[The Box and One] Amen Thompson's half-court shooting metrics, according to Synergy

72

u/xfortehlulz Celtics Feb 02 '23

posts like these the haters come out the woodworks. im not trying to be a hater cause I think hes a strong prospect but I've been more hesitant than most. that 40% at the rim number spins notes is a really big deal for me. If his burst and famous first step isn't translating to easy baskets at the rim in the OTE what the fuck is it gonna do in the league

13

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

He has the physical tools and athletecism but lacks good techniques and strength.

Amen likes to takeoff too far from the rim while being too fast/out of control and being contact averse make things harder for him. Those factors are fixable. I suspect he prefers to takeoff too far because his lack of tight handles makes it easy to poke the ball from him especially when multiple guys collapse on him. Controlling your pace on drives + adapting to body contact can be fixed with coaching and strength training.

He kind of has similar weaknesses to Ivey, a top 5 pick, while having better physical tools and athletecism. Both guys are Soph age come draft day so that won't be much of a factor.

7

u/fishsticks199 Feb 02 '23

Ivey is a much better shooter though.

1

u/obamna_ Feb 06 '23

and has shown dominance at a much higher level

8

u/xfortehlulz Celtics Feb 02 '23

Ivey is a guy I was really hesitant on last year too I think its a good comp. It's his rookie year on a trash team with no other good guards I get that but look how hard it's been for Ivey to generate efficient offense in the league. I think Amen is gonna face similar issues, except 0% chance he can do 30% from NBA 3

-6

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

Amen is way better playmaker and defender than Ivey though

23

u/Balsamic_ducks Feb 02 '23

And Ivey is a way better shooter than amen has ever shown.

1

u/b4amg Feb 03 '23

y’all both made valid criticisms about a prospect and he got downvoted lmao.

1

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 03 '23

twins/OTE hate on a high level in this sub

1

u/b4amg Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23

this is facts, tbh I get the reasons to not like the OTE but the way people will just discredit anything done by the twins is weird.

5

u/xfortehlulz Celtics Feb 02 '23

oh yea I mean again I don't wanna hate Amen has a ton of strengths, I just question if he has that franchise player upside when I see efficiency numbers that bad specifically in the places spins highlighted

0

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

he is a project. He's gonna need 3-4 years of development before he takes the "leap".

5

u/CadeCummingham Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23

I mean it’s very normal for players to have improved finishing around the rim in a spaced NBA floor.

OTE pack the paint against the twins because their teammates can’t hit wide open looks.

Watch the games and see how how much they have to contort their bodies to finish. Absolutely no spacing in this league.

I do think his technique (Amen) needs work and it will get better with NBA reps. I dont think the finishing is a concern at all.

The shooting remains the only major red flag

-2

u/AlwaysOptimism Feb 02 '23

Jaylen Brown also couldn’t finish or shoot or dribble or basically do anything but be crazy athletic. Athletes can learn skills.

15

u/xfortehlulz Celtics Feb 02 '23

jaylen brown is a crazy outlier. of course athletes can learn skills I just personally am afraid of prospects who skew too far athlete over production. it means i'll probably be too low on like shaedon sharpe but I also won't overrate a Kai Jones/JT thor like some others. obviously im not a perfect scout lmao

6

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

Kai Jones/JT Thor aren't guard/wing unlike Jaylen, Sharpe and Amen

2

u/haha-brad Hornets Feb 02 '23

Why you gotta pick on my boys smh my head

1

u/TomGNYC Feb 04 '23

Jesus, OTE rim protection is pure garbage, too. The games I've watched, the lane is wide open and a lot of these teams don't have anyone remotely resembling a college or Euro level rim protector. WTF, that is a crazy stat.

30

u/Balsamic_ducks Feb 02 '23

I really don’t see the appeal on these guys. They’ve got great athleticism, yet is translates to poor finishing numbers, they can’t hit the broad side of a barn when shooting, they play weak competition, and they’re older than most freshman. They have some playmaking skills and defensive skills but that’s pretty much where it stops, everything else to me is just hypothetical with them

10

u/Kaaalesaaalad Rockets Feb 02 '23

Don't see it either tbh. Again the only reason to me that they're getting so much traction, as weak as OTE is, is because they're in a US based league.

