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
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256 comments Add your comment
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:08 pm
Sorry Ra’mon. I borrowed your call sign by accident Sir.^^^^
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:16 pm
In football News: Coach Mike Smith has now lost 7 consecutive preseason games going back to the Jacksonville Jaguars 13-9 loss on [09-02-2010]..
Hey Coach, as you were saying? Superbowl or Bust?
ella
August 23rd, 2012
8:25 pm
Salute Ken Strickland!!! Ramon is a troll
Balance Is Key
August 23rd, 2012
8:29 pm
Northlied is the biggest liar and smear master ever. That what northcyde does is lies. Hence the name northlied. Notice he never put links to his stats for validation? He just talks pure blog s hit with no substance or fact.
Fire north lied now!!
ella
August 23rd, 2012
8:32 pm
Im sorry I had that backwards,
Salute !!! Ramon, Ken Strickland is a troll
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
8:39 pm
slip o’ the fingers, eh slim?
i_am_soulstar
August 23rd, 2012
8:40 pm
6th MOTY runner-up. Will get us to the free throw line, and he makes his free throws. Decent defender. 20+ PER. 15 million for 3 years.
I guess I could argue just for argument’s sake but I really don’t see what’s worth complaining about. Esp. when getting a guy who, barring injury, is probably gonna outplay his contract.
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:43 pm
More like a Brain fart Sautee!!!! LMAO!
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
8:44 pm
KenS, I hope you understand some people post things on here in a light mindedness to enjoy the conversation. Not every thing on here is serious or always meant to be taken literal. You used the family analogy. So I’ll use one in response to you. Are you familiar with the sentiment “no one picks on my brother but me?” Finding humor in your life, is the number one remedy for many ailments in life.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
8:46 pm
Slim which one do you think will happen first?
Falcons reach the Super Bowl or Hawks reach the ECF?
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
8:50 pm
Ra’mon, the Falcons DID reach the Super Bowl, remember? I suppose you meant win one.
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
8:51 pm
slim, you never answered my question:
Do you believe the lie that T-s is telling about Horford being “turned down” by 4 teams this summer?
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:52 pm
Hey will somebody ask Sautee a direct question please?
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:57 pm
That’s between you and your buddy! I’m staying out of it….
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
8:59 pm
Ra’mon
August 23rd, 2012
8:46 pm
Slim which one do you think will happen first?
Falcons reach the Super Bowl or Hawks reach the ECF?
Ra’mon, I know you meant present going forward with your question
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
9:10 pm
OK, slim, then please DO stay out of it. You know exactly what I’m referring to.
glw
August 23rd, 2012
9:12 pm
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.
****************************************************
@Ken Strickland
But under this scenario if you start Harris and Teague, that means you come off the bench with Lou and Morrow which would mean that Lou would essentially become the backup pg. Not sure that is the most ideal situation.
I guess though the 2nd unit would be pretty solid
pg- Lou
sg= Morrow/Jenkins
sf- Korver
pf- Ivan
c – Zaza
I guess Zaza and Ivan could grab all the rebounds and let Korver, Lou and Morrow/Jenkins get as many shots up as they can.
Slimjr
August 23rd, 2012
9:26 pm
And brilliant question indeed..
The Falcons are 4-10 against the winners. Past two seasons.
The Falcons have lost 7 straight preseason games going back to 2010.
They are 0-3 in the playoffs[ With Mattie ICE as the face of the Franchise] with a horrific beatdown, 0-points against a 27th ranked defense the Giants featured..
With Danny at the helm of his new look Hawks he will get there first..
Mattie Ice will be looking for a clip board soon…Mr. Blank is already shopping..
Yea we have seen this B4[The Melt downs].. Oh the Humanity…
ella
August 23rd, 2012
9:28 pm
Ken Strickland is gay.
Now on to basketball. Harris will be the starting point guard. Teague has been a project too long. Lou Will become the shooting guard with Teague and Morrow coming of the bench
Harris/Teague
William/Morrow.
