Willie Should Start at PG Over Lou Will

[RickyPryor]

Bottom line is that Willie hasn't demonstrated that he can do more for the team than he has, and he was given the opportunity.  Lou deserves his shot.

Last year Lou played 100 more minutes than did Willie.  And so he was, in fact, given "a shot".

Anyway, the fact remains: Willie shot a better percentage (from everywhere on the court) and had less than half the number of turnovers.  That's big for me.

I think people get an impression in their heads and never let it go.  A few years back Willie was a ball hog.  A huge ball hog.

I didn't see that last year; I really didn't.

What I did see was a much improved player on both ends.  His defense is, without a doubt, far superior to Lou's.  No question about it.

Look - starting isn't everything.  But Willie is a better fit TO start than Little Lou (ie. via his 'd', better decision-making and experience).  And Lou would be WAY better than Willie coming off the bench.  Why does no one admit THAT?

Look, I've never said Willie was good...just a better choice to start at the 1.

[rickortreat]

100 minutes more in a season works out to be less than 2 min. per game.  Also Lou handles the ball much more than Willie so you'd expect his TO's to be higher.

I'll even agree that Willie is a better defender, but he's not an explosive scorer, and he doesn't have the ability to break down a defender off the dribble.  When I think about a point, my primary focus is offense, not defense. I think Lou will terrorize other teams. They will be so worried about having to stop his penetration (much the way Iverson used to) that they're defense will break down and the Sixers will be able to score in the half-court.

Seriously, if you could convince me that Willie could initiate the offense better, I'd agree with you, but unless Willie can shoot in the the high 40% range from outside, he can't.

[RickyPryor]

100 minutes more in a season works out to be less than 2 min. per game. 

You're the one who brought up playing time.

he's not an explosive scorer, and he doesn't have the ability to break down a defender off the dribble. 

Thankfully, these are not necessary traits of an effective PG.

When I think about a point, my primary focus is offense,

What you should adopt as your primary focus is the ability to get the ball in the best position to score. 


 

[Thad_Young_FTW]

And Willie Green has, with the exception of 2004 failed to show those qualities. 

Willie Green is a chucker, and a terrible shooter at that. Willie at the PG is a disaster waiting to happen. 

Lou has shown he can make some plays.   Luckily, with Brand, Iggy, Thad ahead of him Lou doesn't have to do too much. 

Lou will be fine, alot better then that chucker.

[RickyPryor]

And Willie Green has, with the exception of 2004 failed to show those qualities. 

Willie Green is a chucker, and a terrible shooter at that. Willie at the PG is a disaster waiting to happen. 

Lou has shown he can make some plays.   Luckily, with Brand, Iggy, Thad ahead of him Lou doesn't have to do too much. 

Lou will be fine, alot better then that chucker.

psssst.


Lou Will took 200 more shots than Willie did last year.

[Thad_Young_FTW]

At least Lou either makes them or goes to the free throw line.

How many 2-8, 0 assist statlines can you stand?

Willie Green, half the time or more is a terrible player that should be relegated to the bench. 

Let me put it this way: Jrue Holiday, right now is a better player then Willie Green. Because that ain't saying much. 

[RickyPryor]

At least Lou makes them

Psssst.  Again.


Willie has a higher FG%.

[Thad_Young_FTW]

He shot a "career" high 43 percent, his career percentage is 41 percent and as for Lou Williams:

Lou Williams shot "39.8" rounding up to 40 percent.

Here's the thing: Lou gets to the line and/or makes the occassional 3.

Willie Green is terrible, he's the Anti Jamal Crawford. Whereas Crawford can get hot and can make a difference, Green chucks to be decent.

Green is terrible, awful. As a 2 guard, and as a one is a joke that only YOU consider. 

[RickyPryor]

Here's the thing: Lou gets to the line and/or makes the occassional 3.

Willie shoots a better 3 %.  Still not sure, however, how either of these skills translate to the PG spot...but okee dokee.

Green is terrible, awful. As a 2 guard, and as a one is a joke that only YOU consider. 

Now now.  Don't be rude.

So Willie is a joke...yet Lou's never played the position.  Gotcha.

Let me ask you:  which guy is better off the bench?

[rickortreat]

It's pretty clear that Eddie Jordan has decided that the starters are Sam, Elton, Thad, Iguodala and Williams and that the 2nd team is Speights, Smith, Carney, Kappono and Green.  It is still early in the Sixers camp, but I sort of expect this to be the way it will be when the season starts.

So while it appears Willie will be pushed out of the starting position, he's still going to be the first or 2nd guard off the bench, unless Holiday or Ivey can beat him out. Now Eddie being a new coach has no favorites. He needs to get the team winning and he's going to put the best players out there to do that. If Willie is still subbing in as the first or second guard, that tells you that Eddie thinks he's a pretty good player, at least compared with the other players on the roster.

A lot of people say nasty things about Willie Green, but the truth is that he still manages to outplay everyone for minutes except two players on the roster. Considering that the Sixers do a good job of judging talent and draft and bring guards into camp every season, that shows that Willie has something going for him.

