Hornets coach: May take awhile for Ayon to adjust

Published: Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 23, 2011 at 6:34 p.m.

WESTWEGO ? The Hornets signed forward Gustavo Ayon on Friday, beefing up the team's interior three days before the regular season begins.

Coach Monty Williams, however, isn't sure exactly what the 6-foot-10, 245-pound player from Mexico will bring from his time playing in Spain's top division.

Ayon, 26, will become only the third Mexican-born player in NBA history, but because he speaks very little English, Williams said it might take awhile to acclimate to league's language.

"Being real about it, anytime you don't speak English well, you're certainly going to have a problem with basketball jargon," Williams said. "If I said three or four things about our team in our language, Trevor (Ariza) and (Jarrett) Jack know exactly what I'm talking about. He may look at me like, ?OK coach.' I think it's going to take awhile to start to pick up basketball NBA language."

Ayon's agent Emilio Duran agreed, speaking for and translating to English for the newly-acquired player.

"It's going to take time," Duran said for Ayon. "Obviously it's a big change for him. It's going to take a period of adaptation to the league, to the culture, to everything. Once he's settled, eventually he's going to try to improve every day and do the best for the team."

Ayon worked out with the Hornets during a June free-agent camp and said he chose New Orleans because of the relationship he had built with general manager Dell Demps over the past few months.

In 10 games this season with Fuenlabrada in Spain, Ayon averaged 15.9 points on 65.7 percent shooting to go with 8.2 rebounds. He earned the league's MVP award for November.

Williams believes Ayon to be a versatile player who can pass, but because he hasn't seen him against NBA-caliber players, he's unsure how he'll fit in.

Through Duran, Ayon said basketball in Spain is "rich tactically," which stands is different to basketball in the NBA.

"In contrast, here the biggest difference is the physicality of the players and the athleticism," Ayon said.

Said Williams, "I think he can do a number of things but we don't know if he can do against this caliber of player. That's what we're anxious to see."

For now, the Hornets are set at center with Chris Kaman (7-0) and Emeka Okafor (6-10) and at power forward with Carl Landry (6-9) and Jason Smith (7-0).

But even before New Orleans fell to the Lakers in the first-round of the Western Conference playoffs, Williams said the front office realized the team need to bulk up near the basket.

"Playing Emeka and David (West) high minutes last year showed us that we needed some more beef down low," Williams said. "Dell has addressed those issues for sure. Now, whether or not we can compete at a high level with the bigs we have, we'll have to wait and see.

Ayon joins Horacio Llamas and current Charlotte Bobcat Eduardo Najera as the only Mexican-born players in the NBA says it might take awhile to acclimate to league's language.

Source: http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111224/wire/111229830

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