Korver/Morrow
Josh/Ivan
Zaza/Hoford/ Ivan
Crickets
August 23rd, 2012
9:45 pm
Boy there where so many Al lovers like sautee that hated Josh because he was a better power foward than Al could ever be, then last year after a working hard in the off-season Josh talents and potential came shinning through. Now All the Al lovers who have a special hate for Josh because he is better than Al are making sounds like crickets. Thats what we hear from the Al loving josh haters….
crickets…crickets… crickets…
Crickets
August 23rd, 2012
9:47 pm
**
there were
steven a smith
August 23rd, 2012
9:48 pm
I do like Al coming off the bench. He could put up 6th man of the year kind of “Nimbers” coming off the benc(25-30 minutes)
steven a smith
August 23rd, 2012
9:56 pm
I wish some of these Al Horford lovers would sell Dominique Wilkens some suits and try and try to collect the money(LMAO).
Ken Strickland
August 23rd, 2012
9:59 pm
Who ever you are “ella” you are wrong. I am no longer gay. I quit that almost 2 years ago. But I guess you are, or how else would you know about that?
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:09 pm
You will not find a post where I’m hating on Josh. But someone’s agenda would like it to be so.
I think Josh is by far the best PF on the Hawks. I’ve never wavered from that position, despite the efforts of some to paint me differently. I’m one of the few who believes that the Hawks can prosper with Josh at the 4 and Al at the 5. I’d LOVE to see what a top flight coach could do with the two of them playing a high-low set. Both good passers who make good decisions.
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
10:17 pm
Al is a piece of crap sautee and you everyone knows that Josh is not only the best power forward on this team, hes one of the very best in the NBA. You are just linking Al’s name with his to help Al. Al sucks and needs to be cut or traded. We are tried of the same ol Al same ol results. Stop trying to piggy back Josh’s success with Al’s injury prone non performances. Yes, you are one of the few who doesn’t want Al traded or cut. He will help the hawks best like slimjr said, coming off the bench. -
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:21 pm
Something tells me that wasn’t Ra’mon at 10:17.
ella
August 23rd, 2012
10:21 pm
Sautee you are hating on Josh by reducing him to Al’s level of performance. That’s covert hating.
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:22 pm
Hey, T-s, did you find the link yet?
Ra'mon
August 23rd, 2012
10:25 pm
I don’t think that’s sautee at 10:21 pm. its probably one of them undercover trolls lurking around like they do.
Which troll are you sautee?
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:26 pm
Im a fake link troll who will whoop your as s
ella
August 23rd, 2012
10:29 pm
Dayyeem
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:33 pm
This is my final post of the evening. Have a good one, T-s, and find that link, if you can, that shows me that I’m wrong about your lying story of Horford being turned down by 4 teams.
As I said, find it , and I’ll apologize to you and the blog for saying you lied.
Will you apologize if there IS no link?
Also, that was not me at 10:26
Sautee
August 23rd, 2012
10:41 pm
I will deny always that the hawks were trying to trade Al Horford.
I heart Al and Al heart me.
ella
August 23rd, 2012
10:44 pm
Sautee Al horford’s name came up often in trade discussions this past summer, Michael Cunningham admitted as much.
Oh thats right. You arent really sautee, you are one of them trolls.
willSmith
August 23rd, 2012
11:45 pm
Billy Knight loved long 6-8 wing players, Danny Ferry loves ‘I’ll shoot if I’m sort of open’ 6-3 guards. Maybe if we need a Billy Ferry or a Danny Knight as our GM
JOSH IS BEAST
August 24th, 2012
2:37 am
wtf …number 1 or 2 in east. …period ..
vava74
August 24th, 2012
3:42 am
Rod:
“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.”
That an OUTRIGHT nonsense from you yet again.
Jamal has BETTER TOTALS simply because he PLAYED MORE MINUTES ON LOTTERY BOUND TEAMS.
PER MINUTE stats are perfectly valid for comparison when the sample is big enough.
Lou has been posting consistently better numbers than Jamal whilst playing for a playoff team.
