Evaluating Amine Noua

January 9, 2018

I decided to take the time to watch ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne’s 6-8 forward, Amine Noua play in a Eurocup game against UNICS Kazan. Noua has been playing well this season, and he has been receiving some draft buzz lately. With thanks to YouTube via Sergey Danilov, I was able to see Noua play in a game that was played on January 3rd. Here are my thoughts on how he fared that day.

Amine Noua is an athletic, high-motor combo forward that will compete on both ends of the court, and he has worked hard to improve his jump shot. While he may not look to create his own shot consistently, he can use off-ball motion plays to get open, which can allow him to score the basketball, and he is also active defensively. He has also been having a very good season this year. Noua did a very good job of getting scores on hustle plays. He would consistently run the floor, as he would get scores on fast breaks, and he also managed to throw down a two-handed dunk in transition once. Plus, he also was able to make a quick cut to the hoop, as that led him to get the score and get an extra free throw afterwards.

Also, he possesses an adequate ability to knock down jumpers to space the floor for his team. Noua was able to make an open three off the catch. However, he also missed a quick three-point shot in transition another time, and there were a couple of times where he would pass up open shots from beyond the arc. There were times where he appeared to be too passive on offense, but his teammates also would not always look to get him the ball, as he would go possessions without touching the basketball. Noua did not look to create his own shot often. He did look to score on a drive late in the game, but he ended up missing a runner awkwardly off the glass.

He also displayed adequate playmaking skills. Noua is an unselfish player that will look to move the basketball, and he would set numerous on and off-ball screens, as this would help his teammates get open on offense. He also did a fairly good job of moving off the ball. But sometimes, he would get the ball poked away, though his team would end up recovering it so that he would not turn the ball over, but Noua was called for committing offensive fouls. One was when he pushed off while jumping up for an offensive rebound. However, the other one was a questionable call as he was jostling for low-post position off the ball.

Noua did not rebound the basketball well against UNICS Kazan, but he would look to crash the glass, as he would leap up to get a couple of quick defensive boards when he was on the floor. However, there were some balls that he could have had, but he did not come up with that were in his area. Also, he exhibited decent defensive skills. Noua hustled back on defense to prevent an opponent from scoring on a 2 on 1 in transition, and Noua managed to race back and position himself in such a way to get a stop for his team. He also raced to cover for a teammate to contest a three-point shot in order to force a miss on a separate play, but he did have a couple of miscues.

There was one play where he unnecessarily rotated to an opposing ball handler, and he didn’t get back to his own man in time, which led his team to allow a three-point basket. Another time, he ran in to rotate to cover an open man on a drive, but he was called for committing a blocking foul. While Noua had made a good rotation that time, he was falling backwards on the play, as his attempt to take a charge was unsuccessful. In general, Amine Noua had an up and down game in his team’s overtime loss to UNICS Kazan. He picked up some quick fouls and he had trouble getting into the flow on offense for most of the game, but Noua was able to have a solid fourth quarter, as he was able to score the basketball in a variety of ways.

Right now, he may be a second round prospect for the upcoming draft. Noua is an athletic, high motor player that will tend to be in the right spots on both ends of the floor, but he does not really look for his own shot nearly enough, and he can be inconsistent in games, but with his skill set, he could end up being an effective role player in the NBA, as he could end up being a 3 and D type of player at the next level.