Atlanta Hawks: Finding a good fit for Lou Williams
New team, good fit? (Photo: Scott Cunningham, NBAE/Getty Images)
The Hawks will have to work out the Jeff Teague-Devin Harris backcourt (assuming it stays that way if/when Danny Ferry is done making trades). They need a true wing player, too.
But I’m most intrigued to see how Lou Williams fits. He’s a very effective scorer but, if he’s going to remain in a role similar to the one he filled in Philly, he may need to play alongside either Harris or Teague.
“I was off the ball [in Philadelphia], I would prefer to be off the ball, and I think both of those guys [Teague and Harris] are on the ball,” Williams said. “So I don’t think it will be an issue as much as people think it is. Once we open up camp I’m sure Coach [Larry] Drew will do a good job in figuring out where everyone is going to go.”
I can’t see any reason why the Hawks would want Williams to change up his game. What’s not to like?
For three seasons Williams was the best kind of bench scorer for the Sixers: high usage, high production and good-to-reasonable efficiency while playing just 26.3 minutes per game. He did all of that while helping the Sixers defensively.
Williams is aggressive and quick, which should help the Hawks play faster. He’s tough and fearless. Heck, Williams even has pretty good flow on the mic.
But he’s better making something happen off the dribble.
“More attacking than catch-and-shoot,” Williams said. “Actually catch-and-shoot is one of the things I’ve been able to work on this whole summer. Coming down in transition and catching the ball and shooting, instead of catching and trying to create so much off the dribble.”
Williams may prefer to play off the ball but it’s not as if he can’t play the point.
According to Synergy Sports Technology, Williams used 30 percent of his possessions in 2011-12 as the screen-roll ballhandler and scored .94 points per possession (19th in the league) while drawing fouls 11 percent of the time on those plays. Last season, screen-roll ballhandler was Williams’ most-frequent play type used and second-most efficient behind spot-ups (12 percent of possessions used, .96 points per possession). Williams posted similar numbers in 2010-11 and 2009-10.
Williams’ career assist rate is low (though higher than Joe Johnson’s) but his turnover rate is ridiculously low. That’s particularly impressive because of Williams’ willingness to create contact; not many guards get to the free-throw line as effectively as Williams, and he’s made free throws at better than 81 percent for three consecutive seasons.
Williams said he patterned his game after former Sixers teammate Allen Iverson.
“The whole time you are in the game be aggressive and don’t take plays off,” Williams said. “I think that’s one of the things I learned from A.I. Watching him, he didn’t take plays off. He always took contact, initiated it and he didn’t shy away from it being a small guard.”
Williams also attributes his foul magnetism to a nifty ball fake: “I got that from Andre Miller. He’s got one of the best pump fakes in the world.”
Perhaps Williams can run the point for the second unit and just focus on scoring. As mentioned, he’s very effective playing off screens and he’s also a very good isolation player: his Synergy efficiency league ranks on those plays the past three seasons were 61st, 49th, and 30th. Williams’ isolations aren’t the ball-stopping kind.
If Williams plays more minutes for the Hawks than he did for the Sixers, it will be interesting to see if he can remain an efficient, impact scorer even with a lower usage rate (probable if he plays a lot of minutes with the starters).
“In the past, in Philadelphia my role was to come in the game and just light it up and score as many points as I possibly could,” Williams said. “Talking to Coach Drew and talking to Danny I think my role will be similar, if not increased. Obviously you have Devin [and] you have Jeff, who are very talented guards, and then you add myself into that mode.
“I have always been a team player, a team guy. I don’t plan on coming in here competing with these guys negatively. I think we all can contribute.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
256 comments Add your comment
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
1:21 pm
VALVA74-If you want to continue believing our backcourt has no chance of holding their own and defending their positions, then be my guest. The loss of JJ seems to have affected you tremendously, along with some others. I don’t care how tall or short our backcourt is as long as they take advantage of their attributes to compensate for their liabilities. That’s what good players and teams do, and we have our share of good players.
As it stands, Ferry doesn’t seem to think the size of our backcourt is as much of an issue as some of you. Can you guess who I put my faith in on this matter?
