Bee: Rookie Williams grabs rebounds, defends well

[Warhawk]

http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/111935.html

There is work to be done, which goes without saying when it comes to the youngsters. And though the workload is heavy for rookie big man Justin Williams, the good news for the Kings is that it should mostly take place at the free-throw line.
Williams has taken the carpe diem approach to his second 10-day contract, seizing the chance to play well and stick around after he played 49 seconds in his first 10-day deal.
Aside from his 2-for-11 free-throw showing -- including airballs at Boston and Detroit over the weekend -- he has grabbed rebounds at an alarming per-minute rate and defended well enough to force veterans to change offensive gears. Though he has grabbed 19 rebounds in all, Williams' per-48-minute average is 23.4.
Williams has drawn praise from coach Eric Musselman for his energy and "range rebounding" and appears to have put himself in a good position to remain.
"Each time he's gone out there, he's done a good job," Musselman said. "He's finished his inside shots, other than getting one blocked (against Boston). And he's putting up four (points) and four (rebounds) in eight minutes, which is pretty impressive for a young guy who's probably got some nerves going. ... He's real enthusiastic and brings a lot of energy."
With his 10-day stint set to end Thursday, the Kings must decide whether to sign him for the remainder of the season.
Entering Monday's game, the Kings had been outrebounded in 11 of their last 12 games, and their rebounding differential (negative-2.3) was 23rd in the league.
Nets results -- Jason Kidd back in Northern California looked much like it did in years past, with the seven-time All-Star running the floor as efficiently as he did at St. Joseph's High School in Alameda and Cal.
But after it seemed clear that New Jersey management was ready to part ways with the 13-year veteran, his recent play is either making the trade easier or making the notion of losing him harder for general manager Rod Thorn.
In eight games in January entering Monday, Kidd was averaging 20 points, 10 assists and 9.8 rebounds, and the Nets had won nine of 11 games. Also in the equation is the loss of small forward Richard Jefferson, who is out at least six weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle.
"Right now we've been playing pretty well, so we'll see what's going to transpire," Thorn said. "I don't know. Richard is out now, so ... it's going be a lot harder for us. Jason has been playing absolutely great."

The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.

 

[nbrans]

Kind of sad this article came out after a DNP-CD.

Sign the guy!!

 

[Starting Five]

Signing J-Will 2 to a contact should be a no-brainer.

 

[Fresno King]

He'll get a contract for the rest of the season now that Taylor's outta here.

 

[fnordius]

Signing J-Will 2 to a contact should be a no-brainer.

I like "JustWill," and I hope we just will.

 

[fnordius]

INSPIRATIONAL ROOKIE: Although Justin Williams never got a single minute of court time during Monday's game, Kings coach Eric Musselman credited the free agent rookie from the University of Wyoming with playing a role in the victory.

"In the huddles, Justin Williams was screaming, 'Come on, it's still in reach,'" Musselman said. "When you're down 20 at home, there's not a lot of positive things that you hear and I thought Justin's constant jabber in the huddle is something that the guys needed."

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/APS/701233685

 

[love_them_kings]

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/APS/701233685

Good article. I liked the idea of Justin Williams screaming inspiration in the huddle.

I also thought Eddie House's opinion about Mike's game was interesting (click on the link to see the whole article). Eddie thinks Bibby isn't getting the same looks through Musselman's plays that RA got him. Interesting perspective, and I don't know enough about basketball to really see it...anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Padrino]

Good article. I liked the idea of Justin Williams screaming inspiration in the huddle.

I also thought Eddie House's opinion about Mike's game was interesting (click on the link to see the whole article). Eddie thinks Bibby isn't getting the same looks through Musselman's plays that RA got him. Interesting perspective, and I don't know enough about basketball to really see it...anyone have any thoughts on this?

i think there's some truth to it. RA was notorious for running pick & rolls with his bigs and littles...because both his bigs and littles had penchants for being able to shoot the ball. in these latter days, the miller/bibby pick & roll...or really, the pick & pop...was a surefire winner. bibby was the ballahandler...miller set the pick, then slid down to his spots where bibby would kick it out to him for 15 foot elbow jumpers. if miller's defender tracked him during the whole sequence, bibby would typically just take the shot that became open because of the pick miller had set.

its such a basic friggin' play. i mean, BASIC...like freshmen high school team basic. but its one of the most effective plays in the nba if you have talented shooters. it gives the ballhandler options. in short, its the perfect play for an "open" offense, because it utilizes the strengths of bibby and miller on offense. bibby is not a particularly great ballhandler, and the pick & roll/pick & pop frees up space between him and his defender. miller is also not a great ballhandler, so the pick & pop variation is particularly effective because he doesn't have to dribble into traffic. he can simply slide away from the screen he set and receive a pass from bibby for an open 15 footer. musselman has utilized the miller/bibby pick & roll a little bit, when he was running that variation on adelman's open offense...but he has since gone away from it, so both bibby and miller find themselves taking tougher shots than they did with adelman.

 

[nbrans]

^I agree with what Padrino said, and we really saw the Adelman-style corner series and pick & pop against Cleveland, when Bibby and Miller ran it all night and they were basically the entire offense. Unfortunately, that offense is basically ONLY good for Bibby and Miller (and sometimes Martin when he cuts to the hoops), so the entire offense comes down to jump shots that rarely fall for an entire game, and sure enough, the Kings ended up losing that Cleveland game when the jump shots stopped falling.

