Aminu's transition to small forward coming along..slowly (Advocate article)

Nice to see the Advocate covering the Hornets for their new New Orleans edition.. would be nice to be able to dump the Times Picayune altogether, if the Advocate can grow into a viable alternative.

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Coach Monty Williams has told Aminu he doesn’t have to contribute the way more natural small forwards do with their teams. It will be just the opposite: His job will be to play off players with more high-level offensive games, such as shooting guard Eric Gordon and power forward Anthony Davis.

In that way, his post abilities will be an asset.

“I think (Williams) just wants me to realize what I’m doing out there,” Aminu said, “meaning, if I have someone smaller on me, of course it’s smarter just to go inside. He preaches just play basketball … and make sure I make smart plays. Don’t complicate it by making sure I’m on the inside or the outside.”

Williams is optimistic, he said, because of Aminu’s athletic ability. He said he’d like to see Aminu use it more.

“He’s one of the best athletes in the league,” Williams said. “I want to see him run more. I’d like to see him get two layups a game just by running.”

Gates said he’s trying to teach Aminu the difference between when he is open for a jump shot than when there’s an open lane to drive.

“He is literally capable of driving from the perimeter to the rim in once bounce,” Gates said.

And it appears Aminu is listening well to admonitions to attack the rim..

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Full article here:

http://theadvocate.com/news/neworlea...-small-forward

Seems all too familar with what we had with Trevor Ariza.
Maybe Aminu is young enough to learn still.

As long as he doesn't jack up shots the way Ariza did, I think he'll be fine.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_HORNET

Seems all too familar with what we had with Trevor Ariza.
Maybe Aminu is young enough to learn still.

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The "play to your strengths" may be the same, but there is a difference. For Ariza to be successful on offense he needed to hit 3s and free throws, 2 things he couldn't do well enough. Unlike Ariza, Aminu can hit free throws and with Anderson he shouldn't need to hit 3s and can concentrate on slashing and rebounding.

He's way more athletic than Ariza and he's like 16 years old; he has time. He does seem to be attacking more, but I really believe what he needs to work on most is confidence. Even if he was a strictly defensive and running/rebounding player he is athletic enough to be a solid 10/10 guy if he can knock down an open shot or two. His rebounding is already pretty solid.

This season is very important for Aminu.By now he should relish the thought of attacking the rim.I mentioned earlier how I would like to see him master the 'catch and go' vs the 'catch and read'...he hesitates "off the catch" and needs to take the gap and 'go for it'

a- catch and get to the rim off the bounce
b- catch and go into pull-up jumper.

Small fwds have to be able to get into the lane and t