T-Mac was always an incredibly fluid player, and when you combined that with his athleticism, it made him a generational talent. Amen isn't nearly as fluid, but he's potentially a generational talent purely off his raw athletic tools. He's bouncier, quicker, and faster. His burst, reaction speed, and lateral quickness are something I’ve rarely seen at his size, maybe only in small guards. If Amen ever develops even close to T-Mac’s smoothness, he could absolutely be a generational player in his own right.
Amen could arguably guard 1-5 on any given night. TMac, not so much. TMac might be a better jumper but Amen might have springs like Dream or Rodman.
Me too, athleticism best used on Offense by any player not named Jordan, Kobe....by sheer volume Historic. Amen uses it mostly on Defense and in transition, that is where the differences lie.....different types.
Yup, good listen. From minutes 29:00 to 32:00 they talk mainly about Amen’s athleticism and how it’s basically a league wide consensus that he’s the most athletic person in the league.
Amen is faster speed wise and faster just reaction time jumping. T mac was so skilled. He could jump high, shoot, and dribble. I think Jabari Smith said it best in the podcast with Trey Murphy. Amen would not win a dunk contest but he's never seen a guy het off the ground so quick.
What you listed here seems to be more mental than physical. Chuck Hayes was probably one of the least athletic guys in the league. And he's one of the toughest defensive players to score on.
Amen's athleticism is versatile and basketball might not even be the most suitable, the sport that he gets the most out of. Volleyball, track and field, football etc. you name it... Basketball is funny that you can win as a non leaper such as Joker or Duncan.
Amen is so athletic and explosive, he almost made you forget about how athletic the guy right next to him, Jalen, was at times....and Jalen is EXTREMELY athletic himself.
It's Amen. In Amen's 2nd season he's considered by many the most athletic player in the nba. In McGrady's 2nd season he wasn't the most athletic player on his team.
Having watched both and judging by just athleticism, I would say Amen! The guy is 6'7 and is faster than a gazelle. There were scouts that also said Thompson is faster than Ja Morant who is a 6'2 point guard. Mcgrady also only recorded a 40 in vertical where as Thompson recorded a 44 in vertical. Now if we're talking skills, Tmac having range and a jumper already makes him more skilled than the current Amen Thompson.
Athleticism isn't just jumping ability. It's speed, agility flexibility, etc. Tracy is the better overall player obviously, but Amen is more athletic. If Tracy had Amen's athleticism (speed, agility, etc) he would have been unstoppable in the league. If Amen could somehow develop a shooting touch anywhere close to T-Mac, he will be.
Not really, deceleration rules NBA now and not speed. That is why you seeing Harden, Luka, SGA, Joker doing what they do offensively. Speed always looked pretty but there are alot of ways to win in the NBA, the NBA is not about Usain Bolts any longer.
I still can't get over how Amen canceled those lob passes thrown to Jimmy Butler. It was unreal how quickly he got off the ground.
However, Amen has the quickness to recover and hang with these decelerators. We’ll see even more of that this season.
