Amen Thompson's strength can quickly become his weakness if not controlled

Third year guard Amen Thompson is one of the most talented young two-way players in the league with a blend of athleticism, strength and finesse, but, while that is great, it can become careless at times.

Thompson, the fourth overall pick by Houston in the 2023 NBA Draft, has made massive strides in early in his career. During his age 22 season last year, he finished the year on the NBA's All-Defensive First Team and received 93 votes to finish fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

With the injury to Fred VanVleet prior to the start of the season, Thompson has taken over the role of the primary ballhandler. It's led to deeper responsibility for the most part that's been effective, but, at times, his aggressiveness translates to carelessness.

Thompson's fast-paced play style at times can be unproductive

Similar to his brother Ausar, Amen has a lot of fantastic traits that make him next to impossible to stop on the court without fouling him. His ability to poke balls away or meet a shooter at the rim and is matched with a variety of ways to contribute on the offensive end.

However, his aggressive play can be seen an over-aggressiveness when he gets the ball in his hands and thinks he's invincible.

It was seen a handful of times during the Rockets 133-125 loss to Utah on Monday night. Down the stretch with the ball in his hands, Thompson would attempt to charge fast into the paint and it led to either a missed layup early in the shot clock or a turnover and transition bucket on the other end.

It's not a lot to be overly concerned about because, while it has been a factor in his first couple of seasons, Thompson has gotten better at ball control and using his fast-paced play to make smarter plays and limit the turnovers.

How does Thompson control that weakness?

He already has improved massively in this regard. While it did show a bit in the loss against Utah and early in Wednesday's game against Sacramento, he has recognized it and adjusted.

This also comes with experience. The older he gets, the more he understands how important it is to settle down in tight moments and asses what is important. Head coach Ime Udoka certainly has been influential in this but it also doesn't help to have an established veteran and champion like Kevin Durant at your disposal day-after-day.

While it can frustrating to watch from time-to-time, it's hard to be too mad. Thompson is putting up fantastic numbers this season, averaging 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and almost 1.5 steal in 19 games this year.

His improvement has been what the Rockets were hoping to get from Thompson, and its importance has been seen early as they've started the season with the third-best record in the Western Conference.