Just Joe
August 23rd, 2012
1:21 pm
The Nets included Stevenson in order to match salaries. By holding all of their free agents’ rights, they were over the cap (same situation Atlanta will be in next summer until they start renouncing free agents or their free agents sign elsewhere), and therefore they had to get within roughly $5M of Joe’s $20M salary in order to make it work. I think the free agents that could have been involved were Stevenson, Green, James, & Shelden. Green wasn’t going to take a one-year deal (he ended up with 3 guaranteed yrs & $10M), and who’s value is closer to the $2.3M needed (Stevenson, Shelden, or the injured/unproven James)? Stevenson was coming off of a $2.5M salary, and knew that the vet minimum was his only option if he didn’t take the deal, so he took it. Stevenson was not targeted by the Hawks, he was just the closest guy to the number $2.3M.
Just Joe
August 23rd, 2012
1:23 pm
We’ll know where Ferry stands on this roster in about 3 weeks, when the players we acquired in the JJ & Marvin trades become eligible to be packaged and shipped off. Isn’t it 60 days that you have to wait?
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
1:41 pm
The Hawks need Sancho Little to play SF for them, lol.
Seriously though, would anyone be against a possible Morrow for Vince Carter trade? Vince has two years left a $3 mil per season. But the second year is a team option. Carter instantly becomes the team starting SF.
A starting line up of Teague – Jenkins (I still say start the rookie) – Carter – Josh – Al, would be a formidable line up. Or keep Morrow and trade Korver for Carter.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
1:51 pm
I actually would be for signing Tracy AND trading for Vince. Vince could start at the SF. And Tracy on the second unit would allow you to have Tracy run point on offense, with Lou and Jenkins in the backcourt. So Lou would be able to guard the opposing PG. But on offense, he’s still able to play off the ball. The lineups would be:
Starters : Teague – Harris – Carter – Josh – Al
Bench : Lou – Jenkins – TMac – Ivan – Zaza
Reserves: Petro, Jordan, Korver
KevinM
August 23rd, 2012
2:03 pm
60 days, and I agree with Truth….what we got back for Joe was garbage.
The nYets came out of that deal in fine shape.
I know the Magic got a worse tradeoff on that deal, but had the Hawks not picked up Lou, you are looking at a thin roster with few options.
I don’t like the Korver for 5M move either; he might be better than Hinrich, but not by much. I hope he gets a lot of open looks.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
2:15 pm
The Kings are moving to Virginia Beach.
Astro Joe
August 23rd, 2012
2:24 pm
Marc J. Spears: Ex-Kings forward Donte Greene has agreed in principle to sign a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, a source tells Yahoo! Sports. Twitter
Brooklyn Nets, Donte Greene | share
Net Daily: Nets Invite Donte Greene To Camp. Deal is NON-guaranteed, say league sources. Twitter
Ball Hawk
August 23rd, 2012
2:24 pm
Sounds like Lou’s a team player,Can always use a good Team player!After next years draft I think Ferrys gonna take the Hawks to the next level! Go Hawks Go
O'Brien
August 23rd, 2012
2:29 pm
Ra’mon,
I would stay away from Vince for 2 reasons;
1) He is not a legit SF.
2) He has a guaranteed $3 mil contract for 2013. I would like to maintain as much cap space as possible for next offseason
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
2:36 pm
O’B, Vince 2013 season is a TEAM OPTION. So its not guaranteed. Also, Vince is a legit 6′6 player who played SF a lot in Dallas and Orlando, as well as Phoenix. I’m saying if that’s the best you can do with Morrow or Korver’s contract, I would take it. Not to mention, Vince has always been a class act.
O'Brien
August 23rd, 2012
2:36 pm
Northcyde,
I think Morrow will be traded before the season starts for a small forward. And after that, I think the guards who will get the most minutes are Teague, Harris, Williams, and JJ2. Stevenson is expiring and probably does not fit in the Hawks plans for 2013. Therefore, his PT will be inconsistent and situational (imo).
