B - nice post. Willis' arms are too short to be an effective passer. So once he gets the ball he has no options but to shoot.
KW made 4 of 8 last night. As I remember, he took 2 shots in the very last second of the shot clock. 3 (or more) others were right under the basket wide open or slams. So basically he's taking those cheap shots that we all expect he would take. I guess he took only 1 from 10 feet and out. I'm happy he's here! A big man playing in the paint! P.S. Clutch and crew, was the site down yesterday evening? I wanted to post this yesterday but wasn't able to
haven, I don't know about whether or not Willis <b>should</b> have taken that last shot, but the ball was passed to him by design to take that last shot. There wasn't much else he could do after he got the ball with 1 second left on the clock, so I will assume that Rudy drew that play up for Kevin, or that he was the 2nd or 3rd option. But it wasn't really a bad shot, just not an easy one to make.
If you at the centers on that display, you'll notice that they were opportunistic scorers. The offenses didn't run through the, theygot shots off dribble penetration or swinging the ball to backside. In chances like that, they shouldn't pass the ball. Back in the day, Hakeem and David used to avg 3 assist per because they touched the ball so much. Now since they are role players and doesn't touch the ball as much, their assist are down. People are talking, but its not Francis and Mobley are hot on Stockton record either. I mean, ball hog Iverson avg 7 dimes a game when he ran the point, thats why i think they made a mistake taken him off the point.
Question: Does Kevin Willis pass? Answer: Not yet Seriously, I love KW and what he brings to the team with his experience, toughness, leadership and work ethic. A great addition by CD in a semi-desparate situation. I can forgive him for not passing.
His arms are too short to throw effective passes out of the post. It's not his fault, blame genetics!
Kevin Willis was not on the floor to pass the ball. His job was to move the Hawks frontcourt around, muscle underneath, rebound anything deep, and pose an offensive threat whenever he handled the ball. IMHO he got an A+ in all categories. Now if you want criticism try these on: Cat man dribbling inside and continuing to dribble until he was surrounded by Hawks, then attempting to pass out of the that mess of bodies .... instant lost opportunity and another turnover. Steve and many others getting inside four feet from the basket, then attempting to pass outside for some ungodly reason (visions of KT standing flatfooted at the trey line wondering why he has the ball in his hands when his man had it at the rim free and clear for three or four seconds). One game doesn't make a season or establish a tend by any stretch of the imagination, but picking Willis out of the lineup to harp on his inability (or unwillingness) to pass seems petty.
I agree that Willis is not on the floor to pass the ball. But, as I remember from his last stint with us, that is the biggest rap against the guy. If people are going to point the negatives when they watch the guy, that is the first thing they will see and one of his few negatives. Like oeilpere said, he is here to do a job and he did it very well. We knew what he could do when we traded for him and I am sure that Rudy and CD are very happy with the attitude he brings and the game he just had. I know I was thrilled. But I don't ever expect him to pass the ball. As a new Rocket playing in his first game (this stint) people are going to analyze his positives and negatives and try to get a read on him. I am surprised his "black holedness" wasn't talked about more immediately following the trade.
I was just pointing out the numbers, irrespective of whether it's appropriate or not for a center to have low assist numbers. Still, I find it curious that Divac of Sacramento was left off the APG list.
It wasn't intentional, I was just really sleepy when I made that post. I added Divac to the list and he averaged 2.9 assists per game. I mainly wanted to show there are very few centers that are asked to or expected to be good centers. Only the elite centers in the league with a few exceptions are good passers. Maybe the short arm theory posted by several other people might have a factor, but I have no idea how to check into that. B
What about Sabonis (or however you spell it) from Portland. He was always regarded as a good passing center. And he kinda had little chicken arms too.
