Jabari should start instead of Amen for the rest of the series

Starting or not, Amen will play plenty of minutes even if it's just for defensive purposes.

The big thing the rockets have to do is keep him involved in the actions as roller. The Warriors just aren't really guarding him so you have to force them to guard him. That's exactly what Kerr did this game with GP3. We had been coming off of him with our bigs to help so they just used him as a roller to either force a man to stay with him or give up an easy basket.

Initially the Warriors were using the on ball screens to try to force an unfavorable switch but after 2.5 games they realized the rockets weren't going to allow that.

The other thing is we have to stick with our double big lineup longer. It's our best lineup and it helps us on both sides of the ball. Sometimes it feels like the better decision to go small to defend Curry. But, the beauty of the double big lineup is that it gives the bigs the freedom to trap Curry and have another big to recover and protect the paint.

You just can't let Steph score and get his teammates easy buckets. You gotta stop one of them.

 

The game got away as soon as Ime took out Adams in the 4th quarter in both games 1 and 3. Warriors weren't able to create separation before he was taken out. Adams has been one of our best players this series. You have to keep him in.

 

Is Steven on a minutes restriction? He's played 20, 17, and 18 minutes respectively so far in this series. That's pretty consistent to the point where it seems deliberate.

 

This is what teams did with Rondo and he had to figure it out. Amen just looks completely lost out there

 

Jabari has also been fantastic defensively. You're not going to be able to stop Curry anyways. Amen lost his men a lot in the rotations. Almost laughable that Aquaman and Alpi where the ones rotating and anticipating on point. Maybe throwing a Fresh Amen on Curry will provide better results in containing the mouth guard. .

 

Amen will figure this out. The sooner the better.

 

Start? Jabari will be lucky to play? If he does, the coach will never call a play to get him in an open shot. Every possession will be Fred, Dillon, Sengun, and Jalen trying to figure out what works on offense. Ime’s rotation is nothing but hustle players, he doesn’t value scoring. If you make too many shots, you will be benched or iced out of the game by our vets. I am sick of watching malpractice.

 

I actually mentioned how I didn’t want Amen back in the starting lineup after the injury, we were getting in a groove with Tari starting. Sticking with Amen has cost us, especially this one where Post was just too big and too strong.

 

Spacing? What do we need spacing for? Let them prove they can consistently get to the rim without spacing so that we then give them spacing.

 

Jabari needs more minutes in general. He’s earning them with his play.

 

I’d rather bench FVV for Jabari. Amen had played bad but at the end of the day he is a key player moving forward and needs this experience

 

The other thing that's good about the double big is just Adam's veteran presence. He (mostly) consistently does everything that's expected of him in a minimally competent way, which I can't say about the young guys.

 

Start Jabari and bring Amen off the bench. I don’t think Ime is doing Thompson or the team any favors starting the kid. The pressure is too much. Amen spending more time watching the game before getting on the court just might be a plus. Besides, Jabari can actually shoot.

Speaking of shooting, Brooks has shot 50% from 3 in this series, but the refs have been busy larding foul calls on the guy when they should have been non-calls, which limits his minutes and his defense. Smith Jr. has shot a bit over 55% from 3 when he’s been given minutes. Give him minutes! Holiday shot 40% during the season from 3. Give him some minutes! Wake up, Ime.

 

Two things can be true at the same time -- Amen is having a bad series and just looks nervous out there -- and it's hard right now for him to share the floor with Sengun.

I think it's fine for him to come off the bench right now, and honestly maybe that should be the case until him or Sengun become better jump shooters, or one of them is traded. I think you really need to stagger their minutes regardless and they should only share the floor for at most a few minutes each quarter.

In the long term, Amen will be fine. He's the youngest and least experienced member of the rotation, it's not surprising that he's struggling the most with the pressure of the playoffs.

 

Amen can figure it out but sorry, not at the expense of beating the f'n Warriors and sending their old asses to the retirement home.

He's clearly in his head because he's missing all the paint shots that he usually nails and he's fumbling the ball as soon as he touches it, he's not ready, and a little shook. That's fine, he's a 2nd year player, while it would be amazing if he turned it up in the playoffs its unrealistic to expect.

I'd have him on a really short leash, if he's not bout it in the first half, give all his minutes to Jeff Green and start Jabari. This change alone would change the entire GSW defensive ideals against us. No more sagging on anyone. Amen will get humbled and he WILL work harder for next season because of this because that's the type of dude he is.

 

I have to admit that we were better with Bari starting. We need his shooting. Glad he is growing before our eyes. I want to lock up Bari and Tari. Surrounding our core 5 with shooters is what we should be doing this offseason.

 

What’s crazy is that Amen, and Sengun also, are passing up open shots from the 8-12 foot range. Time and time again they get in good position to take a shot, but they insist on trying to force their way to the basket. If those guys are afraid to take an open 10 foot shot then we have no chance.

And yes, Jabari should be getting more minutes than Amen. Coaches need to be able to make adjustments and alter lineups on the fly.

 

Jabari can't handle the ball. That's fine having him start over Amen but you are relying more on FVV and Jalen to playmake.........

 

Long term, they still have to do something about the Guard Duo of Green and Fred because their lack of gravitas as three point shooters makes life difficult for the rest of the players on the floor.

For now, start Jabari.

 

Sengun can playmake. It's not like Amen is doing well at playmaking with a clogged paint.

I am also open to the idea of replacing Fred with Jabari in the starting lineup. Let Jalen be the primary ball handler. Do a lot of PnR with Sengun until the opponent can stop them. Jalen is a poor drive and kick guard. But he can do decent pocket passes to the big. Put Amen at the dunker spot. Amen starting up top with his defender sagging off just won't work.