On average, I think the more consistent breakdown will be something like:
PG minutes: Teague – 28, Harris 16, Lou 4
SG minutes: JJ2 – 18, Lou – 24 – Harris – 6
KevinM
August 23rd, 2012
2:38 pm
I would prefer more than offense at the 3. We are already defensive challenged in the backcourt. You gotta get a defender in there somewhere, but if you just start Josh there, then what you’re really looking for is a guy who will give you 10 min/game. So that role is not a big difference in the current roster.
Astro Joe
August 23rd, 2012
2:41 pm
If there is talk of Devin starting (which is how I have interpreted some of MC’s comments), then that is further going to dilute the minutes for Jenkins. He now gets to play behind Harris, Lou AND potentially Morrow. And don’t forget that Korver will likely get SG minutes as well (if for no other reason than to keep him away from SFs). The strange thing is that we have potentially 3 lethal shooters with Morrow, Korver and Jenkins, and it may be very, very challenging to have any two of them on the floor at the same time.
KevinM
August 23rd, 2012
2:42 pm
OB, Stevenson, like Josh, Petro, Harris, Teague, Williams, Morrow, Korver and Zaza are all playing for new contracts. Throw LD in there as well.
This team had better play balls-2-the-wall the entire season.
And I see Miami is after Josh Harrellson……that would be a good move for them.
I think Danny is missing a good opp here.
KevinM
August 23rd, 2012
2:44 pm
This year’s Jenkins is going to be a mirror image of what JT got in ‘09.
Jenkins has little chance to impress LD. LD will play mind games with the rooks more than he will with the nYet rejects.
O'Brien
August 23rd, 2012
2:47 pm
Ra’mon,
With his salary being a team option next year, that does make it more acceptable to me. But although he has played SF in the past, I still think of him as a SG (maybe its all in my head).
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
2:52 pm
O’B, its like Q. Richardson says, “A wing is a wing.” I’m just looking at who may be available for the pieces we have without taking on more years in contract.
northcyde
August 23rd, 2012
2:54 pm
Rod from College Park
August 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
northcyde,
So who is a better defender right now, Lou Williams Or Devin Harris? I am telling you that no matter what the fake number say, Devin Harris is a much better defender than Lou Williams.
************************
You need to subscribe to Synergy then, because Devin looked TERRIBLE on defense last year. At least Lou tries to recover after he’s out of position and contest shots. Devin gets beat and just stands there.
Lou was a much better man to man defender last year. Harris looked like Bibby with some of his close outs. And on pick and rolls, it’s like he doesn’t know what’s coming, despite that being the defensive play that he’s involved in about 50% of the time
Nothing “fake” about those numbers. They are what they are. Lou will be fine if he has to defend PGs. Hopefully, Devin will be better if he has to defend SGs.
Rod from College Park
August 23rd, 2012
3:13 pm
“You need to subscribe to Synergy then, because Devin looked TERRIBLE on defense last year. At least Lou tries to recover after he’s out of position and contest shots. Devin gets beat and just stands there.”
Sure. I’ll go out and subscribe today. LOL
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
3:16 pm
Guys, I actually wouldn’t mind if the Hawks renounced the rights to Ivan. I probably would prefer to have Benson (on a non guarantee contract) over Ivan.
Just Joe
August 23rd, 2012
3:32 pm
Ra’mon….not me. I will be very disappointed if Ivan isn’t back this year. It’s very refreshing in today’s NBA to see a guy play with his hustle & passion. He’s not the most skilled guy, and certainly he has some issues controlling his emotions, but he took Benson’s lunch money in camp last year & he’ll do it again this year. The guy is fearless. We need that. I’m hoping we find the SF version of Ivan soon.
Ray
August 23rd, 2012
3:40 pm
Man how about just waiting and seeing as far as I’m concerned with Lou Williams it’s always him and Iggy that get a lot of credit for most of the 76ers wins these pass couple of seasons.
Honestly with the rest of the cast we got again it’s a wait and see we don’t know what anyone can give us look at last year before Ivan became 9 to 5 or Ivan the Terrible everyone was like “MAN BAD ATTITUDE AND GOT KICKED OUT EQUAL BAD PLAYER!”
Then as they say the rest is history.