A differential between .400 and .420 in FG% is HUGE in the NBA.
Also, Lou gets to the line more than Jamal making his usage production much higher.
Jamal only had ONE really good season, his first with us, which was from an offensive point of view, outstanding and really deserving of praise.
His second – maybe due to LD’s insistence that he played PG – was already going down and last year in Portland was pure cr@p (PG minutes cannot justify how bad he played).
As for your overall disregard about advanced stats, why don’t you join Sund and the rest of the ASG retreads and retire?
Ferry is coming in and setting up an analytics department like ALL successful franchises. I guess that all those franchises are wrong when they resort to advanced stats…
vava74
August 24th, 2012
4:04 am
Rod,
About Jamal’s contract: it was more or less evident that Jamal had in mind a salary figure and a number of contract years which was not matched by anyone in the league.
He was one of the last free agents to get signed last year. That is a pretty direct consequence of his expectations not being realistic.
You mention that his role as a sub made his stock drop in relation to him being a starter. Again, that is pure cr@p.
Jamal had is best season as a sixth man just the year prior to his free agency, so his stock should be at a high point.
The reality is that Jamal’s age and track record as a particularly bad defender made his stock drop to the realistic level for which he ended up signing with POR.
Again, I ALWAYS said that a player like Jamal is useful in a roster, but IMO with his defensive ineptitude his role should be diminished to about 20/25mpg rather than 30+.
My expectations of Lou are realistic, although I am convinced that he has more “team success” in his mind than Jamal in spite of his gunner mentality AND additionally I am very happy with the fact that he is YOUNG and from the ATL.
On a per minute basis (with a decent enough sample, playing for a playoff team during the past 3 seasons) Lou has posted better FTA per minute, better Assists per minute, better Rebounds per minute, better (less) turnovers per minute – and improving every year – better steals per minute, better Blocks per minute, all whilst shooting overall from the field 5% better (differential between .400 and .420).
Is this per minute advantage derived from playing less minutes and having a lesser responsibility than Jamal had in lottery teams?
Perhaps. I am not saying that stats tell all, merely that we have reasons to think that Lou’s game is going up and that Jamal’s game is going down.
The harsh reality is that Jamal has been traded left and right from team to team and never made a positive impact on any of his stops with the exception of the Hawks were he found a team which had already made it to the playoffs two years in a row.
Lou, on the contrary, was a MAIN FACTOR in PHI’s playoff bound seasons. He had a positive impact on his team’s success, so that should be also a factor to be considered.
Finally, Lou comes in @ 5 million per, making him an affordable and promising gunner, rather than a retread going down as the Clippers IMO will find out.
Wanna do an over/under “virtual wage” on his FG%? I say that he will not shoot better than .415 this coming year, Paul or no Paul by his side.
Buddy Grizzard
August 24th, 2012
5:17 am
Or, to put it another way, vava, who has a better chance of making an All-Star team this year, Lou or JC1?
vava74
August 24th, 2012
6:04 am
Buddy,
My guess is neither has any real chance, but there is a glimpse of possibility that Lou does whilst Jamal has zero chance IMO.
It’s not out of this world to conjecture that – eventually due to an injury – Lou is pushed into a bigger role and averages 20+ points and gets selected.
However, I don’t think it will happen. I think it is more likely that with an extended role Lou may shoot worse shots and become less efficient.
Mike is Back
August 24th, 2012
8:37 am
MC, with your previous stint with Miami…I know you are sitting back chuckling about the comparison of the Hawks current roster…which is a work in progress…to the Miami HEAT…very funny.lol
There will easily be four or five teams that could finish from 4th to 8th end the East…and the Hawks will be one of them…you want hear Miami mention in that category.
However, like everyone else…really really looking forward to upcoming season for HAWKS…Danny has given me a reason to believe…JOSH is my guy…and I think he can give us BETWEEN 25- 30 points a game…THAT’S of course when he is dialed in.
GO DANNY GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Buddy Grizzard
August 24th, 2012
9:03 am
“I think it is more likely that with an extended role Lou may shoot worse shots and become less efficient.”
