Al-Farouq Aminu can play defense for the Golden State Warriors ... if he wants to

""I'm real long and athletic," he said, "and, you know, defense is just wanting to do it. So I feel like if I put my mind to it, I can do it. ... I just have a knack for rebounding."

This is good news, but when do superstars, let along the everyday NBA players, ever really want to 'put their mind to' playing great defense?

almost 2 years ago dj fuzzylogic 10 comments 0 recs |

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With that length and athleticism, Aminu has the ability to defend multiple positions.

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by Rated-R Superstar on Jun 8, 2010 10:15 AM PDT reply actions

when do superstars, let along the everyday NBA players, ever really want to ‘put their mind to’ playing great defense?

I would say for an everyday NBA player, it’s going to be “often”. For a lot of them, they know defense is the primary reason they’re even on an NBA roster…

by Missing Barry on Jun 8, 2010 10:55 AM PDT reply actions

Yeah, and there are a handful of players like Bowen was who are defensive specialists and make their salary with their defense.

From predraft reports it seems that for Aminu to be sucessful he is going to have to be one of those hard nosed player who plays defense, gets rebounds, scores on put backs, and brings energy to the team.

by freerandolph on Jun 8, 2010 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions

He actually seems a lot like an Mbah a Moute type player.

by Missing Barry on Jun 8, 2010 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I totally agree with you

It was more of a rhetorical question. It’s something the average nba player “should do” (or every player, even superstars, should do). with that said, does drafting a player with incredible defensive potential at #6 make sense? or to put differently, would you draft a player @ #6 to groom into a defensive specialist? and does this player @ #6 necessarily envision himself to be a defensive specialist? aside from dikembe mutumbo, i would go so far as to make a generalization that most players draft in the lottery probably don’t see themselves as being a “defensive specialist” as opposed to a possible franchise player. again, i’m making a huge generalization here.

by dj fuzzylogic on Jun 8, 2010 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Last Year Thabeet was drafted 2nd solely on Defense. Us drafting a guy that averaged 16 points per game and also averages close to 11 rebounds per game and is good on defense is us getting lucky in my opinion.

by J-RIDAH on Jun 8, 2010 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions

In our particular situation, I definitely think it’s something worthy of emphasis. We need defense, and desperately. We’ve focused on players based on their offensive abilities enough, we have guys that can play offense, we need guys that can play D, so seems worthy to me. No idea whether Aminu, or most other high draft picks in general, would be willing to commit to realizing their full defensive potential. If he does commit to defense and learns to shoot enough so he’s not a complete offensive liability….honestly, that’s enough for me.

by Missing Barry on Jun 8, 2010 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions

True

Warrriors seem to follow the opposite logic of finding good/decent offensive weapons in the d-league but struggle to find any offensive firepower (aside from Curry) in the lottery.

by dj fuzzylogic on Jun 8, 2010 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Aminu’s a good fit if the Warriors make the Kevin Love deal but I just don’t see an Aminu/Randolph/Biedrins lineup working (and Wright doesn’t help too much either). The perimeter shooting is pretty rough and I wouldn’t want to rely on any of them to create their own shot.

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by SoulHonky on Jun 8, 2010 10:21 PM PDT up reply actions

Aminu would be a great pick if we stay at 6.

I really like this kid, and while I agree that all NBA players should play defense, they don’t strive to be known as defensive stoppers, especially younger guys. I miss Gary Payton. He wanted to be the best defensive pg in the league and he worked hard at it. Rondo is the same way.
On a side not, watching these players really makes me think about how warriors can build around Curry. Initially I was thinking they should use the Suns model from 2006, and I still would be happy with that. However, the Celtics have really one starter who can make a play with the ball in his hand, Rondo. Sorry Pierce. He isn’t the play maker he used to be. But the threat of him making plays is helpful. All the other starters make a lot of great plays without the ball in their hands. Setting great picks, moving without the ball, using positioning and footwork to allow Rondo to do his thing. In addition, the other starters do one or two things very well that meshes with the other player’s skills instead of duplicating.
The Suns had too many playmakers, and not enough role players who did one or two distinct things extremely well.
So, warriors of the future (similar to celtics, but more of a running team and less defense savvy). Requires trades…
Curry – Rondo
Morrow – Ray Allen (i know, ray is much better, but he isn’t the player he once was and morrow is getting better)
Iguodala – Pierce – (if no iggy then maggette – but he needs a coach to really push him)
Wright – KG (I know, I know, see above with ray ray)
Cousins – Kendrick Perkins ( i actually think these two are pretty similar)

The above assumes we trade AR and Monta and somehow get a higher pick and get Iggy. Since Philly likes Turner ‘d be surprised if they wouldn’t be open to a trade for Iggy.
if this was our starting five and we had a bench that could really play a lot of minutes, we’d be a pretty decent squad.
Man, I can’t wait for next season.

by tjmax on Jun 8, 2010 1:48 PM PDT reply actions