This comes from
Bob Cooney's article on the Sixers constantly shuffling lineups. "For (Willie) Green, who in the past couple of years has gone from starter to
bench scorer to
defensive stopper and back to starter, it has been
trying." Yes, Willie Green, Defensive Stopper. A runner-up quote after the jump.
From
Kate Fagan's piece:
"Also from Sixers practice today, Eddie Jordan said he was likely going to start a backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams tomorrow night. Jordan said Williams, just back from a broken jaw, did nothing to lose his starting job and Jordan felt he deserved it back."
OK, so Lou did nothing to lose his starting job while being hurt, but Elton Brand did earlier this season. Here's a look at Brand's three games before he was injured:
- 23/44 from the field, 52.3%
- 13/15 from the line, 86.7%
- 10.33 rebounds/game
- 2.67 steals/game
- 3.67 blocks/game
- 19.67 points/game
When Brand dropped 21/10 in only 25 minutes off the bench in his first game back from the injury, Jordan didn't come out and say "Elton has done nothing to lose his starting job," instead he immediately started saying he thought Brand should come off the bench.
To be fair, Green was a defensive specialist last year in that he guarded quicker PG's to save Andre Miller from embarrassment. That's not saying he was a lock down defender (far from it) but much of his reason for playing next to Miller was for defensive purposes.
As for Jrue/Lou- this really does not play to either's strengths. It would work if Lou defes the PG duty to Jrue (like AI did), but more likely we will see Lou as the primary ball handler and Jrue as a poor shooting, slightly undersized SG. The only benefit would be another guard on the floor that can push the tempo on the break.
A questionable defensive upgrade does not a "defensive stopper" make in my book. We're not even talking semantics, either Green is marginally better than Miller, at best, at stopping penetration.
As for Lou/Jrue, I'm very interested in seeing how Jordan picks the defensive matchups. My guess is he'll go strictly on size and put Lou on the ball, which is a big mistake. Offensively, expect Jrue to rarely have the ball in his hands.
Brian wrote "As for Lou/Jrue, I'm very interested in seeing how Jordan picks the defensive matchups. My guess is he'll go strictly on size and put Lou on the ball, which is a big mistake. Offensively, expect Jrue to rarely have the ball in his hands."
As I said, not really playing to their strengths... but better than starting Phillie Willie.
Hmmn. That's an interesting debate, actually.
Lou is better offensively, definitely. But are the Sixers better defensive with Lou on the ball and Jrue on the SG, or with Jrue on the ball and Willie on the SG. I think the latter, by a pretty large margin, honestly.
Agreed. Yet another reason I hate the Jrue/Lou mess
One more note on the Jrue/Lou back court. Jordan didn't use that combo once against the Clippers, and he's only used it for 13 minutes the entire season (opponents have scored 42 points on the Sixers in those 13 minutes, 4 points/minute).
So your saying it plays right into EJ's defensive mast plan?
Yep. It's pretty much the ideal. They scored 33 in those 13 minutes (2.54/min). Now that's exciting basketball.
To be fair, though, those were some bad lineups.
Speights, Thad, Willie, Lou, Jrue
Brand, Smith, Kapono, Lou, Jrue
Speights, Thad, Iguodala, Lou, Jrue
He hasn't played Dalembert, Thad, Iguodala, Lou, Jrue yet this season.
As long as they get after it.
Lou should be SG. I think he's better for that role than Jrue.
But then again, the PO doesn't need a traditional PG, it requires a two-guard set. Right guys?
Brand doesn't deserve a starting spot because he is much taller and bigger than a guard and defends the paint better. He also scored a C- on the "Getting After It" quiz handed out during one of the practices.
EJ referred to brand and speights as his "Two studs off the bench" today, he thinks hes gonna pull a fast one over on the rest of the league, maybe the lakers should bring Kobe and Gasol off the bench, teams wont know what hit em.
A real coach wouldn't do that.
Since when has Special Eddie been a real coach?
I do not understand why Lou can not play the shooting guard on offense (his natural position) and Jrue the point guard on offense and switch on defense? Is there a rule against this? :-)
My only problem with that is that Lou is actually a worse defender than AI was. His ball pressure is a joke, especially without a coach who will stay on him. So, now the defense will suffer.
Honestly, we're better off with Jrue playing the point on both ends.
Definitely. Jrue mucking the offense from the moment they cross half-court combined with Iguodala locking up the other guard leads to issues for the opponent, including bad clock management, forced shots and TOs.
Lou lets guys casually bring it up, no pressure, no strain. They get into their offense nice and easy.
I know Lou put together a nice stretch of games before he went down, but some people(including the Sixers) are making him out to be more than he is. He is a turn-style on defense, his jumper is inconsistent to say the least, he takes too many 3's and doesn't have great shot selection. He's a nice bench player, i am so sick of this organization overvaluing its own talent.
I disagree, John. Or atleast it is too soon to state what you stated as fact.
Louuuuuuuuuuuu or as some call him, Louwill, is still young and this is his first year as a starter. I do not believe he has been given enough of a chance to state what you stated. You maybe right on some points but believe the jury is still out on Lou! or Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
maybe i'm wrong, but I am always going to be a fan of 2-way players and unselfish players. Lou was quoted over the summer as saying "i set up my teammates to score by scoring myself" or something to that effect. Huh??? Also, as long as EJ is a coach, he will not be scalded for his lack of defensive effort/awareness. Under Mo he was defiant when Mo would get on him for poor defense. Lou just doesn't "get" what it takes to be a starting guard on a winning team to me...hope im wrong
I think Lou can be an explosive scorer, but Jrue is this team's future at the point. I'm convinced of that. Lou's going to have to settle back into the scorer off the bench role, and I don't think that's a bad thing for him either.
But I think Lou is more effective if the other players on the floor are offensive weapons. When he is the only guy who can score it brings out the worst in his game.
I actually think Lou can start at PG for a good team next to another combo guard. But I agree that Jrue should be the future at PG, assuming he can get his scoring/shooting a bit more reliable.
Yeah i agree Jrue is the future. EJ is an idiot, we're not developing/utilizing our pure PG because of his stupid offense. There is no reason for anyone but Jrue to bring the ball up and initiate the offense. The personnel/system is ass backwards. After this year EJ better be gone, I've got a feeling Ed is hesitant to let him go bc of their friendship,and if EJ gets fired AGAIN before the all star break, it could be his last coaching stop.
Eddie Jordan is a hypocrite and a coward. He "justifies" his decisions and then contracts them later, hoping you'd forget what he said earlier.
He first said he benched Elton Brand against Golden State because of "matchup". Then he benched him because he "liked Elton coming off the bench". Earlier in the season, Jordan said he benched Elton in 4th quarters because there's no way Elton could play 40 minutes (Elton did, in fact, play 40 effective minutes after that statement, proving Eddie Jordan wrong once again). Coach Jordan has shown a complete lack of professionalism, class, and integrity. He's a bad coach, bad for this team, and needs to be replaced with a REAL coach.
If the Sixers were 20-7, I'd shut my trap. But today, the Sixers are 7-20 and nothing's changed. We all agree that there is TALENT on this team yet, we're 7-20. How do you explain that?
BAD COACHING