron and others that have amazing wingspans. That's why work ethic and determination is what we need to see out of this kid. It won't improve over night but we should expect it to be respectable by season 3.
Point wing? Because of the athleticism and strength (more on Cam's part) I view Amen and Cam as small wings in the 2/3 vein instead of 3/4.
