Why does Aminu play so much?

[illmatic99]

3rd on the team in minutes. Bringing us nothing on offense, overstated defensive impact. Shot has gone to hell this year so far, and he clogs the offensive attack as a result. With Layman playing well and Collins primed for a breakout, there is no reason for Chief to play this much.

Collins and Nurkic have played together for a total of 5 mins this season for a net rating of 36 points per 100 possessions.

Aminu and Nurkic have played together for a total of 222 mins this season for a net rating of 15.5 points per 100 possessions.

Not much to make of these numbers given the sample size in the Zach/Nurk lineups, but why not even try it? What does Aminu do better than Zach?

 

[Labinot41]

Mhh, my biggest Problem with Aminu is, you Never know which Aminu you will get. Sometimes he plays like shit, and on the other Night he knocks down 3s and plays lockdown Defense against the best opponent Offensive Player. But his shot is sooo inconstant, i Never feel comfortable when he is Shooting. Anyway Collins is the Future , question is at the 4 or at the 5

 

[Natebishop3]

Mhh, my biggest Problem with Aminu is, you Never know which Aminu you will get. Sometimes he plays like shit, and on the other Night he knocks down 3s and plays lockdown Defense against the best opponent Offensive Player. But his shot is sooo inconstant, i Never feel comfortable when he is Shooting. Anyway Collins is the Future , question is at the 4 or at the 5

Why not start playing him at the four now? I just don't get it. Nurk is arguably one of the best centers in the league and he's still young.

Nurk is averaging 15 and 10 on 53.6% shooting in 24.9 minutes per game. That's really damn efficient.

Per 100 possessions, he's averaging 29 ppg, 19 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.5 steals and he currently has a PER of 24.

The guy is just really efficient.

 

[julius]

I don't mind Aminu playing. I do mind him thinking he's a guard and actually can dribble. He's a turnover waiting to happen when he tries to create.

 

[James lamphear]

Right now Aminu is better rebounder then Zach that's about all. Stotts I thought Stotts would play Zach a little more last night he just had 18 minutes.

 

[illmatic99]

I suppose the mandate to play him more needs to come from Neil, but Terry moves at a glacial pace while deciding to make lineup decisions. Zach should have leapfrogged Aminu by now.

 

[Sarni]

It’s to have some flexibility off the bench I think. If you play Collins and Nurkic in the starting lineup you will have Aminu and Meyers coming off the bench and more often than not we will struggle. This way Collins can get significant minutes with second unit and contribute.

 

[hoopsjock]

The part I don't understand is why Aminu seems to always check back in with Dame and CJ like he has to be on the floor with those two.

 

[kjironman1]

Now look. I am as hard on Aminu as just about anyone anywhere. But i can't question it this year. He is playing much much better and making better decisions when he has the ball.

 

[Natebishop3]

It’s to have some flexibility off the bench I think. If you play Collins and Nurkic in the starting lineup you will have Aminu and Meyers coming off the bench and more often than not we will struggle. This way Collins can get significant minutes with second unit and contribute.

Nurk is only averaging 25 minutes per game, Collins is averaging 20.

That is simply not enough minutes for either of them.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I am also hard on Aminu, but against most teams he is the best option to match up defensively against the other teams best player. (i.e LBJ and tomorrow Giannis)
So if they play lots of minutes, so must Aminu

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Aminu’s shooting is really inconsistant and Ive questioned his team defense a lot, but his one on one defense is why he’s out there. He can be really, really good on that end.
I think Zach is the eventual starter at PF, but Aminu can be a really valuable piece, especially if he makes enough shots to keep the defense honest.
The one thing I feel like Aminu does better than Zach is rebound and box out. Zach still needs to work on that in my opinion. Maybe playing with Nurk more will clear up some space for Zach to get more boards, but Aminu is pretty good at following the ball.

 

[illmatic99]

I am also hard on Aminu, but for many teams he is the best option to match up defensively against the other teams best player. (i.e LBJ and tomorrow Giannis)
So if they play lots of minutes, so must Aminu

Zach doesn't yet have the respect of refs to be able to defend unfortunately. This is prolly the biggest reason for PT discrepancy

 

[Natebishop3]

Zach doesn't yet have the respect of refs to be able to defend unfortunately. This is prolly the biggest reason for PT discrepancy

Once someone gets the refs respect though, they can pretty much grab, slap, and pull to their hearts content (See Paul, Chris)

 

[kjironman1]

Zach doesn't yet have the respect of refs to be able to defend unfortunately. This is prolly the biggest reason for PT discrepancy

Does Aminu get a bunch of respect from refs?

