Maybe, but I'm not sure Scottie Pippen is a star in the modern NBA because teams would exploit his high volume, low efficiency scoring...something that was the norm back when he played but is nearly unplayable today. His defense would keep him a starter, but his role would have to change drastically on offense. I think there's plenty of hope that Amen can be a better player than Scottie Pippen (mostly because I don't think Pippen was very good), but he needs to be in his more natural role rather than pretending to be a PG to reach his ceiling....or his game needs to drastically improve in numerous areas to make him fit into a PG role.
I've been skeptical of Amen being a point guard and that's why I compared him to Pippen. My recollection was Pippen was a pretty good player and playmaker as a SF. Many here soured on him for his one year Rockets stop, but he was integral in the Bulls 6 titles. Now, I think Amen is a much better athlete than Scottie and will compete for DPoY regularly (Pippen came close a couple of times), but I still believe they're similar in capabilities.
There are a lot of them, when I tend to disagree with guys who are commonly fawned over it's usually due to them being high volume low efficiency types....and that goes double for guys who are high volume low efficiency types that some hilariously suggest are top 50 players all time. Also, I'm not saying Pippen was bad, he was a very good defensive player. Where I have a problem is that he's also one of the most ridiculously overrated players in NBA history.
Absolutely. He benefitted greatly from playing with MJ... both.. on the floor, and how he's perceived..his "legacy".
To clarify, I would LOVE it if Amen could shoot over 30% from 3. To me, that's his only flaw, albeit a huge one given the importance of 3pt shooting in the modern game. Even whether he's a PG or not is not a huge consideration for me because eventually you can find a PG to play with him. Obviously the best way to acquire a star is to grow one, so if Amen becomes a max player then, by all means, pay the man. But I'm sorry, I don't believe that will happen. I'm sure that Amen has been working with professional shot coaches for years now and well before he was drafted. And we've been told that his work ethic is top notch, which I believe. Yet here he is, deep into his third season, and teams are still daring him to shoot. He is shooting 19% and most of those are wide open. He has actually regressed significantly from last year. Amen is so physically gifted that he can bulldoze his way through most of the league most of the year. But in the playoffs? In the half-court? The better teams will scheme to get the ball IN his hands because he will be a liability - that's not a max player to me.
Well, like I said, we'll see, and again, the improved FT% is promising. I don't think he lacks touch, I think he's just struggling a bit with some combination of adjusting to a new role and higher usage and some bad luck (lot of in-and-out jumpers) is starting to affect his confidence. But who knows, I'm not a prophet, you could be right too. Just staking my claim now and hoping for the best
