They both have to continue growing. Jabari turnover last night and all his turnovers are always the same type of turnovers. Unforced. z and he doesn’t even have a lot of turnovers but I cringe whenever he dribble more than twice and then has to pass. He panics everytime and passes into a turnover. He’s been doing that his entire career. He needs to be decisive
So Amen in year 2, his age 22 season, averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists with 2.7 stocks and 60.2% true shooting. Probably All-NBA defense, but we won't find out for weeks yet. Wanted to make a quick comparison with some of the best long, athletic small forwards in the past few decades of NBA history. (Basically guys in the same ballpark of physical attributes as what Amen has.) Assume that players did not make the All-Star team, All-NBA, or All-Defense unless otherwise stated. Scottie Pippen (age 23) 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.7 stocks, 52.4% true shooting Kawhi Leonard (age 21) 11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.3 stocks, 59.2% true shooting Paul George (age 21) 12.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.4 stocks, 55.5% true shooting Jimmy Butler (age 23) 8.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 stocks, 57.4% true shooting Grant Hill (age 23) 20.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.9 stocks, 53.7% true shooting, All-Star, All-NBA Dominique Wilkins (age 23) 21.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.5 stocks, 53.1% true shooting LeBron James (age 20) 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.9 stocks, 55.4% true shooting, All-Star, All-NBA Interesting mix of results here. Amen is roughly in the vicinity of Pippen, Kawhi, PG here on overall production--maybe even a bit better. He comes out better than Butler, worse than Hill, Wilkins, or of course LeBron. Progress is not linear, just because he's matching some of these guys' production or worse than others doesn't mean his trajectory will be the same as any of them. However, I do think we can take away that in year two, a lot of guys were not anywhere close to their ceilings yet, and it's still very possible for major improvements at that stage.
For the guys still playing (not counting Lebron) in EPM by age. Amen seems to be right there with Kawhi and George, and ahead of Bulter. Amen has to get better at shooting as most of his value is currently defense.
Oh that's awesome, I love having that visual where you can track him against similar player types (ie long, defensive wings.) Let's hope he gets that Kawhi like surge!
Problem is finding guys with passing skills, no shooting, that play defense. The notable "I can't shoot" graph...
Oooh could you do like Shawn Marion, Andre Igoudala, Ron Artest (I know he can shoot, but I'm looking more at the defensive side,) Rodman? Sounds weird but I kinda see those as like his "ok if it doesn't work out and he ends up a more regular finished product" comps if that makes sense?
Respectable showing for Amen. I'm actually glad to see Dyson win it though. Closer to the spirit of the award. I mean he was still a lotto pick but at least it was later on in the lottery. Glad Cade didn't win it just for living up people's expectations as a #1 overall pick
You can definitely see him getting more and more comfortable with each passing game. There's nobody on GS that can keep up with him
Bro is starting to figure it out in the playoffs, what his limitations are and his strengths. First 2-3 games and especially last game he was hesitating on attacking the lanes and settling for shooting midis which he is absolutely ATROCIOUS at, this game he clearly went in with understanding he absolutely dominates attacking the lanes. They can't shut him down like they can when JG attacks, if Amen continues with this change we might be able to win this.
Yeah, this guy is built for big games. Once those first few game jitters were shed, jesus christ. He is him. It is an absolute joy watching him play his defense. Finally his playoff defense caught up to his regular season defense. Even without a jump shot, he is worlds apart from Jalen Green.
Yep. After the first couple of games, this is exactly what I hoped would happen. Regardless of the outcome, I cannot wait for Friday to see what Amen does.
The Cavs have virtually the same core as the “lights were brighter than expected” Jarrett Allen team — that same group just wiped out the Heat. Most guys get to experience roles of increasing responsibility in the playoffs, but this team made a completely binary jump all the way to the 2 seed without a break-in period. The growth of Amen across the series, and even Alpi the last couple of games has been very encouraging. We could use another Green flamethrower game, but it’s hard to bank on it at this point.
