Louis Williams 2007 Season Review
Stats: 23.2 MPG / 11.5 PPG / 42.4% FG / 35.9% 3PT / 77.2% FT / 2.1 RPG / 3.2 APG / 1.0 SPG / 0.2 BPG / 1.6 TOV
Louis Williams is the Sixers’ 6th man of the year, and I think he could be an NBA 6th man of the year in time as well. He is the definition of a tweener, combo guard. A guy with tremendous scoring ability, some point guard skills and small. He hit some big shots late in the year this season and showed continued improvement in his overall scoring ability off the bench.
Defensively, he is a liability when he is up against bigger defenders, not much he can do about that. But what bothers me is that his on-ball defense is average at best. When you know you will get taken advantage of in one area (post defense), you should compensate for it in another (on-ball pressure defense). With his quickness and long arms he should be a much more pesky defender on the perimeter. But does he want to be?
Offensively, you know what you get from Lou. He will penetrate and make some tough shots in the lane. He will make the occasional open three. And he will get out on the break and cause havoc against back-peddling defenders. I just wonder does he have more to show offensively or is this where it ends with Lou.
Grade:C+
What Louis Williams Should Improve
Ideally I think we all wished Lou was more of a pure point guard than a small shooting guard, but, understanding that he isn’t and probably isn’t going to develop into a pure point guard, here are the 3 main areas Williams should focus on are (in order of importance):
- Mid-range jumper. This stat should sum it up perfectly - 35.9% three-point percentage vs. 33.9% two-point jump shot field goal percentage. Sweet Lou really needs to work on his his mid-range game. Right now he is a spot-up three-point shooter or a slasher to the basket. With his quickness defenders will likely give him room so he doesn’t blow by them. He needs to use that cushion to work his way inside the 3pt line and hit that pull-up jumper. The reason I think he isn’t as strong in that area is because for a guard of his size and quickness he shoots kind of a set shot. He doesn’t translate his jumping ability and explosive athleticism into his shot. To give you a picture of what he could do think of Iverson. At 5′11 he is able to drive hard left, stop in a dime and rise up on most defenders into a nice, comfortable mid-range jumper. Lou doesn’t have that in his game right now, and I think he could.
- Shot selection. He is a scorer and a pretty good one at that. But he only shot 42% from the field, and I think that is more about the shots he took than his actual shooting ability. This is just something I expect (hope) will improve as he matures, dude is still only 21-years-old.
- Passing ability/teammate shot creation. No I am not trying to make Lou into our point guard, that is why this point is last in the list. But I think right now he is completely one dimensional when he has the ball. Also the largest portion of his turnovers were on bad passes rather than ball-handling mistakes. Just because he isn’t a pure point guard doesn’t mean he can’t get better at driving and kicking when the help comes. Or driving and dropping it off to a big when he draws a second defender. In my opinion all great slashers have an inherent advantage as a playmaker since they can get to the cup at will. Lou is one of those players and needs to learn how to pass once he sheds or gets his defender on his hip and the help comes. He still has tons of time and potential to grow in this area as a 3rd year player out of high school.
Should Williams Be on the Roster Next Season?
Right now I don’t see why Lou Williams wouldn’t return to the team next year. He is our spark off the bench, and as I mentioned before is a core chemistry player for the Sixers. I love his energy and explosiveness on offense and given more playing time he would probably be a more productive starting shooting guard than Willie Green on the 76ers as currently assembled.
Ideal Role for Louis Williams on the 2008 Team
I have been back and forth on what Williams role is or should be. Mainly because I struggle to accurately nail down what his true potential is. Could he be a legit starting guard on a good team? If not for his size I think that would be a resounding and quick - YES. Could he actually be a solid starting shooting guard in the NBA regardless of his size? Let’s take a look at projecting and comparing his offensive production…
As a 21-year-old player with three years NBA experience straight from high school he averaged 17.8 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.2 rpg, 1.6 spg, 2.4 tov, while shooting 42.4% FG, 35.9% 3pt FG and 78.3% FT on a per 36-minute scale. That would put Louis Williams very close to par with our current #1 option, Andre Iguodala and a player many Philly fans have mentioned they would like to see on the team, Monta Ellis. The biggest difference is in FG percentage, which begs the questions:
- Was Ellis’ 53% shooting a fluke or a sign of things to come?
- Is Williams actually capable of producing those numbers if given 36+ minutes per game?
