Came across this on youtube, loved it, wanted to share it. I thought this analysis was fair, a bit inspiring as a fan of our squad and worth a watch. Here you go:
Love, Love, Love Amen. He's a jumpshot away from superstar trajectory. Big if there, but still. Im pumped for this upcoming season. Im even excited about seeing if Jalen's scrub ass can finally put it together.
If this develops a jumper, call it a day for this league. This kid is the real deal. Pair him with eason Jabari sengun and reed, we have a very intelligent team on the floor.
I don't know if he's ever getting a jumper. Too bad he didn't play in the 80s or 90s when you didn't need to shoot because he'd be a Clyde Drexler/Larry Nance type perennial all star
Clyde is a great comp IMO He is so hard to guard already. Because of his physical traits, even against a sagging defense, he gets to the paint and demands attention. You put a lineup of Reed, Cam and Jabari around him and let the defense decide if they'd like to concede the paint or concede open looks from 3. If he adds even a legit middy I think that's enough for him to become a star level player. Frankly, I'll be somewhat shocked if he hasn't replaced at least Dillon Brooks in the starting 5 this season. But I want to see him at point full time. Unseating Fred will be harder but I think Amen's got the makeup to do it. He's big. He's smart. He plays hard and makes his teammates better. He plays with an edge. He defends. He literally does everything except shoot 3s.
He's not going to unseat Fred - you just can't have a lead guard with that kind of shooting unless you want have 4 shooters around him and the Rockets don't have that. Even then it's pretty dicey - People used to complain about Westbrook when he at his peak - he was at least able to get into the 30s. That's a long way away from Thompson. Draymond is a distant journey from where he is. I would like to be optimistic but it's beyond broken - he needs like a total rebuild. Draymond might ultimately be a better comparison fwiw than most guards given how much more effective Thompson was as the small ball 4/5 this past year.
You are one of the most consistently pessimistic posters on this board. Amen’s poor shooting is definitely a concern, but he is absolutely dominant in every other aspect of the game. He is not ready to take over from FVV yet, but he is our PG of the future. This year he should be playing SF the majority of his time on the court with some time backing up Fred. If he is not playing 30+ minutes a game regardless of position it is a fail. Maybe, I’m too optimistic, but I believe Amen will shoot better than 30% from the corner this upcoming year (which is all he needs to do to be all-star level) and will progress another floater or mid-range shot. By the way, when I say PG it is on offense. Defense it will be all about matchups and thankfully he can guard at least 1-4.
I wonder how good the rebounding is with Amen, Tari, Green, Jabari. All seem to be above average. I know rebounding is less important than some other aspects, it's still interesting though.
And you're the goofball who said this 2 weeks ago Wemby’s defense last year was overrated. Blocks do not make a complete defensive player That pretty much speaks for itself. Anyhow, What do you think is more likely - Victor Wembanyama (the best defender in the NBA other than the fools who voted for Gobert) - "becoming a complete defensive player" (LMFAO ).or Amen Thompson tripling his 12% three point shooting? Btw it's great your other assessment was that Wemby isn't a good enough 3 point shooter but also that he should move back to PF and let Zac Collins play center - I mean that has to be comedic purposes there right? Finally on Thompson - what I said is that his non-existent 3 point shot makes it hard for him to be a true every play lead ball handler guard. If he develops a (mediocre) 30% corner 3 that's great but it doesn't solve the lead ball handler issue and if he's off on the corner it means - like I said - he's a nominal big man on offense floating there from the dunker spot (though I think teams would be happy to see him bomb away 3 for 10 from the corner rather than play inside and dunk and rebound - that's a win for them.)
I didn’t say Zac Collins should play center, I said they should have drafted a center. You are over-rating Wemby’s defense as he got burned by a number of centers not exclusively just by Sengun. I also said Wemby can be an all-star level player, but he will never be a superstar without a 3 pt shot, not because nobody can become a superstar without a 3 point shot, but a beanpole C/Pf cannot become a superstar without a 3 point shot, because he will never be great as a post player. I could care less about who gets voted to nba all-defensive teams at the power positions, because the voters like you that only look at blocks (Gobert is a great example) rather than over all performance.
Let me preface what I'm about to say, by clearly stating...I don't see Amen becoming anything close to a top 5 ish player like Magic. But, the comparison is an apt one in that, Magic developed an adequate shot. That said, I see Amen as a player that will transcend any traditional postion. This kid will be a superstar one way or another. Aren't we fortunate!?!
Yes we are. Magic has been my comp from day 1. Will he be the greatest PG of all time, probably not, but superstar, probably yes.
And you're vomiting all this up on the interwebs with literally no evidence to support this other than a vague awareness that Wemby lead the league in blocks at age 19 and will not relinquish that title for years- which in your bizarre-0 world means he's overrated The statistical case - both advanced and traditional - for Wemby as DPOY was very strong (btw he lead the league in steals-blocks too) - basically he was Hakeem Olajuwon on defense. But frankly - you don't need that -you only have to watch the guy play defense for 5 minutes and see how he warps gravity around him to realize how impactful he is. If you actually followed Wembanyamas rookie season - you'd realize that his defense went to another level after the Spurs moved him out of the PF spot to C because it gave him more freedom to patrol the paint, and that their team defensive efficiency went WAY WAY up after this happened And final irony - you're whining about his 3 point shot as inefficient - in an Amen Thompson thread. Like I don't mind ragging on the Spurs, fk the Spurs, but you clearly didn't really pay much attention to Wemby last year other than the Sengun 40 points game - and you should just not comment on it because you have no idea what you're saying.
Don’t understand the constant narrative, Amen can’t shoot. YES he is a horrific 3 pt shooter. People, he shot 53% from the field. He is a highly efficient scorer from mid range. Can get to the rim and finish. All that in a limited role last year. BBIQ up there with FVV & Sengun. Agree with others that see Magic comparisons. ( maybe not HOF ) Only his last 3 seasons, did he develop his 3pt shot. Thompson rebounds, plays D and has court awareness, as good as any player on the roster.
Amen was breaking out when Fred the momentum killer, hogger, and chucker was out towards the end. Amen is ready to take over the pg spot any time. I see why Toronto fans wanted to get rid of him.
Draymond doesn’t play downhill, while Amen is absolute terror. The Clyde comparison was good, although Clyde was a more acrobatic highflier… Another comp that people will probably laugh about, but I do think is somewhat valid: LeBron James (poor man’s Lebron, let’s say)
Amen much more than Jalen has that superstar upside you can dream on. Unfortunately "finding a shot" is just really hard. He doesn't even need to reach Kawhi level of shooting, if he can be Westbrook level perimeter and FT shooting, he's basically perennial all star
Amen is already a unique and special player but with his love of the game, super high basketball IQ, and work ethic he can be a top 10 player in the NBA. I truly believe in this kid
