That - bringing the ball up the court and attacking a defense that isn't set or moving off the ball in the half court doesn't scream point guard to me. Hell, Draymond Green does that and no one would ever mistake him for a point guard. The point guard is the guy setting up the offense in the half court, organizing the offense and getting others good looks - the guy making the decisions - against a set defense. That's why I have called Durant the pseudo point guard .... Amen tests the defense then gives it up and goes to the baseline.
I think Reed has more natural PG instincts. He just hasn’t found the confidence to take the job yet. I think his teammates want him to take the position, he just hasn’t done it yet. Some of the best moments of the season have been those brief moments when Reed is dominating the ball and creating for himself and others.
I mean FVV in his first season with the Rockets would fit the bill perfectly. Last year he declined so I'm hesitant to say he'd be that guy this year had he not gotten injured. But also someone like early Minnesota career Mike Conley or Derrick White when the Celtics traded for him would work. Do I know who is out there who would fit the bill? No. Because if I know a guy who's awesome then he's going to cost an arm and a leg. But that's why Stone gets paid millioins of dollars. His job is to find these players while their value is still low.
Last couple games Amen has been deferring to Reed as the pg off the inbound when they are in the game together. Looks intentional like the coaching staff wanted to get Reed on ball more. Stay tuned.
Joke’s on you. Fred is our short, medium and long term point guard. Reed will never be a full-time starting guard on an Ime Udoka team. So by default, Amen.
Reed has a lot of potential as a playmaker. As a natural shooter/scorer his 2.6 assist to turnover ratio has actually been great for his age and experience. Jamal Murray had a ratio of 1.6 in his second season, Chauncey Billups had a ratio of 1.7 in his. Billups eventually became one of the best floor generals in the league peaking at 4:1 AST/TO, while Murray is currently at an excellent 3:1 this season. The process takes time. A lot of it is going to rely on Reed becoming much more aggressive. I understand being hesitant when there's KD, Sengun, and Amen on the roster, but as he gets older he'll hopefully be more confident in everything he does.
It all depends on who plays the best tonight. Whoever plays the best gets the job for the rest of the year. There, I've made it easy.
Exactly what I meant by it all being a position labeling argument. You choose to classify the word point guard that way. Someone else may think it’s the guy that brings the ball up the court most frequently. What about the guy that guards the other teams point guard. End of day it’s whoever’s name the coach writes next to PG. The point guard for the 2023-24 Celtics changed every game. No set hierarchy and attacking best mismatches with multiple good initiators can work too if you’ve got a great defense.
Long term, on offense, Amen will end up as a swing player and run point on a part-time basis. On defense, he will guard the best perimeter offensive player on the other team, whatever their position. Reed's primary position will be running point. His floor vision and passing are very good and he's developing into someone who can shoot well off the dribble in a variety of ways. Some of the time, he will be an off-the-ball perimeter sniper who can stretch the floor.
FVV did not fit the bill perfectly, he just provided a baseline that wasn't broken, and defended reasonably well. We have to aim higher than FVV lol. Our actual halfcourt offense has never been good under Ime Udoka so far. The goal is to be actually good in the halfcourt. That's what drives playoff success. Rockets halfcourt offensive rating rank: 23-24 20th 24-25 22nd 25-26 15th
It's possible that we play a double-combo-guard lineup. This is assuming Amen will have a decent jumper. Otherwise, he won't be a good perimeter oriented player. He will be put back to the cutter/dunker role. In that case, Reed is the obvious preference. I really hope that Amen and Reed will be our future back court for a long time. While shooting might be learned, court awareness is mostly innate. Reed sees the court better than Amen, although Amen is a pretty good and willing passer. So if I had to choose between one as the primary PG, I'd choose Reed.
Are we voting whats more likely or who we would prefer? Right now neither of them are great at it. I would prefer that Amen developed the skillset, I think Amen with high level point guard skills is a better player than Reed with high level point guard skills, so if we're just saying what we're hoping for, that's what I'm hoping for. But so far I've seen more out of Reed than Amen in that department. I think he's more likely to be the answer.
I think Reed should play off the ball more often than Amen. But I see both of them as something like a combo guard
imo... I doubt that Amen will ever be a good enough shooter to not allow the defense to sag... so i really dont see him being a long-term pg... he's better running around, cutting and creating havoc anyway... ultimately hes prob a sf due to his shooting deficiencies... maybe some minutes in a guard slot in the course of the night... Reed could mold into the job... and really imo he has to if he wants to command starter minutes... he's a good enough shooter that he could simply carve out a niche as a role spot up shooter, but he's gotta bring more to the table to offset his defensive liabilities if he wants full-time minutes... and that would be facilitator duties... hes got good enough vision and is versatile enough to do the job...
In terms of development, as long as Durant and Sengun are dominating the ball, we won't see much from either guy. I'd rather see Amen back to his old role and let him develop his shooting first. That is a lot more important for him to be a true star player. For now, asking him to initiate the half court offense with the defense sagging off him just makes it unnecessarily difficult. It is much more promising in the short term to give Reed the reps.
this is the way I see it too. I’m glad Amen is getting some on-ball initiation reps, but I’d rather see him focus on developing reliable shooting. If Amen learns to shoot at respectable efficiency he is going to be a perennial all-nba player. And even if the org wants him to ultimately develop into our primary on-ball initiator, shooting improvement will help him be more successful in that role. Reed on the other hand has to be more than just an undersized off ball shooter to pay off. Reed has to be an on-ball initiator or he’s just gonna be a role player/shooter. We have to find out if Reed can play that role and I’ve certainly seen flashes. His ball handling has really improved. He’s probably the best ball handler on the team right now. We know Reed can shoot. What we need to find out is can he become our on-ball initiator. I think we are losing a lot more rim pressure, paint scoring, put backs, and dare I say…offensive rebounding, by keeping Amen at the perimeter.
Not really a fair question, Amen isn't a PG, Reed is....so it's about as one sided as it gets. I think they both have a future on the team so long as Ime doesn't **** things up too much, Reed at PG, Amen at....whatever you want to call him. He's really like a SF that can't shoot.
If Reed is your two guard .... you can't have another small guy at the other guard spot. One of them must have enough size to guard the bigger guards around the league.
