The coach probably doesn't even watch game footage. Earlier when we played the Lakers, Durant kept turning the ball over whenever the opponent double-teamed him, and we were completely unprepared. We made the opposing role players look like superstars. We played James one-on-one and switched defense endlessly; even if Sheppard played 48 minutes, he wouldn't get destroyed... The more I talk about it, the more speechless I get. Liked (0) Reply
Neither. And those selecting Amen are in for a rude awakening. You can’t build around a perimeter player who cannot shoot and gets 55% of their made shots assisted. His efficiency is what it is because he excels in transition, off cuts, put backs, dunker spot lobs, as a screener, etc. Amen will get exposed in an on-ball role. He’ll be the next one scapegoated, especially after what Stone is about to pay him.
I think either is a losing proposition. Amen can't shoot .... I don't think he's ever going to shoot well enough from 3 to change how teams defend him - or don't. Shooting 30% isn't going to change that. He'll have to get around 35% and stay there. That just doesn't seem to be an attainable goal. He's going to kill your spacing, always gonna be a defender lurking, hedging towards the paint or shadowing your ball handler trying to drive as a second defender. Sengun can't shoot outside of the paint and doesn't care on defense. I wonder if Sacramento would give up a lotto pick for either of them.
Short answer - I'll take Amen. Long answer... I'll start by saying I don't think Sengun is "the guy". I think there's a vast difference between doing something well "for a big" and doing something well as "the guy". Like he passes well for a big. Not so much for a guy who you expect to run offense. He shoots ok for a big. Not for a guy you're planning to have the ball 1/3 of the game. He's an ok team defender. Kinda lacking on an individual level there, which is kinda crazy if you think about how we have a defensive coach and supposed defensive mindset but the most obvious key to a good defense needs the team to be better than he is individual. And to boot the boot, if you're expecting offense from him, how it is that he truly posts up like maybe 2-3 times a game is stupid. I mean besides a decent drop step move he's really not *that* impressive at it. You say build around him and you need 4 guys above average shooting an defending around him to make it work? I don't think "the guy" needs the team to bring him up. I think "the guy" makes the players around him better, for which I don't believe he does. So as "the guy" he requires so much, and truly isn't quite putting out that kind of production and if you were to scale his role back, then what? He's got to be better at defending, setting picks and shooting efficiency? WOOF. Even choosing Amen, there's a choice within a choice. He's kind of this amorphic blob positionally. But as "the guy" it's obvious he's got to shoot from the floor. I think his passing is woefully underrated and his drive/kick is underutilized. I also think it's underappreciated that he's leading the league in minutes, almost made all-defense and is a mid-tier point. Pretty much believe if you increased his usage suddenly people would go "wow such PG". But therein is another problem, I don't think you should count on an all-defensive selection AND an offensive hub. So like... do you say we want this hyperathletic switchblade? We want the beast on defense? A connective piece on offense rather than a hub? A one man transition advantage? Great! Go get a guard (not FVV) who can be more of the offensive piece and a big who can defend. Or you want to lean into 6'6" westbrook? Great, go get better defenders and not expect him to be the point-of-attack on that side too. Basically I believe Sengun is a middling #1 and even worse any other tier option. Amen is productive enough in any role moving forward, and has more upside because of his athleticism
I'm not trading either until we see our coaching situation improve!!! Either kick Ime to the curb and find a competent coach or hire a REAL offensive minded coordinator/coach/helper/sidekick etc. to take over the offensive side!!! IME FLAT OUT SUCKS!!! He can't cant teach, motivate or draw a play to save his life!!! ....... ....... .......
Really - who are the players going off on us this series? Ayton? Jackson Hayes? No it's the perimeter guys - Lebron, Luka Nard and the corpse of Marcus Smart. Who's supposed to be guarding these guys? Hint - it's not Sengun, even if he's been way less than stellar this series. I see both issues (Sengun's scoring and our perimeter D) stemming from the same cause - our coach. He overvalues individual toughness and grossly undervalues schemes and teamwork. To him, teamwork is everyone "hustling" hard. There's some value to that, but it's an incomplete way to run a team. But to answer the question, I'll say this - too many people here mistake jumping high and running fast as "superstar potential." But history shows that there's a low ceiling for perimeter guys who play major minutes but can't shoot - and that ceiling extends to the team, not just the player. I can envision a team with Sengun, a capable PG who defends, and multiple 3-d guys running a successful offense and a capable defense. I wouldn't want Alpi to be the main scoring option, but I seem him being an important cog due to his ability to draw double teams, his passing abilities and ability to score in the post when he isn't faced with 3 defenders. I can't imagine the same with Amen - having a perimeter guy who doesn't play inside but can't shoot means there's always a defender in the paint who isn't covering someone closely. If Amen were a historically elite slasher and finisher, it might work but he's neither of these things. And as we're seeing in this series, an elite perimeter defender can be neutralized by the right offensive schemes. So where then exactly is Amen going to contribute? So if it came down to it, I'd keep Alpi but not with any intention to make him our #1. And in the immediate future, it would be smarter to try and build up the value of our guys rather than set them up to fail - even if we eventually decide to trade one or both.
This. Amen is ultra athletic but he isn't strong to where he's consistently finishing through contact like Ant. He's just an ever odder offensive player than Sengun.
How about neither? Would prefer Luis Scola over Alpi but at least he’s serviceable. Amen is a story we’ve seen play out enough times before.
some fair points. But Amen’s length and versatility allow him to play multiple positions. He doesn’t have to be a perimeter player, where some of his weaknesses are magnified. I’ve said it a million times, Amen is a 3/4. You can’t build around a non-shooter. We don’t have a franchise player on this team. But I believe Amen can and will develop a good mid-range game. That would make him one of the best 2-way second options in the league. If we develop Amen at his natural position he’s gonna thrive like he did in his sophomore season. We don’t have anyone worth building around (a sad indictment of the current regime), but Amen has the most upside and is too rare of a talent to move off of. I think the bigger question: why has our player development been poor? Poor player development is incompatible with building a contending team from the ground up.
If I was Stone or the Fertittas I would meet with Amen and his agent after the season and tell him that they are willing to back up a dump truck of money, give him an extension, and make trades next year to build a team around him with a system built around his strengths… …. ONLY contingent on him making himself a competent and confident shooter this Summer. No ifs or buts about it. And if he still cannot shoot next summer I would tell him that they’ll love to keep him and extend him to a deal similar to what other high end role players have been getting in this market.
Amen and Ant actually shot virtually identical percentages at the rim (0-3ft) this season, with Amen at 76% and Ant at 75.6%. Amen took more attempts at that distance than Ant did (5.0 per game versus 3.6). Where Ant is still ahead on interior scoring is in drawing free throws, at 7.2 per game to Amen's 4.9, but I'll note that in his third season while playing 36mpg, Ant drew 5.3 FTA, almost identical to Amen's numbers this season. From my perspective Amen's rim pressure is already basically elite for a 6'7" guard/wing. I mean, hell, going by the numbers, his rim pressure is already pretty close to a very athletic center like Jalen Duren. That's not his problem on offense at all. His problem is that he doesn't have enough space to operate, both because of his own lack of a jump shot, and also because he almost always has to play with anywhere from 1 to 3 other non-shooters. For all this talk about Sengun creating more unassisted buckets than Amen does, he is also far less efficient than Amen is. So I think a lot of that is just that Sengun is more willing to take bad shots, and I'm not sure that's to his credit. I want to see what Amen looks like in an offense where every other player on the court has to be guarded closely at the 3P line. I suspect he would get many more of the good lanes and good looks he favors, and his assist numbers would go up as well.
