That's doesn't surprise me because Pistons already has Cade, there's no point drafting a other point guard to go behind Cade. The Rockets are in a desperate need of a distributor, it's more of a gamble to take on Amen and mold him into a NBA level PG. If we shoved Amen into a Tari Eason role, he would also be doing really well. Amens defensive instincts are really good, but it might be a steep learning curve to play PG with his loose handles and inconsistent jumper
Amen will get better but he will have similar problems as KPJ to a degree, in the beginning he is more of a wing.....it is easier to play the wing than Full time PG.
It's not that the Pistons even necessarily think Ausar is the better prospect--they already have Cade, Ivey, and Hayes. They don't need another tall point guard slash combo guard.
Detriot has bigger players along their front line. It makes it easier for Ausar to navigate. He can freelance more. Look at that team! They are taller than the Rockets at every position.
I'm also watching Amen's defense. I think Iko said one of the 2 best defensive lineups so far (only a few games) includes him. I don't know if that will remain that way, but his skills aren't just bringing the ball up the court. Ime seems confident enough in him to make him among the first players off the bench... so far.
It does seem like most twin NBA players sort of go back and forth with who is better over time so I’m not worried about it. Even if one is better than the other, it’s not like the other one is that bad (see Robin vs Brooks Lopez). Markieff and Marcus went back and forth even though Markieff got off to a fast start and Marcus struggled in Houston. If Amen is much worse than Ausar it’ll be the Rockets fault.
I still do think the position plays a role, if Detroit starts a double PG with Killy Hayes and Cade, then Ausar is clearly the starting SF. It is the perfect fit, the perfect position for Ausar to succeed. Even if he cannot shoot.
Like I said in other threads, they never were really that far apart. There was a point when Ausar was considered the better twin. Ausar doesn't have to worry about running the offense like Amen does, so he can do his thing while Cade and others do their thing. If Amen focused on defense and rebounding, there's no reason he also couldn't be better. Ausar's a perfect complementary player right now for that team. The Rockets would've loved a ball-handler, initiator, PG, etc., so they went with Amen.
There's a reason gadget players like Tari, Ausar, Mobley, Scottie, Keegan Murray and Herb Jones look good early on compared to their ball handling, offense laden counterparts. Cade is in year 3 and still can't put it together consistently.
This love for a PG is crazy, I mean if Ausar who is viewed as a non PG is averaging 5-6 apg....he can be all the Non Pg you want ...lol.
It's been a bit troubling for me watching the two twins because Ausar has been so good in his role and Amen has not yet. And I don't look at the results so much as the skills exhibited because results will always eventually follow skills mastered. But the skills part has me just as worried as the results do. When you watch the twins play defense it's night and day in THE WAY they each do so. Ausar is constantly moving his feet to stay in front of his man and then closing out when he pulls up for a shot. Amen may take a stab at his guy or crowd him and then let him get past him and try to recover, putting the entire team defense at a disadvantage! But the most worrisome thing to me is how bad Amen's handle is. It's the one thing I said last year in trying to evaluate Amen is that at OTE he mainly just drove to the hoop and either scored, put up a wild shot or passed out to an open man. But he NEVER drove in, probed the defense, came back out and set it up again. I didn't know if he had the handle for it or not. Unfortunately although early it seems that question's been answered for me in the negative. Neither brother can dribble very good but it's soo much more necessary if you're playing the point or initiating the offense! If Amen ever wants to be a superstar he will have to improve his dribble immensely! This will unlock his athletic game so much. But I said the same thing about Jalen and though he's got slightly better his handle is nowhere near "tight"! That actually compounds the problem because we have so many below average - horrible dribblers (Jalen, Jabari, Amen, to a degree Tari) that iin a motion offense you need this skill to excel! But Ausar is in a MUCH better situation imho, being on a team that has much better passing (Cade + others) and general team cohesiveness. Plus he's basically fulfilling the exact same role he did at OTE last year. And doing great, even with a loose handle. I'm not out on Amen, just realizing that he has some MAJOR skill improvements he needs to make to really thrive at this level. He's actually still my new favorite player. From (Jalen, Alpe, Tari) to (Amen, Jalen, Alpe, Tari, Cam).
I'd argue he already shows flashes of being able to dribble well enough, it's just inconsistent right now. I also wouldn't read too much into his first handful of NBA games. He's still getting used to the speed of the game
Well like I said before I loved Ausar more than Amen, that's cuz Ausar is a grinder and a killer on defense. You can see these past few games Ausar really came out prepared to destroy people on defense, the coach played him at different spots including the PF he is like a sane Dennis Rodman. There's a reason he was both MVP and Finals MVP over his brother. Dudes like a 6'7 Kobe he is out there to compete and dominate. But Amen isn't bad either. He is more athletic than Ausar and clearly a more gifted passer. Right now he is the one with the highest potential on our team so I think it's dumb to blame Stone for picking one over the other. They're both studs.
That's just the way it is, playmakers are the engine of a team and are rare to find. There's a reason Cade, Trae, Luka, Lamelo went so high in the draft, and probably why Amen went so high despite his clear weaknesses. I think it's also why we even took a flyer on KPJ. Everyone's trying to find the next Luka