I’ll go this far I’d take Lou over Crawford right now and maybe even a few seasons ago.
Rod from College Park
August 23rd, 2012
3:59 pm
“I’ll go this far I’d take Lou over Crawford right now and maybe even a few seasons ago.”
Has nothing to do with who you would take. Jamal over his career has been better at what he does than Lou. There is no debating that. The question is how can you love Lou Williams, and hate Jamal Crawford? It makes no common sense. Lou is a smaller version of Jamal, but Jamal for his career is bettter in almost every statistical category except FG% (40% to 42%). They are the same guy eexcept Jamal has produced more over his career than Lou has so far. It’s these dummies here who bashed Jamal, but then seem to be so happy that we got Lou Williams that make no sense.
tony
August 23rd, 2012
4:22 pm
I think Lou William is the craftiest young scorer in the nba and Danny Ferry knows what the hell he is doing.
DS
August 23rd, 2012
4:26 pm
Trade idea: Devin Harris + Stephenson for Stephen Jackson ($10MM expiring) and sign a cheap backup PG
DS
August 23rd, 2012
4:29 pm
Then we have a lineup of JT0, Jenkins, Jax, Smoove, Lion. Give Jenkins the starting role for about 15 min a game and Lou coming in as the 6th man with 25+ min.
Grandad
August 23rd, 2012
4:35 pm
Teaguer, Lou, Harris = all the same player.
Harris = a little more natural pg, + better running pick & roll.
-note-
*(DH played @ Wisconsin / where one plays def or they don`t play at`all)
Post inj [Harris]; = Lou probably a slightly better defender [now].
However; the difference between the three of them [defensively],
is negligible.
-note-
We have 3 solid, quick, defenders @ the [1] -&- [2] positions.
Also, John Jenkins *’`will`’* play more as a rook than did Teague.
Rest assured; unless he is a bust, Mr Ferry will see to it.
LD will not be given a choice.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
4:38 pm
DS, Jackson would eat LD alive. lol.
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
4:47 pm
JJ, Marvin, and Jamal are no longer with the Hawks and they aren’t coming back, so some of you need to move on. Either you’re making an issue of the players we do have, or you’re whinning over players we once had. I will be sooo glad when we can make trades with the players we got in the JJ and Marvin trades. That way we’ll know what we really have, although some will still find something negative to complain about.
Astro Joe
August 23rd, 2012
5:09 pm
Strickland, Bibby has been gone from the Hawks for 3 years and you are still traumatized by his last few months here. Surely, you are not telling other bloggers to “move on”.
O'Brien
August 23rd, 2012
5:14 pm
Question for the blog;
Over the last 2 years, how many times have you seen Harris or Lou Williams play? Personally, I haven’t seen enough of their games to comment on who is the better defender right now, and I haven’t been reading Sixers or Jazz blogs.
I think we’ll be forced to wait and see how they do defensively, given the different stages of their career.
Astro Joe
August 23rd, 2012
5:18 pm
OB, not to mention that we’re not exactly debating Michael Cooper vs. Shane Battier here… more like Flip Murray vs. Jamal Crawford. Really, does it even matter?
Just Joe
August 23rd, 2012
5:32 pm
NBA rookies were polled on who was the best shooter in the draft. 48.6% said John Jenkins. Next highest vote getter received 16% of the votes. There were a lot of SG’s in this draft.
glw
August 23rd, 2012
5:46 pm
How does Lou fit? That is a good question. If he were 6′4, the question would be so much easier to answer, but his size (or lack thereof) causes matchup concerns for the Hawks.
As it stands we have 6 potential guards in our rotation……Teague, Harris, Lou, Morrow, Jenksins, and Stevenson.
I have concerns…..If Teague and Harris is the starting backcourt, and assuming Lou comes off the bench first, who is he coming in for? Teague or Harris? I suspect simply because at times you have to have your best players on the floor, then Lou and Teague will have to play at least a handful of minutes on the floor together, but Lou is only 6′1, so if Im LD, I limit there minutes as much as possible. For matchup purposes, it might be easier to pair Teague in the starting backcourt with Morrow/Jenkins. this would allow Lou to get majority of his minutes on the floor with Devin and the 2nd team. Harris is bigger than Teague and seems the most capable to check shooting guards.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
August 23rd, 2012
5:50 pm
Hawks going to the Eastern Conference Finals
BIG IVAN FOR PRESIDENT
Rod from College Park
August 23rd, 2012
5:55 pm
“Strickland, Bibby has been gone from the Hawks for 3 years and you are still traumatized by his last few months here. Surely, you are not telling other bloggers to “move on”.”
