Amen is good, but he’s not THAT good

Amen finished 5th in DPOY voting in his second year and I would argue most people in the league outside of Houston didn't even know who he was until later in the year - he spent half the year coming off the bench even....yet he is ALREADY a guy who is arguably the best defensive player in the league. He got 9 first place votes when the guy who won it(Mobley) got 35. Let that sink in - in his 2nd year, coming in off the bench he got roughly a 4th of the first place votes as the guy who won it.

Even if you don't believe that Amen has a future as an offensive hub(totally fair, @Pastor George ), he's still on the short list of dominant defensive players of which every legit title contending team has at least one guy. Guys like Mobley, Draymond, Dort, Zubac, JJJ, Giannis, Bam, Rudy, Derrick White - they are all crucial to their teams. That's why he is untouchable as a player because every title contending team needs at least one do it all defensive savant to make it all work and the list of guys who can do it at Amen's level is very, very, very short.

That's also why people hold him in such high regard because he doesn't have to score 30+ every night on high efficiency to be a top 5 two way player - his defense is SO strong that he can be just an okay offensive player and still be a top 5 two way players in the league. He just needs to be a 18-23pt per game scorer and pay the way he plays defense now to be in that conversation because you know he is also going to fill up the stat lines.

A guy who plays all world defense, can switch and play 4 or 5 positions, and has something like an 18 pts/8 reb/5 ast/2 st/1 blocks - that is a MVP era Kawhi type player. Don't believe me?

Amen today: 14.1 pts / 8.2 reb / 3.8 ast / 1.4 Stl / 1.3 blks / 56% fg%, 28% 3pt%, 2.5 FTA - finished 5th in DPOY voting

Kawhi's earliest two MVP seasons:
2014 / 2015 - 16.5 pts / 5.9 reb / 2.5 ast / 2.3 stl / .8 blks / 48% fg% / 35% 3pt%, 3.9 FTA - finished 10th in MVP voting but won DPOY in his year 4
2015 / 2016 - 21.2 pts / 6.8 reb / 2.6 ast / 1.8 stl / 1 blks / 52% fg% / 44% 3pt%, 4.6 FTA- finished 2nd in MVP voting but on DPOY in his year 5

...if Amen can pick up one more foul going to the hoop per game and hit two more FGs per game next year, he's already hanging around 2015/2016 Kawhi type numbers. There are offensive hubs and they are two way stars - let's not confuse those when talking about Amen because he CAN be one of the top 5 all around players in the league and a perennial MVP & DPOY candidate and he doesn't have to put up 25+ and have the ball in his hands all game to get there.

 

It would have been better if you just put down your original thoughts. It's a basketball forum, not a dissertation. You can misspeak, you can just throw an opinion out there. What do you need chronological data for?

"Amen is overhyped IMO. People crowning him a superstar and he isn't even close to one yet. He came back down to Earth hard after that Boston game."

That took like 20 seconds to type. Doesn't deserve its own thread but you can throw that in an Amen thread and get actual opinions to your actual opinion. You don't need AI for that and what it put out was terrible anyway.

 

You know it's actually a much worse thing to have the original thought "Amen is not THAT good".

 

Not sure using Ai is the way to go when talking sports. It actually makes a less convincing argument than you would. Also, no one wants to read Ai slop.

 

Just saying this is how you are on playback, you always take contrarian opinions to argue with folks, I don't think you even know you are doing it, then you talk over them when they are making their point etc if you don't agree.....

And you downplay others opinions when you don't like what they are saying....literally you have said....well that's just your opinion, like yours isn't just your opinion?

I seriously doubt you don't know this, and I am 100% certain others have told you before - so I don't believe this is any surprise.

And, I said we can all be annoying at times....myself included....but anyway, you asked, so there ya go.

DD

 

imagine using chat gpt to impress strangers on a basketball forum lol
nah that couldn't be me

i can assure you that every time you read one of my stupid posts you're getting 100% unfiltered stupid me.

bad grammar? thats me. dumb takes? also me. i own it.

 

Good lord, PG. You apparently cannot handle a BBS. Maybe stick to Playback where there is not so much pushback.

 

He's THAT GOOD defensively. DPOTY material. His offense has the potential to be a 2 way star. 2 Way stars are rarity in today's league. That said, it's a rarity because players who become offensive stars would rather conserve energy for offense and don't really put out any effort defensively even if they have the tools.
He aint like him, but our very own T-Mac had that same trajectory. Offensive potential through the roof, with highlight defensive plays that drop your jaw in awe. Blows up offensively and says to hell with defense until JVG then stops again after JVG.
Can't speak enough on Hakeem and Jordans 2 way GOATNESS to play elite at both levels for so long giving maximum effort both sides of the court. The will power and the stamina and heart to care that much defensively. They're on a planet all by themselves. I know Kobe had a ton of defensive team selections but even Phil would call him out on those. Kobe was far more selective with his defensive effort and would turn it on when needed, or for a big matchup, and LeBron for the last few Cleveland years and first few Miami years, but Hakeem and Mike were ON every game. I feel like Amen has the personality to be great on both sides. I just don't think he will ever be a dynamic jump shooter, but can be an elite attacking scorer and get to the line a lot. Shot create for others. Offensive rebound. Fast break. Cut. He can get 25ppg without a jumper when everything starts to click + near triple double potential + DPOTY. That's a superstar. Obviously.

 

yap.