TheNewEra wrote:og15 wrote:TheNewEra wrote:
Lou Williams has absolutely not been better and I also find it odd Luke was punished for his hesitation but Lou clearly isn’t looking to shoot the 3 ball as much this season unless he’s baiting the defender
Williams has been better. The bench needs a guard to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense. Williams does that. Kennard is a better shooter, but even in lineups where Williams isn't there, and stars aren't there, he still struggles to be aggressive and be "the guy" in the unit he's with. This means even if Kennard can do certain things better, Williams will have better impact on the lineup. Neither can defend, but Clippers have also gotten more solid defensive moments from Williams than Kennard. I like Kennard, I really want him to succeed, but I also have to be real about the situation. Kennard doesn't have an argument over Williams based on how he's played on this team.
Luke's hesitation was holding back his impact and the effectiveness of the lineups he played with. Williams' shying away from as many three's has not been shown to appreciably impact the effectiveness of the lineups he plays with
Being aggressive shouldn’t mean taking a bunch of ill advised shots and not making your teammates better. His assists and scoring are down and his defensive moments are just that moments . Luke started the season passive but Lou started just bad and Lou with his hot streak has cooled down in recent weeks. Any chance given Luke has looked to do everything the team is looking for with pushing the ball, hitting shots and being the better playmaker for his teammates.
If the Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams era of the sixth man playoffs have shown anything it’s that we don’t need ball dominant scorers
It's all about whether you have superior alternatives. The issue with Jamal Crawford on the Clippers, and I had issues with his play, but the issue was that the roster didn't have alternatives. Lou started slow because they were running a three guard lineup, with three guys who could all use the ball, and he was trying to be a facilitator. Trying to play an unnatural game can be difficult.
Kennard has played 15+ minutes in 28 games, there has been ample opportunity for him to "pick it up". The difference between Lou and Kennard is that when coach Lue asked Lou to play his game and be aggressive, he was able to do it. They have been asking Kennard to be aggressive, because that is what will keep him on the court, and he's not comfortable doing that on this team. Kennard wasn't traded for and signed to be a spot up shooter, he was traded for and signed to be a playmaker. You can't be a playmaker if you're too timid when the ball gets in your hands, you have to make moves, shift the defense, play down hill, attack. Kennard is capable of those things, but he's not willing enough to do them consistently on the court.
Due to the defensive issues with the bench playmaker guards, the coaching plan was that those guys (Williams, Kennard and Jackson) would generally only be on the court with 4 other good defenders. So with that sort of set up, yes, the team can run if with a "primary" attacker with finishers around them who can defend. If Kennard was able to consistently attack, he could usurp the role as that primary attacker, but he can't. I think the assumption that if Williams is just traded, then Kennard would now just slide into that role is hopeful, but not necessarily the undeniable outcome and might not be realistic.
