SGA will finish 2nd in MVP voting on 1 3PA per game shooting 35% from 3. I do kinda wish that "And 1s" were their own stats because Amen will get these in droves.
His three point shot is broken bad and may take a long time to fix. His mid-level jump shot is much better and with his length can become a go-to shot in a short period of time. Even with that broken 3 pt shot, he has already proven to be able to get to the rim almost at will. He is an NBA quality starter right now. He will be extraordinary next year.
SGA is actually shooting 3.4 triples a game and making 1.2 of them. But yes, he is a guy Amen says he models some of his game after, and he has been effective without being a good or high-volume shooter. Fox is another example, although he massively increased his 3P attempts and percentage this season. The spacing negatives are mitigated when you have the ball in your hands a lot way out above the key. There's only so far your man can or will play off of you. That's one of the reasons I think Amen is best as a point guard. Although he is good enough at enough different things that he could perhaps even get away with playing power forward if it was just off the bench--but we should use him in his best role for the long-term, which is as a primary ballhandler.
here y’all go comparing Amen to guys who are nowhere near as bad at shooting with a jumper that looked nowhere near as broken Shai doesn’t need to hit threes because he’s automatic from midrange and can get to the paint and to the free throw line at will where he shoots 85% for his career Amen Thompson is non-existent from 3, way below average from midrange, and doesn’t even shoot 70% from the line Rockets will never win a damn thing of importance with a PG that can’t shoot a lick…teams know exactly what to do against a player like that in a playoff series
I think most of us rational thinkers believe Amen will become very good at mid-level and a better FT shooter. He has only played 30 games. None of us can read the future, but none of us should be writing a guy off after 30 games. I think the point is that he may never be a good 3 pt shooter, but can still become a star without that particular skill.
Amen's shooting problem is that his set point is too low, and his forearm is vertical/forward which prevents him from loading his wrist. That's why he hits the front of the rim a lot.
Muscle memory is difficult to undo, ask any golfer, but Amen is married to the basketball court. He will get it worked out. His dedication to basketball is one "skill" that many of his nay-sayers are reluctant to mention. The vitriol expressed against our youngsters never ceases to amaze me. I guess it is just a product of our generally impatient culture, but frustrating nonetheless.
What is the reasoning to think he’ll become very good from midrange? I’d be surprised if he became just decent if Amen’s problem was that he can’t hit threes, then that would be one thing, but we all know what will happen in the future if your PG can’t shoot a lick from anywhere and is actively killing spacing
One thing about Amen is that he has a pretty unique combination of traits. Even most "oversized" point guards are more like 6'5", 6'6" with normal-ish wingspans for their heights. Amen is 6'7" with a freakish 7'0" wingspan. Combining that size with elite, 10/10 athleticism and excellent court vision/feel for the game is a very unusual combination that you virtually never see. So I don't know if you can look for precedents and be like "teams know how to deal with this in the playoffs". What is the precedent? Russ? Russ is three inches shorter--and he did make it to the Finals once as his team's primary ballhandler, by the way. I wonder what he could have done with a few more inches, and perhaps better shot selection. Something like that or 6'7" Rondo is probably the closest we can come (without going back to the 80s) to a ceiling comparison, but I don't know if there is a 1:1 comp we can give to "prove" Amen can do it, because he's just so weird as a player.
People like to label based off of another player's struggles. For every Ben Simmons there is also Draymond/Ben Wallace/Russ. Amen is unique and his lack of a jump shot hasn't really been an issue. Smart players figure it out and usually do well. Smart and athletic players run the league. Amen is both smart and athletic. The kid is incredible.
Watching his mid-level stroke which is not bad, just needs tweaking and height it would be reasonable to assume he can get much better at it. He hasn't been killing spacing at all. You are missing the boat on this one, I think. If he was running point, with everybody else around him shooting consistently well from 3 pt land, he wouldn't kill spacing at all. He is still getting into the lane pretty easily and still finding the open man regularly. You don't strike me as someone who only watches one aspect of the game, just someone who is impatient with young players. What do you think of his defense and rebounding?
He cuts well enough to help negate the spacing(somewhat). He is going to be great but will gave to get comfortable in a couple spots.
he’s not killing spacing right now because he’s a 20 mpg bench player who’s a footnote in a team’s scouting report…as a starting primary ball handler, it will be a different story, especially in games that matter When was the last time the Rockets had an elite shooting team? It’s not something easy to do…Sengun’s not a shooter, and if Jalen ends up being in the long-term plans, he is a below average shooter next to Amen…Tari is meh as a shooter…majority of our current core is nothing special when it comes to shooting His defense and rebounding are excellent, but he has huge, significant flaws, especially if we’re talking about him as a PG running the show for a team with actual aspirations.
That is true. Lonzo has become a good shooter and his mechanics were god awful. He has also spent a lot of time on the injury list, but still improved it.
