Adrian Wojnarowski informed us yesterday on Twitter of the bad news: Al-Farouq Aminu, who arrived in Orlando last July, suffered a sore in his right knee meniscus. So he comes to join an already full infirmary and the band in Vavane will have to hold on tight to his eighth place in the East while waiting for the return of his wounded.
Magic staff should quickly determine if an operation is needed to treat the Nigerian’s meniscus, but we do not yet have details on how long he will recover. It should still take several weeks and he is currently sharing his hospital room with Michael Carter-Williams (ribs), Chuma Okeke (cruciate ligaments, injured before his official arrival in the NBA) and Nikola Vucevic (ankle). Aaron Gordon for his part left warm sheets and has just made his comeback in Steve Clifford’s five. The former Hornets coach will have to adjust his rotations once again to fill the absence of Alefarucca, there is definitely something wrong.
With an uneasy record of eight victories in nineteen games, the Magic may suffer from the absence of his replacement winger. After having been for four years one of the faithful lieutenants of Damian Lillard, Aminu began his tenth NBA season in Florida as a veteran executive of the young bench of the Magic… a move badly lived so far. Because his start to the season at Disneyland was not exactly that of a fairy tale since with 4.3 points, 4.8 rebounds in 21 minutes of play per game, his statistical impact had not been so low since his first years in the NBA (drafted in 2010). But Al-Farouq Aminu is that kind of soldier whose real impact can’t always be read on a stat sheet. Because with this injury, Steve Clifford does not only lose four small points and a few rebounds, he loses above all the defensive lung of his bench. Communication, delay screens, defensive assists and daron’s faults to prevent an easy basket are, among other things, the kinds of tasks Aminu did very well. Now hopefully the guys bailing out his minutes – probably Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Wes Iwundu – will take over in the fighting spirit.
The Orlando coaching staff will have to be able to count on an exemplary starting five (thank you Vavane for continuing this momentum) and on an equally impeccable bench defensively without the contribution of Aminu to spend the winter and hope to win a ticket for the Playoffs.
Text source: ESPN
–
