LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs | 02/19 7:30 PT

[politm]

LOL at people here defending Lou Will. By that logic, why don't you defend Nick Young too? Basically, they're the same player, just that one gets 30+ minutes per game and the other gets 19. And at least this season Young tries on the defensive end of the floor.

I mean it's pretty easy to average the points Lou is averaging, but we all know that if D'Angelo would start jacking up the shots Lou is taking we would all call him a low IQ chucker and Byron would take him out of the game by the second or third shot. Remember the "taking over the game" story?

And GTS, c'mon man, you can't just point out the box score. What's up with that? Do you really want us to point out the box score everytime when Lou shoots like **** and still plays 30+ minutes? Like that 1 for 10 performance?

[The Prodigy]

lol only here does a guy go 7-12 scoring 21 (75% from beyond the arc) and folks complain about his playing too much

This is a very shortsighted way to view things. Who cares about Lou Williams? He had no bearing on the future of the franchise. Russell, Randle and Clarkson should all be getting 30+ minutes at this point of the season. Winning or losing is of no consequence.

You might want to care...Lou Williams could very well be a part of the future considering he's under contract for two more years after this and if Russell wants playing time he's going to have to play better than Lou Williams...

Williams is only 29 and a proven commodity, he could very well be our starter next season, back up PG or a valuable piece in a trade with those two more seasons under contract at what will be a bargain $$$ next summer (at which rate you'd want to showcase him on nights he's playing well)..

None the less if he's playing better than Russell on any given night he should be getting his fair share of the minutes.. Just because Russell was drafted #2 doesn't mean he doesn't have to earn his spot, I hate the just give the kid playing time because we drafted him thought process, I want the best team on the floor next season, not a squad of guys who had their spots handed to them based on draft position

Short sighted would be ignoring everyone else on the roster and focusing on one or two players alone, whatever happens with Williams if he's going to be around for another couple seasons he needs his time on the floor too... This season is more than just about Russell getting minutes, it's about laying a foundation...

I like Russell, I want him to succeed, I want him to live up to the hype but Laker fans have got to get over this develop Russell at all costs mentality... There's 15 guys on a team some of them playing better than Russell, some of them might always be better than Russell... as a unit it takes a large percentage of those 15 guys working together as a team to be successful and Russell is only one part of it...

This past trade deadline dispelled any notions of Lou Williams being a valuable trade piece. Everyone around the league knows what he is, and that's an iso heavy, defense-less bench guard whose style is not conducive to winning team basketball. Just because he has a better scoring line than Russell, doesn't mean he's having a better game. And even if he is, once again, it does not matter. Spare me the "Russell hasn't earned it" talk. If anyone's making an effort to run any semblance of an offensive system out there it's him. And his effort on the defensive end is consistently better than Williams'.

There is no valid argument for Russell/Randle/Clarkson not playing 30+ minutes and finishing games.

[dockingsched]

Russell outplays Lou at least 75% of the time anyway so what are people even arguing for Lou for. Spend a few minutes watching his off the ball d and you'll be shocked at how bad Lou is.

Over in Detroit, SVG traded for Marcus Thornton whom was putting up a PER of 15 in 20 mpg for Houston. When asked if he'd be put in the rotation, SVG shut the idea down saying that would cost Stsnley Johnson minutes and hurt his development. this is a rook putting up pretty terrible numbers but SVG puts value in developing on the court even as the team is in a dogfight to make the playoffs. lakers don't even have that going for them.

[gts1]

This past trade deadline dispelled any notions of Lou Williams being a valuable trade piece.

No it didn't... Don't ignore the current financial climate of the league just to make a point... Just because a player wasn't traded this past deadline doesn't mean he's not a trade-able player.. just like because a team didn't make a trade doesn't mean they don't care about improving, there were hardly any trades made as most teams are waiting for the summer this time around due to the massive cap increase