 

[B-Roy]

Aminu is really underappreciated defensively....

 

[andalusian]

The part I don't understand is why Aminu seems to always check back in with Dame and CJ like he has to be on the floor with those two.

Switching. I am sure the coaching staff wants someone to be able to switch when these guys are put in a pick and roll situations. I am sure that if Hark was available - you would see less of that.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Nurk is only averaging 25 minutes per game, Collins is averaging 20.

That is simply not enough minutes for either of them.

How many games this season has one or both of them been in foul trouble? Moving Collins to PF won't increase either of their minutes and might make Collins less effective in the minutes he does play.

 

[H.C.]

Collins isn't ready for the defensive assignments Aminu can take.

Just looking at the last two games.
Aminu has made LBJ work hard to get his points.
Aminu kept KAT off his spots for the most part due to his positioning.

Collins certainly couldn't do the job Aminu did against these two players.
They still scored, because they're dominate offensive players. But Aminu makes people work.
He's our best defender hands down.

I'm not against Collins playing more at the 4, or playing next to Nurk.
But lets give Aminu the respect he deserves.

 

[hoopsjock]

Switching. I am sure the coaching staff wants someone to be able to switch when these guys are put in a pick and roll situations. I am sure that if Hark was available - you would see less of that.

Aminu hasn't been good when switching this year. This is why they miss Harkless so much. He would often defend the best guard from the other team.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

+/- on the team:
1. CJ - +90 (in 318 minutes)
2. Aminu - +80 (in 287 minutes)
3. Lillard - +79 (in 335 minutes)
4. Curry - +71
5. Nurk - +67
6. Turner - +63
7. Collins - +45 (in 206 minutes)

Aminu continues to be our most underrated player. Just replay the tape of Aminu vs. LeBron.

 

[Labinot41]

+/- on the team:
1. CJ - +90 (in 318 minutes)
2. Aminu - +80 (in 287 minutes)
3. Lillard - +79 (in 335 minutes)

Aminu continues to be our most underrated player. Just replay the tape of Aminu vs. LeBron.

+/- is shit stat

 

[illmatic99]

+/- on the team:
1. CJ - +90 (in 318 minutes)
2. Aminu - +80 (in 287 minutes)
3. Lillard - +79 (in 335 minutes)

Aminu continues to be our most underrated player. Just replay the tape of Aminu vs. LeBron.

Shall I point out the most obvious flaw in this awful stat? Aminu plays nearly all of his minutes with Dame/CJ. Pretty sure you can plug in any third guy off our roster and attain those kinda numbers.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Shall I point out the most obvious flaw in this awful stat? Aminu plays nearly all of his minutes with Dame/CJ. Pretty sure you can plug in any third guy off our roster and attain those kinda numbers.

1. Obviously other players ARE being "plugged in" with Damian and CJ because they've played more minutes than Aminu. And yet Lillard has done worse in those minutes than with Aminu.
2. By that reasoning Nurk should have a better per minute +/- than Aminu, because he also plays pretty much 100% of his minutes with Lillard and CJ. But he has a worse +/-.

Of course +/- is flawed. But it's also about the only stat that can take account of defense. And it gets better the more minutes are played.

Aminu can do things nobody else can on our roster. Can you imagine Zach attempting to guard LBJ one on one? It would be UGLY.

 

[JDC]

+/- is shit stat

Over a large sample size, it's still one of the more valuable stats out there.

And for nearly his whole career, he's been an unequivocally positive player.

 

[andalusian]

Aminu hasn't been good when switching this year. This is why they miss Harkless so much. He would often defend the best guard from the other team.

Be it as it may, I do not think anyone else on the roster is better than he is right now - and that's why this happens imho.

 

[B-Roy]

Be it as it may, I do not think anyone else on the roster is better than he is right now - and that's why this happens imho.

I feel pretty comfortable when Aminu switches on anyone. I can't really say that for anyone else on the team.

When he starts dribbling though.....

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[blue9]

The one thing I feel like Aminu does better than Zach is rebound and box out.

Honest question here: do you base this off of Aminu's RPG? Because I'd guess that Aminu grabs 2 or fewer contested rebounds per game. Obviously I don't have hard data to back this up, but from what I see the vast majority of his rebounds come when the only other people in position to grab the ball are his own teammates.