 The Other End of the Floor Yesterday, we learned that a whopping 84 percent of the voters believe the Sixers will improve on defense this season. After the jump, we'll talk a bit about offense and then take another vote.
OK, so there are some major differences to take into account. On the positive side, we finally have a shooter in Jason Kapono who can actually hit a three. Elton Brand is coming back. A year of development for Thad, Iguodala, Lou and Speights. The absence of Reggie Evans. And the institution of the Princeton offense by Eddie Jordan. On the negative side, we lost Andre Miller, who was an offensive force last season. Taking his place at the point will be Lou Williams, who can fill it up and get to the line, but I have to believe there's going to be a drop off, the question is how much? Miller averaged 1.28 points per shot last season, Williams 1.23. Miller's assist-to-turnover ratio was much better. Lou got to the line more frequently. The number that really concerns me, however, is the usage percentage (essentially, what percentage of total possessions does a player use, either by taking a shot, turning the ball over, or going to the line). Miller's usage percentage was 21.8% last year, which is a bit high for a PG in my opinion, but pales in comparison to Lou's. Williams used 27.7% of the team's possessions when he was on the floor. Granted, Lou's designated role was "scorer off the bench" but he played a ton of minutes with the starters and that number is just off-the-charts too high. If it remains that high, I think something has gone wrong with the offense. Last season, the Sixers scored 107.9 points per 100 possessions (offensive rating of 107.9), good for 19th in the league. Will they be better this season? Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. 
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i just watched the 17/8 inside practice video with thad and green doing a 4 on 4 workout...
who were the other guys? there was a white guy who was hitting jumpers pretty well
Yeah, I saw that too. No idea who the other guys were.
I am not as worried about Lou's usage becomes of how they played him, even with the starters. They ran a lot of isos and things like that to get him shots and encouraged him to shoot. Will he be Stockton? No, but he doesn't have to be yet
I think Lou's usage will definitely be down, the question is how much. We'll discuss further in future, near or far (probably both).
INteresting espn article.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-4 ... xers-.html
Lou williams was apparently more efficient (offensively and defensively) as a point guard if one were to use PER as a measure. Pretty encouraging.
Here's the full link.
Personally, I think Lou is the poster boy for pointing out the weaknesses of PER. Basically, Hollinger's system rewards players for taking a ton of shots, the more shots you take, the higher your PER, even if you shoot at a low percentage, like Lou. He averaged 23.1 shots/48 minutes as a PG, which is WAYYYYYYY too many.
Arnovitz also plays it fast and loose with the numbers here a little bit, as a PG (which 82games says he played 50% of the time he was on the floor), he averaged 4.9 TOV/48. His number at SG was only 2.7 TOV/48.
I haven't given up on Lou, but those numbers from last season don't equate to quality PG play. Lou needs to be better this season, simply playing like he did at the point last season won't cut it, IMO.
The Sixers should try to sign Ramon Sessions, maybe 3yrs for 9 mill. I don't think LA or NYK are going to offer that much and it's much better than Milwaukee's offer. Or maybe give a one year 5 mill offer and let him test free agency in 2010
I'm pretty sure offers for restricted free agents have to be for more than 1 season. I looked it up a couple of weeks ago. The Sixers seem pretty adamant that they won't offer more than 1 year to anyone this summer as well. Not that I disagree with you, in theory.
I can understand why the Sixers wouldn't want to sign someone for more than 1 year. Why pay a luxury tax for an bove average but not superstar player when
a.)you're not selling tickets
b.)he wont win you a championship
c.)you already have a pg for the future.
I guess they need a 1 year solution, a veteran who can step in if Williams isn't playing well. Also they have about 25 million invested in Williams, and it doesn't make sense for him to be a bench player.
By the way why would you want CJ Watson when you already have someone just like him: Louis Williams.
To tell you the truth I haven't watched much GS games, but last year LW and CJ averaged about the same number of points, rebounds, assists, and minutes. They also are about the same height and weight.
Watson can shoot the three, he doesn't use as many possessions as Williams, and I just thought he'd be a good guy who could back up the one and the two.
So I guess Brian was the quickest draw for the Roto League. Maybe I need to work out a Kobe/Sasha for Iguodala/Sam/Lou trade...
Heh. I'm concentrating on bringing Miller back so I can get his stats on Portland.