Sort of a strange thing to claim coming off of one of his best games of the year. Is 38 - 39 mpg too many? Maybe so. But Amen is developing into a face-of-the-franchise player, and those types of players play a ton, particularly younger players in that mod. Joker, Ant, Tatum, Maxey, Booker, etc. all average 36+ mpg.
Ime doesn't know anything about this stuff. It's so risky but I've given up on this part of things. What about how he played a 3 big lineup with Amen in the backcourt, the hardest possible offense Amen could ever navigate? It's not just the minutes with Udoka, it's the fact the he makes every minute more difficult than every other coach's minute. We have the the most laborious offense and defense. No one works this hard and can only achieve 28th in TS%. Which would be fine if he had a strategy to mitigate it. Like the Grizzlies' system is to go high octane every second you're on the floor but no one is allowed to play massive minutes for most of the regular season. Logical, non-soft approach. Udoka is identical to MDA about this stuff. He makes practices easy but he expects them to then be superhuman during the game. If he gives them rest one game, he burns them out the very next game they're back. If they're injured he pushes them to play on it. We've seen this movie before. The ending is dead legs in the playoffs leading to surprising shooting droughts. Won't take responsibility. It also results in a lot of injuries because fatigue is a breeding ground for injuries. Won't take responsibility, will say it's bad luck or a freak injury. See MDA's Suns and Rockets. Identical patterns but MDA still couldn't take any responsibility. They ask their guys to go to playoff gear on day 1 but they still want an extra gear in the playoffs to appear out of thin air. They think you're being soft when siding with science. If a player expresses it, they lose faith in their mental toughness, regardless of science. It's because I know this movie that I was able to predict two months in advance we'd have injuries, major fatigue and another mid season slump this season. Same thing happened last season (6-16 mid season slump). He just can't let go of some of these bad habits.
Amen is definitely going to have to adjust to the greater minutes as well as expanded offensive responsibilities because his defensive intensity has dipped slightly. He is going to have to live up to Energizer Bunny nick, I think he will. But it is amazing how many positions + roles he's had to learn in his short career + how successfully he's mastered these responsibilities. Best 1v1 defender, best shot blocker + 2nd best rebounder on team for a guy who played PG + was not focused on those areas at all.
No, that's not how probability works. If you play fatigued, you might not get injured. However, it's false to assume that you're not raising the likelihood of injury by pushing players through fatigue and minor injuries. That's the reason why I highlighted their irrationality. They have it backwards. You can't guarantee no injuries, but you can scientifically demonstrate that the conditions for excess injuries exist. There are tons of seasons of Udoka, MDA, Thibs, JVG, etc f*cking players up. I don't know enough about his coaching but apparently Jason Kidd might have to be on that list too. I would have to be wrong like a half dozen times just for it to be 50-50. Most importantly, do you really think something is going to ever happen in the future that proves playing fatigued and somewhat injured players won't result in a higher likelihood of injuries? You don't actually believe that, I'm sure you don't.
Amen has to make All Defense first team. 2nd team would be bit of let down. https://spacecityscoop.com/rockets-amen-thompson-make-nba-all-defensive-team "He deserves first team consideration. If that field is too crowded, it's imperative that he's on the second team. He is the best defender on the fourth-best defensive team in the NBA. Beyond the numbers, Thompson's impact leaps off the screen. His ability to cover ground on defense astonishes viewers. Thompson has been asked to fill multiple roles this year - he was a free safety before Jabari Smith Jr.'s injury, and when his teammate was out, he was a weakside rim protector."
I was talking about your statement The ending is dead legs in the playoffs leading to surprising shooting drought. Regarding injuries: It's nonsense to predict them based on fatigue concerns. A player not getting injured doesn't mean he wasn't "fatigued" (however you are defining it). At the same time, a player getting injured doesn't prove it happened because of "fatigue" (as you define it). It goes both ways.
Rockets shooting drought been issue from day one this season, no surprises there - fatigue or not. Injuries due to fatigue is real tho. For entire NBA.
Those numbers almost look like a center. Like Marc Gasol or something. Just can't get over Amen's crazy combo of traits. If he does end up being a point guard he could very well end up as the best-rebounding, best-shotblocking point guard in NBA history.
Sky is the limit for Amen but I thought Ben Simmons, Jrue + Magic would be much higher on this list. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/point-guard-with-most-blocks-in-nba-history
Don't be silly, fatigue is known to cause injuries and you know full well that doesn't mean every injury is a fatigue issue. I won't even go a google search for you, sorry, it's too wild.
