Big Easy Buzz Blog - January 3, 2012

NBA Superlatives: Al-Farouq Aminu
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com

Second-year small forward Al-Farouq Aminu sat down recently with Hornets.com to provide a few of his thoughts about his career and the National Basketball Association. The Wake Forest product spent his first NBA season with the Los Angeles Clippers, prior to being dealt to New Orleans in mid-December.
Most memorable moment in the NBA: “Getting drafted.”

Most memorable dunk in the NBA: “Toward the end of my rookie season, we were playing Oklahoma City at home. I took off from very far away from the basket and dunked. It was off a missed shot, and nobody boxed me out.”

Most embarrassing moment in the NBA: “We were playing Atlanta, and I fell on a slippery spot right in front of our team bench. My teammates all tried to say that I got crossed over, but it was just a wet spot on the floor. I actually kind of low-key injured myself, because I fell very hard. It was against Joe Johnson. I got up and was really mad.”

Most surprising thing about the NBA as a rookie: “How long the season is. I mean, you know going in that it’s going to be 82 games, but you don’t realize how demanding it is physically until you go through it.”

Toughest player to face at his position: “Probably Dwyane Wade. He’s so fast, and him being shorter than me is actually an advantage for him, because he knows how to attack your hips. Plus, he always has the green light on offense to score whenever he can.”

Most underrated player in the NBA: “Jeff Teague of Atlanta. Now he’s starting to shine, but before the Hawks always kind of hid him behind other guards. Before the playoff series last year against Chicago, he only averaged like five points. They never gave him any solid minutes. He hadn’t been in a key role last season, but against Derrick Rose in the playoffs, he was able to do well.”

Best uniforms in the NBA (besides the Hornets’): “I really like New Orleans' uniforms. But other than ours, I liked the old-school Raptors jerseys, with the dinosaur on the front. I thought that was clean.”

Favorite road arena: “Atlanta, just because it’s home and it’s great to play in front of people I know there.”

Favorite road trip, based on the city: “I’ll say Miami, because my mom lives there.”