Not that I think it matters but I don't think this is true at all. He seemed to get pretty defensive the last two times he was asked if he's improving at PG. I think he doesn't say it outright but he does see himself as the lead playmaker.
With regards to Amen's strength... Defensively, he's using his dexterity, length, anticipation and athleticism in place of brute strength and obviously being very successful doing such. He can be backed down, yes, and added muscle will help with that. However, I don't want him to do such at the expense of his other defensive attributes. It's why I made the "fluid Draymond" comp. Draymond has never been a brute defensively. He's savvy as hell and one of the best to ever do it, defensively. Amen is all of that with plus plus athleticism. Offensively, I've noticed that almost without fail Amen never attacks his defender straight on, center mass. He is always attacking the outside of his defenders shoulder. Always. It's why he doesn't collect offensive charges, because he can slip off of that shoulder should they choose to try to square up and draw a charge. Or he will simply euro step past them for a nasty dunk or slipthrough layup. It's why I made the Smitty comp. Steve Smith was a master of this as a guard on a post up. Amen can do it posting or facing up, but is longer and more athletic.
Elaborate, please. I hope you didn't think Smitty was Jabari. Lol! I'm an old head bballer, so my reference points on a center's bag is very different versus today's centers. I grew up admiring the drop steps, inside and outside pivots, subtle and not so subtle feints and duck throughs of bigs trying to create space inside basically a phone booth space (yeah those are gone now, I know. Lol). Amen is developing a mastery of those skills and those skills originated with the big fellas on the block. He just doing it both facing up and on the post. It's very impressive. I hope you're enjoying it, because it is incredibly rare. Cheers!
Alp + Amen are top 10 in DRTG this season. Harden + Naz are top 20. And Fred is #23. No other Rockets are in top 25. Only OKC + MIN have 3 players in top 20. Clips + Cavs have 2 top 20 players like Rox. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-defensive-rating-leaders-this-season
Amen uses a lot of guile to bait offensive players. He might be the most fluid Rocket I've seen since Dream and one of the most fluid players period. He's like those cell phone store inflatable guys. I've noticed he purposely let's defenders get by him knowing his ability to recover will overcome their ability to get a shot up. Some of the stuff he was pulling out against the Spurs was looney. The Fox block specifically because Fox pump faked like 3x and Amen didn't fall for any of the fake ones. Just knew when the real one was coming. Also he just seems to be learning at warp speed vs all of our other prospects.
He doesn't bite on pump fakes cause his athleticism is so off the chart he can jump after the offensive player does so and still be fast enough to contest. There are highlights where the offensive player is already in their shooting motion and he can still jump and block the shot. Yeah, he is easily the most functionally athletic player to have played for the Rockets since young Olajuwon. Josh Smith and T-Mac may be in this conversation had they been drafted by the Rockets, but by the time they were on the team a lot of that has been sapped by age and injuries.
Hopefully when FVV comes back Udoka can scale his minutes back a little. He's been playing 38 MPG since his 2 game suspension. Given how much effort he expends thats a recipe for physical burnout. FVV has shown a willingness to slide off ball, and fares well when he does. I have no concerns about him taking PG reps away, there's plenty of ballhandling opportunities to go around.
Yeah, I'm concerned that Amen went from playing bench minutes to averaging nearly 40mpg almost overnight. He's held up well so far but his body I'm sure is not used to this kind of punishment. Definitely need to get his minutes back down to around 32-34, gotta keep him healthy and productive.
Amen's midrange is coming around. He has increased volume and accuracy in the 3-16 ft range. The eye test shows that he's shooting them with confidence. That's very encouraging. His corner 3 is also pretty good. I wish he would shoot them without hesitation. Right now, he only shoots when the defender sags off of him.
He's making those close-range middies look easy lately. He can just rise up so quickly and it's really hard for most players to meaningfully contest those shots. The only guys who have a chance are athletic big men.
Adding the middies to his arsenal will open up the lane for him to get to the hoop. Defense can't just wait for him under the basket. They have to step up for the threat of a pull up jumper.
"Perhaps what is most special of all, however, is Thompson's defense. He is going to get votes for first team All-Defense this season, despite beginning the year as a bench cog. He might even sneak in a few DPOY votes with Victor Wembanyama out of the picture. Thompson might be the best positional rebounder in the NBA, but he's also a complete game-wrecker as defensive free safety. Let him roam passing lanes and hover for weak-side blocks, and Thompson will find a way to disrupt the opposition's game plan. He's averaging 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks, but that hardly does it justice. He has emerged as a bona fide all-world defensive force for the Rockets, who still butter their bread on that end of the court." https://fansided.com/nba-player-rankings-the-case-for-amen-thompson-at-number-35
I need the mainstream media to appreciate how high Amen's IQ is along with his freak athletic traits. You need to look at how fast he learns and continues to learn: Played forward for the first time, setting screens, interior rebounding, etc., and not only succeeded but dominated at the NBA level, moving from to a position he never played in his life. Learned not only to play but also dominate NBA players and teams on defense. Very smart and efficient offensively and with his shot selections. Improved his jumper and added a midrange that continues to get better Three-point was a major weakness and has pretty much doubled his percentage Is starting to add multi-layer counters and footwork moves Has started to develop a nearly 2:1 assist/turnover ratio as the lead ballhandler/PG Has the NBA drafts memorized and, along with his brother, can state players, numbers, and multiple years in order, regarded as a basketball nerd. He's learned quickly and done this all in a year and a half at age 20-21. The last Rocket that reminded me of this was when Hakeem just started learning basketball at age 15, came to an entirely different country and culture, and eventually dominated in that foreign league to become a basketball genius offensively and defensively. Not saying he will be that, of course, but some players have star flashes. Amen actually has HOF flashes at times. You still need to fulfill the potential, of course, and reach the all-star, MVP, DPOY, and championship long term goals, but his work ethic is strong as well, and it's very fun to watch these guys develop over the years.
Kudos for great write up! I'd also add that in addition to Amen's high IQ, other intangibles include limitless energy + quiet but intense toughness, both mental + physical, reminiscent of the all time greats.
Amen doesn't usually go for pump fakes because he's smart and mentally disciplined, not because he's athletic. There are plenty of athletic guys who bite on pump fakes because they never learn. Then you have a guy like Jabari who is not athletic, but is rarely fooled by pump fakes. It's all between the ears. Regarding being functionally athletic, I completely agree. Again, Amen is a very smart player who seems keenly aware of his athletic abilities and limitations, particularly on defense. Same idea on offense where he rarely takes a bad shot. I wish there was a way he could selectively dial down the intensity to save some energy. He almost plays too hard sometimes. (Udoka would disagree with me on this).
Yeah there is a video floating around of him doing this. Its wild - kind of reminds me of guys like Lebron James who is able to remember specific plays and schemes YEARS after the fact. I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast today - these guys can remember a specific play from years ago, remember the coverage, remember who was playing, etc. That's a huge advantage to identifying schemes and tendencies in real time. EDIT - here is one of the quiz videos