But if he can't beat out Lou for the starting spot, that also tells you where he stands. If Eddie thought the team would be better off with him starting, he would be in that spot.

[RickyPryor]

All true.  But I do think the only reason Lou would start (and not strengthen our bench, which I'd like to see) is because they want to continue to build for the future.

Lou's here for good.  And they need to figure out how to use him.

Their feelings just differ from mine is all.

If Eddie thought the team would be better off with him starting, he would be in that spot.

Well...since Eddie is as mediocre a coach as you'll find...this might actually support MY argument.  I believe we'll all eventually wish Eddie did the opposite of everything he'll be doing. 

[rickortreat]

Ok, NOW you're scaring me! If Eddie really is a mediocre coach, we're going to be in for a bad time.

Honestly, I don't know anything about Eddie as a coach other than that he hasn't been very successful anywhere. It's hard to know if it's the coach or the players until the coach has been around long enough to make the team his own. He did seem to do some good things in Washington, WHEN his players were healthy.

I do like his take on offense in the NBA and think the Princeton is an ideal offense for breaking down opposing defenses.  I also like his emphasis on defense as this plays to the Sixers' obvious strengths.

Since he has the roster as I would do, I can't criticize anything thus far.  I used to be a Maverick fan back when Dick Motta was their coach, talk about mediocre! He drove me nuts with his rotations and unwillingness to try different things. His one Championship with the Bullets let him get away with masquerading as a good coach for years afterwards.

The Sixers are better talent wise than half the teams in the NBA, so a .500 record should be easy to achieve. That is all they have managed to do these past few seasons, because when they play good teams they can't score in the half-court. This season, they do have the players to be able to score when the other team has their defense set. They have inside scorers in Brand and Young, and outside shooting with Kapono, and hopefully Iguodala. This ought to be enough to stretch opposing defenses and enable the Sixers to develop some half-court scoring consistency.

I'll be patient with Eddie long enough for the team to learn how to execute the offense. This is basketball, not rocket science, and at least we know that Eddie has imparted a bit of discipline to the team, which I think you'll agree is both necessary and something they clearly lacked under Cheeks and DiLeo. Donyell Marshall was pretty clear about that on his way out the door as was Ratliff.

We'll have to see how the Sixers actually play and if Brand is really back to some semblance of the 20-10 player we thought Stefanski got for the team.  If he is, there aren't any excuses for the team to not be successful, and by that I mean above .500. 41-41 is what they have been. 50-32 is only 9 games above .500. If they can't get there with this group, it either means the teams above them are that much better, or my evaluation of the individual players is way off. Or the coach isn't getting the performance out of them that he should.  Won't be too much longer until we find out...

[Joe Vancil]

Eddie Jordan is *FAR* from a "mediocre" coach.  He managed to make the playoffs starting DESHAWN STEVENSON at the 2-guard.  How many 2-guards in the league can you name who start WORSE than DeShawn Stevenson?  BRENDAN HAYWOOD was his center.  Again - not someone who makes me jump up and down a lot (although, by comparison against Haywood, perhaps I *DO* jump up and down a lot).  He challenges Cleveland with the line-up he had, by getting a cohesive offense running.  And it would take an act of God to get anyone on that Washington team not named Caron Butler to play a lick of defense.

Jordan is solid and stable.  He's not extremely innovative (like, say Don Nelson), nor unconventional (like, say Mike D'Antoni), and he's not a defensive genius.  Then again, you are talking a guy who puts together as cohesive of an offense as any coach in the league.  You'll know what you're getting with Jordan, and barring devastating injuries this past year, he'd still be in Washington.  And most importantly, it's not going to be an up-and-down kind of offense. 

I'd have to sit down and think about where I'd put Jordan in terms of league coaches, but I'd lean toward the top half.  And he's not the coach the players tune out or get sick of.  He's the kind of guy who could stay in one place 10 years (unlike, for instance, George Karl, Larry Brown, etc.).

[jemagee]

As much as I don't like Louis Williams as the starting point guard for the sixers, Willie Green should not be the starting point guard for the sixers.
Willie Green should not be a starting guard for the sixers.
Willie Green should not start for anyone in the NBA who wants a reaalistic shot at winning a  round in the playoffs.
Willie Green should not average more than 15 minutes on an NBA that wants to win an NBA title.

My only hope is that Willie thinks he has shown enough that he can 'cash in' on the 2010 bonanaza when all those teams miss with all that extra money and passes on his 10/11 option...i think that's as likely as me hooking up with (insert your favorite hot but talented actress here)

[RickyPryor]

How'd you get here?

As much as I don't like Louis Williams as the starting point guard for the sixers, Willie Green should not be the starting point guard for the sixers.
Willie Green should not be a starting guard for the sixers.
Willie Green should not start for anyone in the NBA who wants a reaalistic shot at winning a  round in the playoffs.
Willie Green should not average more than 15 minutes on an NBA that wants to win an NBA title.

My only hope is that Willie thinks he has shown enough that he can 'cash in' on the 2010 bonanaza when all those teams miss with all that extra money and passes on his 10/11 option...i think that's as likely as me hooking up with (insert your favorite hot but talented actress here)