Quote:
Originally Posted by buddahfan  AJ is not a small forward, never had been and never will be. I have no idea where that thinking came from. To my knowledge he has never played the #3 in his life except maybe by accident.
He is being groomed as a #5.
You don't play your best rebounder and best shot blocker, who is a 7 footer (almost) at the #3. When you defend against a #3 you spend a lot of your time away from the basket. Why on earth would you play your best rebounder and shot blocker on the perimeter on defense? The only exception I can think of is if the opposing #5 played on the outside on offense, but even then I would switch and put a smaller man on their #5 and keep my best rebounder, and shot blocker near the basket, except on jump outs for double teams. AJ is also very effective at altering opponents shots in the paint. He can't do that if he is playing defense on the perimeter.  |
1) We originally were grooming Amir to be a small forward for his first two years in the league, due to his slight build at that time. But he never played, and the plan was dropped after he grew some.
2) It matters not one iota how good a rebounder you are, or how good a shot blocker you are. No criteria matters one bit except one. Would you help the team more vs. playing someone else those minutes.? Right now, we are not playing Amir many minutes at the 5, or 4; so he has plenty of spare time to play at the 3.
3) Now back to the criteria. Hayes is currently getting small forward minutes. Would Amir do a better job than Hayes with those minutes?
a) Rebounding. Yep, Amir is our best rebounder, so of course he would give us more rebounds vs. Hayes.
b) Defense. I do see some improvement from Hayes as the season goes on. But I still see Hayes as a slow defender overall. As speed is a big part of defending a small forward, I am pretty sure Amir will do a better job vs. Hayes at defense.
c) Post up scoring. It never hurts to add post up scoring. Hayes does do some, but lately his slump has him down to a bucket every other game from post moves. Plus he is very limited, relying almost solely on face up or fade-a-way jumpers out of the post. Amir in contrast has a myriad of post moves that us fans would dearly love to be entertained by.
d) Blocks. Hayes never. Amir, better shot blocker for the league.
e) Ball handling. Hayes seems to be a near zero in this. Amir seems to be a good passer.
f) Outside shooting. Supposedly, this is a strength of Hayes. Possibly the only reason anyone would choose Hayes over Amir as a small forward. But Hayes ain't hitting outside shots at the moment. Maybe some fair competition for his minutes could light a fire under him in this respect. Meanwhile, Amir himself can hit outside shots these days. Its just a matter of letting him shoot the ball.