This is funny. The 26 is now 27 likes so that makes 28 to sling some good natured mud at in the offseason. Some of the posters are good souls and will enjoy the ribbing. I wonder if any of the 28 have any other hot takes to pile on! Truth be told I wish I had that much confidence to be so sure someone will be a bust. Jalen is the only one I might eat crow on but I still believe the jury is still out. And I know I won't be alone. I also hope he makes me eat crow by carrying us to the WCF.
Its so stupid considering Amen was in his senior year in high school when he played his first year in OTE. OTE is simply an alternative route to the NBA. Some players choose it because of the specialized training programs, or the marketing/publicity aspect of it, or to hone their skills before going to NCAA. There’s so many misconceptions about OTE.
I'm not sure how many times we have to go through this, but I hope the lesson learned is: It's better to just be optimistic about our draft picks. Surely, they could turn into busts, but there's no joy from being "right" about that. Be positive, patient, and cheer for every player on our team, and when one of them pans out, THAT is the real sweet "victory" you want. I'm not saying we can't argue about their flaws or what we wish they'd improve on, but calling someone a bust prematurely is one of the biggest signals for me that a person isn't rational or intelligent.
He apologized, here it is: “I’m never gonna post again, Guilty fingers have got no rhythm Though it’s easy to pretend I know I’m just a fool I should have known better than to cheat a Thompson And waste the chance that I’d been given So I’m NEVER gonna post again…..
It's best to be realistic. Amen was a huge unknown because he played at OTE. It's best to wait before judging players too positively or harshly. My initial, uneducated opinion about him was negative. But all it took was the one quarter he played in summer league to completely change my outlook.
I'll just have to agree to disagree. It's impossible for me to be "realistic" about a prospect on draft night because if we knew realistically what they would be, the draft order would be correct every year. The best minds in basketball can't predict the outcomes of these players well, and neither can I. I don't believe anyone realistically can except for players like Lebron. So that leaves me with two options, pessimism or optimism. Will this player develop into what he could be given the flashes he's shown as a young guy? Will he not develop and be a bust, a waste of potential unrealized? I think pessimism makes people feel smarter. "Ha! I wasn't a delusional fan who believed Sengun could become an all-star with a lack of athleticism." Playing the odds, most draft picks will never become an all star, so I'm not really impressed by people who **** on young players and make claims like this. When they're wrong, they usually pretend they never said it or if they get called out say "Well I'm glad to be wrong." Optimism on the other hand could be irrational too. "I see Amen has insane athleticism, and I'm going to believe his work ethic will lead to the development of a jump shot and he'll be a top ten player in the NBA." Now this is VERY unlikely to happen, but now you can watch the game and appreciate all the little flashes of greatness and hope it pans out. If it doesn't, at least it was fun to be hopeful. If I call a player a bust and he has a great game, I have to rationalize why it doesn't matter, it's just one game, etc etc. If I call a player a future all-star and he has a bad game, I can just chalk it up to development or growing pains and keep my hope a little longer. At the end of the day, we're all just fans and I think it's all around more fun to be optimistic than chase whatever dopamine comes from being right when you're a pessimist.
Obviously OTE had a huge money backing, otherwise gambling on these raw players without security no matter the outcome would be a major risk still. It's good that one is able to absorb potential losses.
What a lot of people on here tend to do is make a lot of assumptions and conjecture. They don’t do their homework before speaking and they don’t cite examples of what these players aren’t doing right. Its ok to think Amen wasn’t going to be good. But why? Give in game examples of some of his flaws. What does the “right way” to do things look like? What did you see from actually watching him play that is good or bad? What are facts that substantiate your argument? Merely making assumptions or opinions from bias is not analysis. Also citing a stat line or using a couple of metrics to prove a point or argument is only surface level analysis. If x fan said “Amen isn’t going to be effective as an NBA player because he isn’t explosive off the dribble and has issues getting past his primary defender and bigger forwards and maybe cite some in game examples then great. If there’s numbers to support this even better. If you have supporting reports from scouts or articles then that would also make your assessment more sound. I knew Amen was good when I first saw him in OTE zipping passes to the corner or cross court or passing to interior players when he’s in the paint. Every scouting report said he was explosive and elite off the dribble and on defense. He was dominant in high school winning a state championship dropping 43 pts. And he showed that he could get by anyone in OTE. Attached is the state championship game. He wears num 1.
To argue someone isn’t going to be worth anything is ignorant in the first place. We don’t know and can’t evaluate until the player actually plays in the league for an extensive period. You can say there’s weaknesses in his game or physical limitations but to just declare and predict someone to be bad in the NBA without them even stepping foot on the court in a reg season game is just stupid.
I’m proud to say I’m one of the few that was high on amen from very early on when everyone thought he was going to be a bust. I guess some people don’t see the vision like I do.
