Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

That's absolutely fantastic.

Allow me to mention that Alpi's stats in that same stretch were:

20.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 steals

Jalen's were:

25.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists.

Love Amen, but it's also important to not think that he is the only player who got us to where we are.

If you look at certain Twitter accounts, one could get that impression.

Here is the complete stat list over the last 10 games for all players who played over 20 minutes on average, sorted by plus/minus.

 

To me the "craziest" play was him just casually grabbing an offensive rebound and dunking it back in while surrounded by three Celtics. Happened with 4:40 left in the 1st quarter. He finished the play before anyone else even jumped. That just demonstrates how much of a physical advantage he has over everyone. Man amongst boys.

 

Im anxious to see Amen respond to the double teams that are coming his way. If he handles it better than Jalen and Sengun then everybody knows what it is. Within that take also lies truths for the other guys that if Amen can demand defensive attention other guys will flourish.

 

Agree they have all been great. Amen was the secret sauce that made Ime change his philosophy and take FVV off the ball. To be a real contender we need our defense and rebounding back to previous levels, which Jabari will definitely contribute to. FVV/Sengun centric offense was not working. Amen/Jalen/Sengun centric offense is working.

 

Other teams will have to pick their poison...and we will make them pay. I think our guys can all feed off each other AND help clean up for each other - certainly Amen and Alpi are already doing it.

 

It was certainly a hell of a lot better than whatever the heck we were doing before! But what we are doing this season is even better!

 

Not sure if mentioned already, but I loved the one where he blocked a shot, then saved it from going out of bounds and initiated the fast break. That was crazy.

 

Why we need to let him run point next season and not FVV. Let that boy attack the paint and work his magic down there. I think that will open up Green, Jabari, Cam, Tari and all our shooters more vs standing in the dunkers spot.

 

Ime called this. He always wanted multiple guys iniating the offense. He was slow to implement it, but he gets it now. We wanted a closer and now I think we have 3. The challenge is to keep FVV in the role he has now as off-ball and stepping in when the youngsters get too careless with the ball. FVV was getting picked on a lot by the Celtics. He is a good defensive player, but is still vertically challenged against certain match-ups. I think Ime needs to be a little more reactive to match-ups and who is hot, but think the winning is really opening his eyes and he does seem more open to different rotations. Holiday should never see the floor again.

 

The triangle with Jalen/Sengun/Amen is already lethal with Amen enjoying free reign from the defensive attention the other two command. Jalen entry to Sengun usually results in dunks and easy points for Amen. If the team is going to get good outside shooting from the role players then you can line up against any team in the NBA.

Timing should be the focus of practices. Who gets the ball and where in any perceivable situation. Move the ball. GO TO THE HOLE. Stay active without the ball.

Let defenses hang themselves. We're past the Only Fan Wars time to lock in as ROX Nation again.

 

Been saying this all year. Dumbasses are still saying he is not a pg. I don't care what you call him. Call him point forward if they want to, but he needs to be in the ball way more than FVV.

 

"I feel like Kobe" maybe he's that guy (the franchise)

 

Star numbers at 21 years old.

 

I think what’s different in the last few games is Amen’s confidence. As the Rockets run more sets where they let Amen dictate the play as the scorer, rather than letting him enjoy free rein as the beneficiary of attention paid to others, his game will expand.

To think how good he is right now and what he’ll be doing in a month is pretty exciting.

 

When you factor in defense, differences in role, scoring efficiency, and team record, Amen is already better than Banchero IMO, who I've always thought was overrated. Poor defense, poor efficiency--hallmarks of an "empty stats" player.

He's still well behind Ant and Wemby in current player rankings, both are fantastic defensive players who are efficient #1A scoring options on their teams, which yes have worse W/L records than the Rockets but also much less all-around talent.

As far as the future goes, I don't know. It's hard to beat Wemby's ceiling, as high as Amen's is, but I also have more faith in Amen to stay healthy. Ant Edwards is probably* the best current player of the three but I think is closer to his ceiling and will never be The Best Athlete or the Tallest Longest Guy like Amen and Wemby will.

I'd like to think Amen is already to the point though where trading him for either of those guys is a "both teams say no", not a "Rockets reluctantly agree".

 

For several years now Sengun has been the best player on the team without any serious competition....Amen is starting to change that. Sengun is still the team's best player, but with Amen's trajectory, that could change as soon as the end of the season.

Amen's shot still has a long way to go, but the progress year over year gives me hope that he'll get there sooner rather than later PLUS he's smart enough to stick to shots he's good at.....AND he's a high IQ passer....still not a PG, but he's capable of being a TMac type ball handling forward.

 

Agreed. But I wasn't allowed to change the thread title lol.

Either way, it is great to have them both (and the rest of the team).

Fantastic times to be a Rockets fan right now.