Well, think about this. Lou Williams has never played with an offensive player as good as Josh Smith OR Al Horford. There was a lot of pressure on Williams to score baskets because the 76ers were so offensively challenged.
As a Hawk, none of that pressure is there. In fact, Williams will have an easier time scoring as a Hawk because opposing defenses won’t be able to focus as much attention on him as they did when he was the leading scorer for the 76ers. In addition, Josh and Al are both excellent passers for their position.
To top it all off, Joe Johnson and his 18ppg are gone. There is a void in perimeter scoring waiting to be filled, and Williams is the most qualified player to fill it. So if Lou Williams can lead his team in scoring as the primary option without a good secondary option, what do you think he can do as the third option with less attention from the defense?
Dreamin
August 24th, 2012
9:16 am
“MC, with your previous stint with Miami…I know you are sitting back chuckling about the comparison of the Hawks current roster…which is a work in progress…to the Miami HEAT…very funny.lol”
“Stupid is as stupid does”
As the World turns
August 24th, 2012
9:19 am
Does not Miami have two active future Hall of Fame players on their roster.
vava74
August 24th, 2012
10:14 am
Buddy,
“Well, think about this. Lou Williams has never played with an offensive player as good as Josh Smith OR Al Horford. There was a lot of pressure on Williams to score baskets because the 76ers were so offensively challenged.”
I disagree.
Although I am a Josh fan and was a proponent of the “make Josh #1 option on offense” in order to test him on a “make or break” strategy to either allow him to take that next step into stardom or fail and allow him to realize that he is better suited as supporting player, the reality is that:
A) That test was not done, so I am not yet sure if Josh can be consistently effective as option #1.
B) I don’t think Al is ANYWHERE close to being a legit #2 option on offense now that JJ and all the heat (double and triple teams) he attracted is gone.
If anything, Lou will have to be the focus of our offense for stretches in order to do precisely what JJ did (with the advantage that get gets to the line) which was to attract defenses and allow limited offensive players (like Al) good clean shots.
So we are talking about Lou having to be during at least a substantial portion of his minutes on the floor the #1 option and at worse a high usage #2.
KevinM
August 24th, 2012
10:27 am
We are about to see what type of player Lou Williams is and I think we are going to be very pleased with the results. I see him increasing his minutes and he will be able to match Joe’s numbers easily based on him increasing his FTAs with his minutes. Its hard to fathom he goes to the line far more often than Joe did.
I think a Josh/Teague/Al/Lou/Zaza combination could be a good one to match up with other teams. I pick Stevenson as our 6th man if we don’t make any more roster moves and we deal with LD’s fair-share offense.
KevinM
August 24th, 2012
10:36 am
Having Al’s name or anyone else’s name coming up in trade talks is a no brainer. If your guys aren’t being discussed, then they have no value.
Every one of our guys’ names should be in some form of trade discussions.
vava74
August 24th, 2012
10:39 am
Buddy,
Al’s offensive game is limited:
1. Set shots from elbow and baseline (I would say, accounting for at least 45% of his offense);
2. Pick ‘n pop shots (about 15% of his offense)
3. Put-backs, dunks and lay ups when trailing fast breaks or off quick offense (about 20% of his buckets);
4. Driving jump hooks and other post moves (about 15% of his buckets)
5. Pick ‘n roll dunks (about 5% of his buckets)
IMO, his pick n pop action is still a tad too slow due to his release
And he has also suffered from not being the beneficiary of sufficiently competent PG play – Bibby was a good pick n roll PG but he was getting so slow that defenses often simply had their big men switching on him since most (if not virtually all) big men in the league were able to keep in front of him, so the pick n roll and pick n pop plays were often disrupted.
vava74
August 24th, 2012
10:41 am
Horford’s offense during 2010/11:
http://www.82games.com/1011/10ATL13.HTM
67% of his buckets came off jump shots.
These jump shots were – in the vast majority – the result of ball movement and double and triple teams being sent to cover JJ, Jamal and Josh.