Ime's probably ****ing him up by trying to get him play like the scrub tier player Ime was at his peak. Amen would probably be better just following his instincts and showing that last year wasn't a fluke.
Yup crazy reach. You can say Iggy was a better shooter, but you can’t really say Amen is not more athletic when it’s clear as day that he is.
But what’s different for Tari this year than previous? I’m just saying the difference could be he’s playing more cautious. Amen played 36mpg for the last 41 games last year, once he became a starter. But yeah, he’s doing more on offense now. And, I agree, he could stand to get more rest in regular season games.
Yes if it's about rightfully properly matching into best roles, Jabari off the bench is most ideal. I wasn't doing ideal lineup shuffle of everyone I was just going off the current Ime approach. Since Tari has been a career reserve with Ime, and he's "last man in", Tari is naturally "first man out" of the starters back to "how it was" On ideals, overall I do think the game is still about 2 units, Starters vs Starters & Bench vs Bench. As in, there's many games where its like "Starters are actually +7". Then it's reserves with negative-14 and it's a loss. But then it'll be like blaming "Sengun / Jabari for not being CLUTCH late" when really the 2nd unit lost the game cuz a a busted Dorian Finney can't hang or something. So I do like lineup balance & good depth. Making an "Amen off the bench" idea something valid to think on. (On these points if FVV comes back he SHOULD be off the bench. In actuality, Ime will put FVV right into the starting lineup when the first bandage comes off)
Come on chief, there's no non-Rocket this generation of fans has watched more than Lebron. We've all watched him. We've all seen him. We're not forgetting. No one is denying he's one of the most athletic ever. However, when the guy himself says Amen is "different" - i.e. in a different tier - surely you find it totally reasonable that Lebron's opinion is multitudes more valid than a casual eye test?
Ok got it. It's definitely 2 units but one of those units plays materially more than the other so just mathematically the starters are more important. People do tend to underrate bench impact though, you're right there. Yes of course they'll put FVV in the starting lineup, after all he's the most valuable player and best player on last season's team according to the front office and coaching staff (confirmed by one of the most reliable Rockets reporters). A cabal of FVV-worshipping clowns. A 6'0 "great defender for his height" who shot 39% from the field and 32% from 3 to go with 5 assists. Nepotism at its finest. They've set Amen up for failure imo and I'm starting to wonder about suspicious things that have happened to Tari, Bari, Amen right before their extension talks were coming up.
I think what's happening is that people are assigning a huge weight to highlights of vertical leap? Strength and explosion are by far the most functional traits. Amen has said lots of times, he doesn't like to dunk. It's a job to him and he does it as cleanly and efficiently as possible. He's not trying to show off - but obviously it ends up showing up in his jaw dropping hang time. That must be it cause otherwise I don't even understand the Iggy comparison. Iggy wasn't the best at his own draft combine. These are all unique athletic markers that are functional in basketball: Explosion/Burst/Quickness Top speed Positional Strength Vertical leap and hang time Lateral quickness Agility/Flexibility Only the top 5-6 all time can compete with Amen in overall athleticism. There are stronger players. There are people who can jump higher. There are people just as fast as him. There is no one who is an A or A+ at every single one of these things. Lebron and Giannis are turtles compared to Amen. Rose and Westbrook are midgets compared to Amen. He's the anomaly. In fact that should be his nickname.
Or it could be the guys who do this for a living for decades know better about players than we do…because tons of NBA players have said FVV is the missing piece and his injury devastated the rockets expectations. But what do they know… Look, this a fan forum, so we shouldn’t appeal directly to the authority of nba personnel opinion…but to outright dismiss them, and declare FVV is a nepo-guard… cmon that’s slanderous. did you ever play basketball? If so, you know how important one guy can be. Even if that guy isn’t scoring your points. We all had a guy on the team that was the glue and the brain. It’s odd to me that some people can’t see that with FVv bc he had a bad year last year… he’s on the wrong side of 30, he’s not an AS, but he is a super-vet that coaches can trust. Trust means so much more to Ime than making an occasional 3.
It's an even more egregious error in development than when Fred had Jalen trying to slow down in the lane and play old man/mighty mouse ball instead of using all of his athletic advantages. Amen doesn't need Ime's "crafty vet" tricks, he's actually a naturally talented player. Ime's a dumb ass.
I believe there is an article somewhere(maybe the Athletic?) talking about how one of those sports science places that tracks analytics data on every player going back the last 20+ years confirms similar - that Amen's elite skill is the combination of being elite at several markers where most can only dominate one or two markers at a time. His athletic bag is just deeper than anyone else.
I DONT like amen and understand he should be traded before teams figure out hes about as playable as ben simmons
Can confirm guy with a jacked Steph Curry as a profile pick can't understand what makes Amen different from Ben Simmons.
No.... but I certainly don't mind Sengun going to the bench first to give the big guy a breather which also helps stagger the minutes.
