It looks like the ball is being shot from deeper in his palm versus from his fingers like most of us were taught. Maybe it's me just looking for something, but that's the thing that looks odd.
That's the thing. Jokic never just "wants to jack up" a 3. He shoots because the defense gives it to him. If you looked at the series stats against Minny, both Jokic and Murray shot way below their season average. So they lost not because they were not good enough shooters jacking up bad shots. It's just an unfortunate variance for the Nuggets against a team they did not have a large margin of error.
I think he will definitely be a better playmaker than Iggy. He's already close to Iggy's career average on assists per 100 possessions. Whether his ballhandling will improve enough to be a primary is unknown at this point. If you want to think of him as more of an off-ball player, perhaps you could think of his best-case outcome in that role as the midpoint between Andrei Kirilenko and Dwyane Wade. I've warmed up some to that idea. That would be a perennial all-star, and certainly be a better player than Iguodala, in my opinion. I'm not ready to rule him out as a lead guard though. Whether he can play point guard in the future depends on his development in multiple areas, as well as factors outside his control, like whether Reed Sheppard ends up as the better player for the role in Udoka's eyes.
It is definitely odd. It looks like his follow through flick with his hand is out of sync with his arm extension. His release point is lower and more out in front than you expect.
Amen 'Averaged 13.8 points, 12.3 rebounds (no, that isn't a typo), 5.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 8 games that Fred VanVleet missed last season.' Very small sample size but this is impressive. For reference 5.1 assists is what Curry and Coby white averaged for the whole season. People seem very quick to dismiss Amen as a lead ball handler after his rookie year. Let us not be hasty in dismissing this clear star. Those rebound numbers would have him 5th overall! Again, I acknowledge the small sample but I believe. Source: hashtag basketball
Whether lead guard or forward, Amen needs to be on the floor 30+ mins a game. He virtually makes everyone on the roster better and makes us one of the best transition teams in the league. I’m not hating on Dillon, but he should be traded to make room for more Amen and Tari.
I completely agree. I could see us trading Brooks for Bruce Brown. We get an expiring contract and Toronto get another Canadian. It might not free up many minutes immediately but I reckon Jalen will be gone at some point too. Then the following season there will finally be enough minutes for Amen and Tari while hopefully Reed has earned a lot too.
If Jalen does not work out, I could see a scenario where FVV and Amen are our starting backcourt. Amen, FVV, Tari, Bari, Sengun would be pretty salty defensively. Amen would need to be on ball a lot more with FVV, Tari, and Bari your 3 pt shooters. 2nd unit mix and match of Jalen, Cam, Sheppard, Adams, Brooks (if still on team) would also be incredible. The guy from Australia could be a real wild card as well. Sounds like a more consistent 3 pt shooting Gary Bird to me.
I agree unfortunately. As long as Amen is finding his way to 30+ mins a game, I don’t care. If he gets those kinds of minutes he will supplant Brooks or even Jalen (if hasn’t improved). FVV and Amen would be pretty incredible defensively. Of course, I hope Jalen plays great and Amen gets his minutes at SF and backup PG (on offense).
I mostly agree, but I’m wondering if he got such a great contract from us because we expressed to him that it might not be starting the entire time. No tran option, Just a straight four years at a little bit of an overpay, and we set it up to decline, which obviously helps us as well.
This is why I am looking forward to seeing Amen playing alongside Reed “quick hands” Reed. Steals galore!
