Unlike Kmart this guy can pass and play as a playmaker. He has the ability to put the rock on the floor and create.
Moving grade from incomplete (B, just as a basis from which to go off) to A- Some Pros *Players are sharing the ball nicely and not reacting in a negative manner. Keep in mind just 2 games into this experiment. *Secures the PG/SG depth/rotation this season and beyond. *Lou Williams is everything the Rockets wanted from Ty Lawson and more. I especially like the, "Catch-n-Shoot" & "Quick release". Shoots with confidence even with a player in his face. Hopefully that confidence of Lou/Gordon/Ryno/Ariza/Harden rubs off on Dekker. Shooting can be contagious. *Pace has picked up to where I wanted it.....I'm sure D'Antoni is content as well. Rockets have gone from 1st & 2nd gear to 3rd & 4th gear with this trade. Rotation during past 2 games has had a bunch of 3 guards playing simultaneously. Harden & Nene tend to slow the "Pace" some. The Rockets can reach 4th gear while Capela or Harrell play with the small lineup. The Rockets are in position now to address the center position this offseason. A center who can run the court like a gazelle, rim protect, rebound, set picks (then roll) would allow Houston to reach 4th & 5th gears consistently. That player would either start or backup Capela. Perhaps Harrell if he can work on shot blocking/rebounding. *Allows Harden & Ariza to decrease minutes and USG%. Some Cons *Harden needs to adjust. Appears less efficient. *Teams will scout the Rockets post-trade and prepare for the 3-guard set; especially the good teams. Expect a heavy dosage of forced switches with heavy dosage of posting up vs that small lineup. What works in the regular season doesn't always work in the playoffs. Playoffs are a series of adjustments. Having a multitude of mobile 6'8" guys allows a team to play/defend the uber small as well as the uber big. At least a punchers chance by being halfway of both (Center/PG). Summary: Lou Williams trade A-. The Ennis & KJ trades were A grades as they allowed Houston to delve into players bought out and address positions of greater need (rim protector/ SF). Lou is definitely worthy of a 1st round pick; which would take a few years to develop. I would give the trade a higher grade if Lou Williams was a rotational SF or rim protecting Center. I'm guessing Morey believes he can add those needs as buy-outs or FA's pick ups.....still rate this trade as an A- grade since those would be separate deals. I won't raise the grade of the Lou Williams trade on potential move(s) possibly coming. I'm a believer in the rule: (33% of 3's = 50% of 2's...same amount of attempts). So if Houston shoots: 50 3PA's/game at 40% = 60 pts 50 2PA's/game at 60% = 60 pts (by opposing team). One can see how Houston can give up some 2 point baskets.....preferably mid-range. Can't give up 70% at rim on 30-something attempts. The elite teams like Warriors,Cavs,Spurs camp out (defend) at the 3-pt line to take away as many of those looks as they can. They will also try to post up Bev/Lou whenever they can. So the Rockets will have to limit the bleeding on those attempts while trying to defend the 3 as well. But the Rockets are on the right track. Ton of improvement over last season.
Chinanu might be ready next year and that would solve our problem along with another year from Capela and Trez.
I agree with both of these thoughts and that's why I gave it an A+. Getting rid of Brewer was kind of the plus in this deal, while adding a dynamic scorer like Lou Williams is the A. Watching the Timberwolves game was crazy, there was bomb after bomb being launched. I'm anxious to see how San Antonio tries to defend us, because now we have another guy who can break down the defense when they extend it out to 3pt line. Offensively we can compete with anybody. Defensively, we need a big rebounder/rim protector and some more "want to" in games like last night.
A. Lou Williams provides another guy who can create headaches for the defense with his aggressive offensive mentality. Harden, Gordon and Williams are three of the best offensive guards in the NBA. They just know how to score and it will payoff once everyone gets comfortable with each other. The early returns are great but there is more to come.
I would give it a B+ alone for bringing in a capable NBA bench player over Brewer. But for now I would give it an A- but closer to an A. The biggest reason has been we haven't played a upper level team yet with the new look bench yet. Its only been two games against two not so good teams (though the Wolves gives us fits) so its hard to gauge how well the trade will play out. This upcoming week when we play some better teams will be more telling. One thing that is a huge plus is that Ariza has average 30 minutes over the last two games compared to his season average of 34.5 minutes. Harden has played 32 minutes compared to his 36.5 season average. Ariza plays significantly better especially defensively when he doesnt have to log as many minutes. Resting Harden is always a good thing. The big thing is that now the bench can sustain or increase leads thanks to Gordon and Williams coming off the bench. Both can create for themselves and others as needed. Previously teams would crawl back in with Brewer being a complete negative on offense. Even when Harden plays with Lou or Gordon in a smaller set it still creates the need to guard all the wing players and no one can really help. The bigs do a good job of finding the open space and cutting to the hoop (Trez, Dekker, Capela, Nene) or spotting up (Anderson, Nene -midrange, Dekker) It will be interesting to see how they fare the Pacers who trounced them last month.
I agree that the talent of those teams is in question but we did play two teams that have a major strength in our perceived weakest link (bigs); and we managed to overcome it. Excited to see how we respond against the top teams in the coming weeks.
i disagree, to me it seems rockets success doesn't depends so much of the opponents strength, it more depends or is a function of injury status and energy of harden and since we upgraded from brew to lou it can only get better from here on someone stated that lou mainly scored in 'garbage time' in the first game.... and i think that was exactly what rockets needed...we blowed up so many leads.... watching him play I somehow see a killer mentality in him which rockets lacked and allowed so many inferior teams to hang around and develop confidence and beat us i love harden and ariza plying less minutes last two games and harden not going out of his way to score
Is the pick we traded for Lou Williams lottery protected? I know it sounds like an insignificant question but I mean, a Harden injury next season can do a lot of damage. Just wondering. I feel Morey would put some sort of protection on it.
I have no idea who the guy running around impersonating Corey was, but I know Corey Brewer..you sir were NOT CB> Lou Williams is an absolute STEAL of the year imo and he s not going anywhere next year except to J Harden's preseason summer camp. PS..to all of you so knowledgeable fans who shat on Les stick this team in your pipe and suck it ! Les is one of the best NBA owners by a mile and just goes to show again how soon people forget or have no clue ! This ones to YOU Les for letting Daryl be Morey !
Odd that people posting in the Lakers fan forum are happy to see Lou go. Why would that be? Just the fact that he was taking youngster minutes ?