- Is Lou capable of making just 1 more shot per 36-minutes which would dramatically increase his FG% (49.65%)?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, maybe you guys can assist. But what I am semi-worried about is whether Williams believes he is on par with a guy like Monta Ellis. Why? Well for one he will likely want to be a starter. Does Cheeks and Stefanski agree with that thought? Money. Barbosa made like $5.6M last year, and I expect Ellis will and should get more. So where does that put Louis Williams in his own mind? Will we have another contract rejection situation like we had with Iguodala? Do other teams see more potential in Williams and would they be willing to over bid what the Sixers are prepared to pay? Further, if Williams does remain with the team but is not satisfied with his role what potential impact could that have? Typically when players (especially young players) are not happy with their role, you start see team chemistry erode and a club not live up to their potential (think Chicago Bulls).
Again these are just thoughts to ponder, what else do we really have to do in the offseason!
Ultimately my personal preference would be for Louis Williams to be a 6th man and instant offense off the bench. I prefer to have size at the all positions in the starting line-up and make exceptions for freakish talent (Allen Iverson).
Next - Willie Green
See all players reviewed in the Evaluating the ‘07-’08 76ers Series
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6 comments ↓
[...] Louis Williams [...]
Dannie, Lou’s biggest contribution to last season was his scoring in the 4th in that Miller-Iggy-Williams backcourt. Mo went to that because they were our 3 best backcourt guys. I don’t think Lou was as impressive in other quarters.
But I think that with Thad’s emergence, Mo should consider a new approach to the 4th: Iggy is the mainstay of that backcourt, but he moves Miller, Williams and Thad in and out depending on the matchup.
I don’t think he should have this super-sub role. I think he should be considered a unique weapon of ours, that he can give you a huge advantage if used correctly, but will kill you if he’s not used correctly. I’m not saying people shouldn’t have roles, but that in this case, Lou shouldn’t.
Like if the Celtics throw Rondo, Pierce and Posey at you, there’s no way you counter with Miller-Williams-Iggy. Thad or Rodney has to be in the mix somehow, with either Miller or Williams taken out.
DANNIE: I see it the same way, as you know from my previous posts.
For now at least, Lou seems to be better suited for 6th man, high energy, instant offense off the bench role. We can amend a popular Zumoffism: “Sip it. It’s hot. It’s instant Williams.”
I do not see him taking over the point for us. The difference in our offense is very noticeable when Miller sits and Lou takes over. He has a shoot first mentality and doesn’t display the patience necessary to manage the offense.
Since he is so young, I’d love to keep him on the team and see how he progresses. I believe he can improve in the three areas you suggest and be a valuable contributor to the team.
In answer to Sixerzguy, just because I feel Lou is best suited to be our 6th man doesn’t mean he should be locked into that role. Using him correctly, as you say, means to me that he should get starts or play more minutes depending on the matchups each team presents. He certainly should be used as much as possible whenever and wherever his skills give us an advantage.
Although this doesn’t have anything to do with his passing or shot selection, etc…I can’t help wondering if he was suffering lingering aftereffects from his foot injury. It’s probably just me but he didn’t seem to fully recover and play at the same level he was before it happened.
If Lou isn’t going to play PG and miller isn’t staying, I see no reason to keep Lou. We would have to have a PG that can defend SGs like Miller in order to play Lou with him.
I think Lou has plenty of PG abilities. He can penetrate as well as just about anyone. He can shoot fairly well. He doesn’t turn the ball over a ton. He should follow the Tony Parker mold imo.
I see Lou as being a 19 and 6 PG down the road alla Parker shooting 45% from the field, but making up for it by getting to the line more and hitting more 3 pointers.
For next year? Same thing as this year for Lou assuming Miller is here.
Joe are you proposing Lou be the starting PG of the future for the Sixers? Are you cool with that idea?
I think Lou is developing into the point guard of our future. He isn’t there yet, but he is getting there. He improved so much this past year, and I am expecting to make another step forward this year. If you remember he had games last year where he would score at will but not set his teammates up very well. Then other games he would set teammates up well (especially his buddy Sammy D) but not score so well. I expect him to start combining the two more this year. So much so that I am predicting Miller gets traded at the deadline.
As far as his shooting % this is the way I see it. First he is a good shooter. He 3pt % is better because that is where he gets open looks. The 3s he takes are usually in the corner off a Miller/Igoudala assist. But his FGs are a whole different issue. He shots a lot of shots at the end of shot clocks, usually contested by a bigger defender. Hence a low %. Plus his shot selection can be a little sketchy at times; something I think will improve as he grows up.
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