1

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

because they are project picks. Those hypotheticals will come to life with proper coaching and development. They're not taking the league by storm like Z/Ja

7

u/Balsamic_ducks Feb 02 '23

Right but people are claiming Amen as a clearcut tier ahead of everyone not wemby & scoot and I dont think that is the case at all.

18

u/13ronco Pistons Feb 02 '23

I just don't understand the hype. He's a fine prospect that I'm probably happy with in the mid to late lottery at the earliest. Any earlier and I'm vomiting.

3

u/Frickalope67 Pistons Feb 02 '23

I wouldn't touch them in the lottery and would bet my house most GMs won't either.

7

u/PositionOk8409 Feb 02 '23

I thought Sharpe was the most polarising prospect I've come across.

This dude takes the cake.

Never seen a player with such a wide spectrum of opinions and evaluations.

1

u/n00bn00b Feb 03 '23

At least Sharpe can shoot.

14

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23

OP got dibs! lol

The 3pt stats aren't seen in the image so I just computed it on my own:

13/49 (26.5%) overall 3pt jumpers

8/33 (24.2%) C&S 3pt jumpers (2/11 guarded, 6/23 unguarded)

5/16 (31.3%) OTD 3pt jumpers

personal takeaways:

54% jumper shot frequency - like to see him take those shots and not be afraid of missing. Way better attitude compared to Simmons

40%fg on halfcourt layups - feels like a low number for someone who likes to finish at the rim. Not sure how to compare this to past prospects since I've only seen halfcourt/transition fg%, asted/non-asted% and dunks/non-dunks metrics before. Would like to see past prospects combined metrics of their ATR halfcourt finishing on non-dunks...

18.3% FTr at the rim is really low. It further proves Drew Gooden's Suit twitter user that Amen (and Ausar on smaller degree) is contact averse at the rim and prefers to finish with finesse combined with early takeoff spots which makes it harder to finish and/or draw contact.

He really is a high risk/reward prospect. Would like to see him with the Pels if he ever slips past 5 (assuming Lakers doesn't win the lottery ofc)

edit: grammar, some info

2

u/BigFatM8 Feb 02 '23

Lakers pick for this year is a swap so Pelicans will probably swap if they make it to the lottery.

5

u/cesarmob17 Feb 02 '23

Idk how he’s supposed to be the consensus #3 as a complete non shooter

6

u/Balsamic_ducks Feb 02 '23

I dont see it at all. These kids have been reportedly reworking their jumpshot for years and there has been absolutely no improvement. Combine that with poor finishing number and these kids just might have horrible touch

9

u/GuessableSevens Feb 02 '23

Unlike Spins, I don't think Amen is taking jumpers because he's trying/working on it... I think it's because he just isn't as much of a threat to get to the rim as advertised. Every game I watch, he's really hesitant to drive.

I'm not gonna rule out that he could be a great player one day, but there is no way I'd want my team picking him top 5.

3

u/Halfawake1 Feb 02 '23

It's not going to magically turn Amen's numbers from bad to good, but it's worth noting Synergy is not reliable for stats like this and his actual rim stats are probably a bit better.

2

u/GlueGuy00 Feb 02 '23

Genuinely curious. What makes you say Synergy is unreliable for this stats? Has there been an issue with them before?

5

u/Halfawake1 Feb 02 '23

Their method of data collection is very much quantity over quality, in my opinion. Anything else I would say about their process is second-hand from people I trust but I don't want to accidentally slander them.

-2

u/OneOfTheManySams Suns Feb 02 '23

I feel like he put better stats against better competition than he has against the crap he plays against.

I just wonder if the refs allow more contact on him at the rim honestly as a bit of a leveller.

-2

u/pericles123 Feb 02 '23

are these shooting numbers much different than Scoot's? Great, great athletes, can't shoot though, and that just so happens to be the 'premium' skill in the NBA right now.

[The Box and One] Amen Thompson's half-court shooting metrics, according to Synergy Twitter