Hornets summer league slate begins July 15
Thursday, June 14, 2012
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
For New Orleans Hornets young veterans who experienced the hectic and condensed 2011-12 NBA schedule, their visit to Las Vegas next month should have a familiar feel to it. When the league unveiled its NBA Summer League slate this afternoon, the Hornets learned that they will be playing five games in a seven-day span. In other words, New Orleans summer league entry will play its entire schedule from July 15 through July 21.The Hornets will open their five-game week on Sunday, July 15 with a 9:30 p.m. Central game against the Portland Trail Blazers in UNLVs Thomas & Mack Center (its a 7:30 p.m. Pacific time tip in Nevada). The following evening, the Hornets will face the Milwaukee Bucks, again at 9:30 p.m. Central. On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday later that week, New Orleans will play against Phoenix, Dallas and Golden State, respectively.NBA TV has announced that it will broadcast all 60 summer league games this year, with 39 of those being live telecasts. The networks Las Vegas live-broadcast information is usually unveiled sometime after the draft (June 28 this year). Local fans in New Orleans will often have to stay up late to catch the Hornets in Las Vegas, because three of the games are at 9:30 Central. The others are at 7:30 and 5:30.Hornets 2012 NBA Summer League scheduleSunday, July 15, vs. Portland, 9:30 Central (7:30 in Las Vegas)Monday, July 16, vs. Milwaukee, 9:30 Central (7:30 in Las Vegas)Wednesday, July 18, vs. Phoenix, 7:30 Central (5:30 in Las Vegas)Friday, July 20, vs. Dallas, 9:30 Central (7:30 in Las Vegas)Saturday, July 21, vs. Golden State, 5:30 Central (3:30 in Las Vegas)
Consistency an Aminu goal entering Year 3
Early in the 2011-12 season, Al-Farouq Aminus performance seemed to fluctuate not only from game to game, but sometimes from possession to possession. Encouraging glimpses of his potential were occasionally followed by periods of mistake-filled play, causing his contributions to be unpredictable during the first half of the Hornets schedule.Although several Hornets young players logged far more minutes than they ever had in the NBA, Aminus playing time ended up being almost exactly the same as his rookie season. The small forward played 1,477 minutes in 2011-12, only 25 more than the previous campaign. However, what he accomplished in his time on the floor became more and more reliable as his second pro season moved into March and April.Aminu still needs to significantly improve his season field-goal percentage of 41.1 to be counted on as a frontcourt rotation player, but he took better shots as the year progressed and drastically cut back on his negative plays. Thats part of his focus as he enters a summer in which hell play for the Nigerian national team and/or New Orleans summer-league squad in Las Vegas.I think Im figuring it out, what my strengths are, he described late in the regular season. Its only my second year, so Im still finding my game within the league. From there, once I realize what I can and cant do on a nightly basis, thats where the summer comes in. Im going to work on the things I need to improve on, and become a better player.Here are additional quotes on the Atlanta area native that we couldnt squeeze into his season-review article on Hornets.com:MONTY WILLIAMSOn Aminus improvement later in the 2011-12 season:He has stepped up and played well. Not as consistently as he would like, but hes done a good job.AL-FAROUQ AMINUOn Monty Williams emphasis to him:He always says the point guard and the small forward are supposed to be your most efficient players on the floor. The whole season has been a learning process working toward that goal.On his play at the defensive end:I know Ive gotten a lot better on defense, especially learning the schemes and being in the right spots. Im not thinking as much, just reacting.On the hype and attention that surrounded the trade from the Clippers:I dont get caught up in things like that. I just try to do my job to the best of my abilities. At the end of the day, you can only focus on what you have to do.On the Hornets late-season success, including an 8-6 April:I think its all momentum for next season. Winning is contagious. We feel like we can win. A lot of times (earlier in the season) we couldnt close in the fourth quarter. Thats why its good that were finishing so strong. We have that feeling now. Woulda, shoulda, coulda, but based on how we were put together so quickly at the start of the year, we feel like we had to make the best out of the situation, and thats what we tried to do.