Arguing whether a 20th pick has superstar or allstar potential is already a massive win no matter what. I love the way the coaching staff has brought along Amen and Cam slowly, statistically they are both already positive players as measured by BPM which is very rare for rookies, think Barnes and Mobley. Appreciate what Uncle Jeff and Tate have done to instill the culture but it’s time for our rookies to eat into their minutes, they are ready.
Yeah, we all do. That was more poking fun at the stat because if he had used anything over 18 minutes, players like Lonnie Walker, Moritz Wagner, and Marvin Bagley III would be ahead of him. I love Cam, but the way this board waxes and wanes over players depending on their statistical output in any game is kind of funny. Amen or Cam doesn't score, they suck or ... *crickets*. If they do score or get some rebounds, they're the future! I love both of these dudes and Cam is way ahead of schedule. His only "next step" is to see how he does against mostly opposing starters. I'm still amazed at his 3 pt shot. Of all the stats I'm most impressed by, that's the one. He's kind of cooling off in it, but if he keeps that above 38%, he's lethal. I also like the guy because we drafted somebody that had some meat on his bones. Him threatening to beat LaJello's ass had me thinking back to 80's and 90's basketball because he looked serious. lol.
Don’t know about the rest of the board and not gonna speak for anyone else. Just ready to see him play more, and not just because of one game’s stats. I’m also not enamored with the opportunity cost of who we are giving those minutes to otherwise. That also is about more than just 1 game. I don’t mean any of that to be argumentative. It’s just my opinion.
Yup. Unless some miracle happens, that change is probably inevitable. I think part of the reason could be to give some players *cough* a last chance to prove themselves to either the Rockets or other organizations. But then again, I have no idea what they're thinking - that's just what I'm thinking. The stuff I'm referencing wasn't about one game, btw. It's all during the season after every game. If a player has a bad game ... crickets. Let's talk about what they did wrong, maybe? But have a good game, and threads proclaim the player as the next Hakeem in the organization which is how we've got 20 franchis player threads. Again, not referencing your comments. I'm cool just watching Cam grow up and content knowing the coaching staff know way better than I do what's going on both on the court and behind the scenes. But I do want him to get more minutes even if it's not starter minutes.
I was going to bring him up, but was already kinda gushing. The amount of high end young talent on the court, combined with our flexibility and sweet BKN picks...If we play our cards right, we're going to have enough to get there. It seems we've found our future All Star back court. Just not the one imagined...
Amen Thompson is a point guard. One of the best strengths that Amen has is his playmaking. Amen Thompson is coming along well, a little faster than I and most reasonable people expected.
He had some early season jitters but in the past few weeks it feels like Amen’s really come into his own. I thought we’d have to wait a year for him to contribute in winning time, but he’s already made some huge offensive and defensive plays at the end of games, and this is without a functional jumper! Love watching the kid ball out
He had the injury in the summer and then the other one early in this season and that really set him back. I’ll give Udoka credit, he gave him some minutes when he came back from injury and Amen has rounded into shape. As for the jitters, he clearly had them and still does when he has time to think too much. He played in high school and then in a league that had some talent but wasn’t near NBA type intensity or maturity. So his handle was good for OTE but not the NBA or even high level college. He struggled as a shooter and he wasn’t used to running stuff like the Rockets do. He is so talented that he was able to adjust, but it took a bit. The issue with OTE isn’t a lack of talent. They have talented players, but they are all 16-19 years old. There are no men, they are mentally and physically not men and the transition to the NBA has to be really hard. I compare it to how it used to be with baseball. A kid could throw 98 mph in the 1950’s but the transition from playing in the neighbors or high school to the MLB takes time, even if you are a great talent. Adjustments have to move made. On a side note Cam’s quick transition is really impressive too. He did go and play college but he was young for his class, and injuries destroyed a lot of his season. He is the age of some high school seniors right now. His man body helps; but he is still playing nasty.
I'm getting to a point where I prefer Amen to FVV at times. For one, I know Amen won't jack up a 3 with 17 secs left on the shot clock. Amen also has no fear penetrating and manipulating a defense. He's also a large human that for reasons I can't explain is the most talented rebounder on the team. If we're going to be a middling team I'd rather just split the reps between Fred and Amen and start the transition sooner rather than later. He's a winning player today. Something Jalen Green *still* isn't. This is ultimately what separates him from his brother who shouldn't have gone where he did.
I agree with you and I think we are going to start seeing this happen organically. We have seen both Amen and Cam have increased opportunities… and short of injury, we are only going to see the Amen/Cam minutes increase.
Strenghts what. He rebounds better than he is playmaking ....didn't he have double digit rebounding? Just like as Aaron Holiday is actually better at shooting than playmaking either. Turns out. You can call it what you want, but I would still use him as a Swiss Army Knife...... I would not call Franz Wagner a PG who is a facilitator at heart. Passing is only one thing that he does......same thing with LBJ and couple of other guys. Just because people want him to be the full time PG, does not mean that is the best position to use him in because he could do as much or more damage being out there as a wing....... I do not see that even as a talking point because I do not really care if you call him PG, I just observed he can do a lot more than being pigeonholed as one. Just like his brother, he is just a tad more athletically gifted and has a few guard like moves but basically they have tons of similarities.
Whitmore looked awesome in the fourth quarter, helping to bring the Rockets back from the dead. But before that, the tunnel vision that people bring up about him was pretty visible. Whenever he has the ball and he's not quite sure what to do, his default move seems to be to drive has hard as he can and try to bully his away to the basket. It'll be interesting to see if and how he adds different facets to his offensive game in the next few seasons.
The Rockets have used KPJ and Jalen Green as PGs in stretches as well so I am not really hung up on that term..... It is just what this franchise is infatuated with.......... Playmaking can and should come from all positions and it should as it is a positionless seamless basketball..... Anything other than that is narrowmindedness, I expect more from basketball professionals, we fans can be having opinions but the organization should be more innovative than that. The reason why we at least expect Cam Whitmore to be a better passer.......even knowing it is not his strength.
