Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

Derrick Rose didn't have a bag. He was just faster than everyone that a regular lay-up and floater was enough.

 

Man, I had forgotten how much of an octopus Amen is before I watched this. His physical gifts are insane.

 

Remember we thought FVV couldn't throw a lob pass? That's until Amen was unleashed.

The kid is not only fast, he's very smart at the timing of cutting to the basket.

 

WB is one of the most overrated defenders by fans ever. I watched him closely at OKC. The last 2 years of Ron Adams at OKC (very early in WB's career) was the only time he was a good defender.

 

Good point I just don't know what his ceiling is as a scorer....is it more than 17-18 ppg?

 

Amen can’t shoot a lick. He might be the worst shooter in the history of the NBA. However, I would guess he is the most untouchable player on the team. He will never be traded, he’s that ****ing good at every other aspect of basketball. Love this guy.

 

I'm a believer that each player has a range of effectiveness. Some players help their teams perfectly withing a range, but if they are overused or score higher than that range then they start to take away from the team's effectiveness.

Jabari's range may very well be about 17-21 ppg. Anything less and he's not doing enough, but too much more and he's overdoing it. Defense wise though I feel he could be a 12 board per game player. He's got it in him to be very successful as long as he expands himself in his role and not expand his role for himself.

 

He doesn't have much in a offensive bag or above average handles for a sf.

Dpoy ceiling, offense he needs to show he added a lot to his game to up his ceiling.

 

Last season, I felt Jabari's effort at rebounding the ball was very inconsistent. Sometimes he just wasn't into it; other times he was determined! IMO, he needs to grow up and instead of moping when he isn't shooting the ball well, he should raise his intensity and attack the glass more.

This coming year, if Tari is healthy and both he and Amen get increased minutes, Jabari's rebounding will drop simply because both of them are better, more instinctive rebounders than he is. They also play bigger and are more physical around the basket.

 

He is already 1000x better than Jalen, so there’s that.

 

Sure

But he really needs to add to his offensive game to have the statement "he does literally everything else great". No. He does a lot of other things great but not "everything".

 

lol, Yule c

 

I mean I'm hoping on it.

 

Amen has taken more 3s his rookie year than Simmons took through his first 3 years. He just needs a floater and middie to keep defenses honest.

I just dont know how Amen doesn't start next year. The kid just produces.

 

Just call it the Texas Two Step (except when it's only one step) :

 

For years, I wondered what in the world Charlotte was thinking when they drafted MKG at 2 back in 2012. Now I get it. Amen is a much better player than MKG at just about everything, ws/48 has his rookie season ranked better than all but one of MKGs, and his BPM blows any MKG season out of the water.

I bring up MKG because he may be the only guy with a worse jumper than Amen drafted this high aside from Ben Simmons. MKG eventually progressed to 34% from 3 on low volume (not counting a season where he only played 7 games) at age 25. He regressed, but if even MKG could become a not horrific shooter, Amen should be able to as well. Hopefully, we have better player development than the mid 2010s Hornets.

 

Can we say that he's the finesse version of Giannis?

 

We can say whatever we want - that's the beauty of the Internet.

 

Probably not, there's a massive difference between a multiple MVP with a ring and a sophomore who's never really been a starter yet, never really put up any big scoring games and has mostly done his damage from the dunker spot. There's almost zero comparison beyond them both being athletic and both being bad shooters (though Giannis looks like Steph in comparison to Amen.) Give him a couple of years and see if he can get close before we make silly declarations like that.

 

I think MKG was drafted so high because he was such an impactful player on a star-studded championship team for Kentucky where he never needed to shoot. His shot was literally broken and painful to watch. After his first NBA season, it was apparent his ceiling was low.

Amen is a better player than him in every way. We'll see what happens with the jumper.