I agree he is SUPER creative inside 10ft. FWIW, if the post above is correct that Amen is up to 220, then it's entirely possible he can similarly go through people when he needs to and drive around them when that makes sense. I do think he would benefit from learning at least a few moves and counters outside of 10ft - I think that was what he was working with the shot doctor on this summer. I think Jalen's problem was he was too slow to make reads so even when he made the correct read, he made it a step late which neutralized the advantage. Guys like Harden and Jokic can see a player shifting their weight and zip the ball past them immediately. That's what Amen needs to learn. He seems like a fairly good passer and he definitely processes the game faster than Green but agree there is some room for improvement here. There are times when it seems like he is driving while waiting for holes to open up so I think there are some foundations already there to be an orchestrator - just need to continue to improve in his reads and probably add more ball handling to his skill set so he can keep dribbles alive a bit more while continuing to put pressure on defenses.
FYI : the information comes literally from the post-game interview with him after the Jazz game where he said he weighed 225 lbs. but wasn't sure what his height was now.
I mean, yeah - he was already a 24pt / 6ast / 5reb guy at 22 on reasonable efficiency as a starter. Put it like this, Amen doesn't look like this at 22: ...and frankly he shouldn't - he's a completely different type of player and that's the point.
We all could suspect that almost every NBA team is secretly dreaming about having their own version of Amen Thompson + Alperen Sengun duo. Looks like the first to say that out loud is Portland Trailblazers. https://ripcityproject.com/blazers-uncovered-sengun-thompson-duo-second-preseason-game-hansen-sharpe Blazers may have uncovered their own Sengun-Thompson duo in second preseason game From the article: “Hansen and Sharpe have shown throughout this offseason that they have two of the highest ceilings on Portland's roster; these could be the two players who help Portland achieve that Houston-like jump. That said, we need to pump the brakes a bit because Hansen and Sharpe still have quite a ways to go before coming key pieces on a contender like Sengun and Thompson are for the Rockets”.
I say this with all due respect, as these guys look to be pretty good. But, they won't be in the same stratosphere as our duo.
If I remember correctly, Blazers could have picked Amen themselves as they had the pick before the Rockets at 3rd. Too bad for them after Greg Oden and Sam Bowie......and the injury to Brandon Roy.
This is a weird comp because there's nothing particularly synergetic between Sengun and Amen's game. If neither develop a decent 3pter going forward, they will never be fully complementary on offense. If you're going for a guard/big synergy, make much more sense to talk about Harden/Capela or Draymond/Curry type of combos.
Nice find. I Think it was after the glow in the dark tournament last year that their HC called us out by name. The team they wanted to become. I just thought young and full of wins not stylistically lol Portland, why are you so obsessed with us. : mean girls gif :
Some here did but I thought it was totally wrong. That said, it is obvious to me the Rockets used OKC's defense last season as a template for their off-season moves this summer.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo had good chemistry despite neither being good three point shooters. For their first five seasons together Bam hardly ever took any and Butler shot about 1 per game at around 30%. They relied on everyone else being a sharpshooter though. It's not ideal and I have hope that Sengun or Amen can improve their range, but it's possible for them to complement each other without three pointers.
I'm more hoping he improves his ball handling and play-making than scoring. In the context of scoring, better shot selection and maybe take another corner 3.
Amen's shot selection is already top tier. He needs to improve and increase his menu of shots so he can increase volume and while remaining very efficient.
Something I've noticed about Amen in the half court sets is that when he attacks the rim, he is often late in making the decision to pass and having to find a last second outlet as he's beyond the rim, over the baseline / going out of bounds. Often, he can find an outlet with pure athleticism but many times it ends in a turnover .... This is something that has to be fixed if he's going to be a major ball handler.
Bowie over Jordan and Oden over Durant are two of the worst draft blunders in history. I hope Scoot over Amen will turn out to be the same level of blunder.