First time we have ever agreed.
steven a smith
August 23rd, 2012
5:56 pm
Anyone who “thinks”that Al Horford is a good fit at “Center” in the NBA, needs Drug Testing or a breathalizer, or “Both”. These Bloggers need to “move on” and come to the realization that there will be “NO CHAMPINSHIP” run in Atlanta as long as Al Horford is your starting “5.”
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
August 23rd, 2012
6:11 pm
Big Lineup
Teague
Morrow
Smoove
Horford
Zaza
Harris
Lou williams/Jenkins
Stephenson/Korver
Big Ivan
Petro/Benson
steven a smith
August 23rd, 2012
6:11 pm
DS
August 23rd, 2012
4:26 pm
Trade idea: Devin Harris + Stephenson for Stephen Jackson ($10MM expiring) and sign a cheap backup PG
Al Horford and DeShawn Stephenson for Stephen Jackson and DeJuan Blair could work even better!
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
August 23rd, 2012
6:12 pm
“Al Horford and DeShawn Stephenson for Stephen Jackson and DeJuan Blair could work even better!”
Bath Salt post
steven a smith
August 23rd, 2012
6:35 pm
What’s wrong with this trade idea Worldwide?
pointguardslim
August 23rd, 2012
6:57 pm
“Defensive, Offensive Rebounding aka What wins Championships Lineup
Teague
Morrow
Smoove
Horford
Zaza
Harris
Lou williams/Jenkins
Stephenson/Korver
Big Ivan
Petro/Benson”
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
7:00 pm
ASTRO JOE-I never thought you’d run out of things to talk about, otherwise how would you explain saying something about me that’s simply not true. I haven’t mentioned nor thought about Bibby in any capacity in yrs, and you know that. You simply had to get a dig in at me so you made up BS.
Then we have our one man crusader for Jamal Crawford chime in to support you lie. It makes you wonder, who’s the biggest fool, the fool, or the fool that agrrees with the fool.
DS
August 23rd, 2012
7:43 pm
Ramon that’s the idea.
Steven a Smith was that a joke?
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
7:44 pm
Ken, maybe we are all fools for being fans of an organizations that hasn’t brought up a championship in over 4 decades. lol.
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
7:56 pm
RA’MON-Maybe that’s the way you see yourself, but that’s not the way I see myself. I love the gm of basketball, and the Hawks don’t have to win an NBA title to continue getting my support, although that would be an extremely nice accomplishment. To me, that attitude is like saying your kid is a failure, or you decided to stop loving them just because he or she didn’t reach your expectations by getting all As, or getting a PHD, or becoming the CEO of a corporation.
I’M NOT A BANDWAGON JUMPER, and I certainly won’t make a habit of always taking a negative minded approach to the team and its players.
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
8:00 pm
Some of our so called fans seem to develop unnatural love affairs or extreme dislikes for certain players, and that’s about all they can contribute. You can’t hate the tree without hating the roots of the tree.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
8:06 pm
“Ken, maybe we are all fools for being fans of an organizations that hasn’t brought up a championship in over 4 decades. lol.” -Ra’mon-
Ra’mon, it will be 45 years in april 2013 to be exact.. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep this up we’ll maybe waiting as long as Methuselah… heh, heh, heh….
That’s why it pays to be a NBA fan 1st and foremost…
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
8:06 pm
I don’t see AMorrow beating out DHarris for the starting PG position. Morrow is basically a one trick pony, which is shooting 3s. He doesn’t penetrate well, and has poor ball handling and passing skills. DHarris is an above average 3pt shooter, excellent ball handler, passer, penetrator, and facilitator. Morrow would be better suited coming off the bench with LWilliams.