The problem with the current roster, and why Bibby just has to go in my opinion, is that it seems that Bibby is pretty much only effective in that offense, when essentially all he has to do is come off screens going left and shoot, or spot up for three. He's struggling as a spot-up shooter this season, he struggles in the "open" offense, and he can't create for others.

What's also strange is that Bibby almost never got his shot blocked up until this season -- he showed an almost inhuman ability to go up against bigs in the lane and flip up a shot. Now he's blocked with uncommon regularity. So I don't think Bibby's struggles all have to do with the offense, but it's a big part of it.

 

[Padrino]

^I agree with what Padrino said, and we really saw the Adelman-style corner series and pick & pop against Cleveland, when Bibby and Miller ran it all night and they were basically the entire offense. Unfortunately, that offense is basically ONLY good for Bibby and Miller (and sometimes Martin when he cuts to the hoops), so the entire offense comes down to jump shots that rarely fall for an entire game, and sure enough, the Kings ended up losing that Cleveland game when the jump shots stopped falling.

The problem with the current roster, and why Bibby just has to go in my opinion, is that it seems that Bibby is pretty much only effective in that offense, when essentially all he has to do is come off screens going left and shoot, or spot up for three. He's struggling as a spot-up shooter this season, he struggles in the "open" offense, and he can't create for others.

What's also strange is that Bibby almost never got his shot blocked up until this season -- he showed an almost inhuman ability to go up against bigs in the lane and flip up a shot. Now he's blocked with uncommon regularity. So I don't think Bibby's struggles all have to do with the offense, but it's a big part of it.

i think this is very true of this team. i don't know that any kind of open offense or corner series or iso set is gonna fit with this team. the starter's talents clash with each other too much. and the thing about pick & pops, in general, is that they're only designed for two players to begin with. it used to be that adelman could run those series with any combination of bibby/stojakovic/webber/divac, and you can throw in a few guys off the bench, too. so those kinds of high post plays, pick & rolls/pick & pops or otherwise, were very effective, because the entire team had the talent to run them. the kings are currently such a friggin' hodgepodge of conflicting styles and personalities that i can see even rick adelman struggling to find offensive cohesiveness, and he really is a true master of the offensive playbook.

 

[gunks]

Well this is another fine mess you've gotten us into Geoff Petrie

 

[nbrans]

i think this is very true of this team. i don't know that any kind of open offense or corner series or iso set is gonna fit with this team. the starter's talents clash with each other too much. and the thing about pick & pops, in general, is that they're only designed for two players to begin with. it used to be that adelman could run those series with any combination of bibby/stojakovic/webber/divac, and you can throw in a few guys off the bench, too. so those kinds of high post plays, pick & rolls/pick & pops or otherwise, were very effective, because the entire team had the talent to run them. the kings are currently such a friggin' hodgepodge of conflicting styles and personalities that i can see even rick adelman struggling to find offensive cohesiveness, and he really is a true master of the offensive playbook.

Definitely agree with this and it goes a long way toward explaining a lot of the offensive ugliness. Even Adelman went away from the corner toward a more low-post oriented offense last season, recognizing that the new personnel (SAR/Bonzi/Artest) were not suited at all to the corner/high post/pick and pop, and Musselman seemed to recognize it when he instituted his own set. He went back to the corner to get Bibby out of his slump, which worked, and then went away from it, and lo and behold Bibby's slumping again.

My hope is that Petrie is making the transition to a more slashing style to take advantage of the new rules that favors players who can drive to the hoop. It's actually not Phoenix's model, as everyone seems to think, it's really more Dallas' style. Phoenix depends on Nash's singular talent, which isn't going to be reproduced anywhere, but Dallas is a team that basically relies on the one-on-one abilities of its players, which is reflected in the fact that they regularly have the lowest assist numbers in the league. It's all slashing and kick-outs and cuts to the hoop, and that open set is basically what Musselman originally tried here.

If this is actually the case, it would mean building around Martin and Salmons and possibly Artest (who is actually looking really impressive offensively the last few games), possibly also with Miller keeping the lanes to the hoop open by drawing out the opposing center.

It will be interesting to see the next move Petrie makes -- will it favor the old style passing and cutting or will it be toward the more one-on-one slashing style? Martin fits either style, really, so building around him could go either way.

 

[Padrino]

Definitely agree with this and it goes a long way toward explaining a lot of the offensive ugliness. Even Adelman went away from the corner toward a more low-post oriented offense last season, recognizing that the new personnel (SAR/Bonzi/Artest) were not suited at all to the corner/high post/pick and pop, and Musselman seemed to recognize it when he instituted his own set. He went back to the corner to get Bibby out of his slump, which worked, and then went away from it, and lo and behold Bibby's slumping again.

My hope is that Petrie is making the transition to a more slashing style to take advantage of the new rules that favors players who can drive to the hoop. It's actually not Phoenix's model, as everyone seems to think, it's really more Dallas' style. Phoenix depends on Nash's singular talent, which isn't going to be reproduced anywhere, but Dallas is a team that basically relies on the one-on-one abilities of its players, which is reflected in the fact that they regularly have the lowest assist numbers in the league. It's all slashing and kick-outs and cuts to the hoop, and that open set is basically what Musselman originally tried here.

If this is actually the case, it would mean building around Martin and Salmons and possibly Artest (who is actually looking really impressive offensively the last few games), possibly also with Miller keeping the lanes to the hoop open by drawing out the opposing center.

It will be interesting to see the next move Petrie makes -- will it favor the old style passing and cutting or will it be toward the more one-on-one slashing style? Martin fits either style, really, so building around him could go either way.

hm...i'll be damned...we find ourselves in agreement all over the place!

once again, i must agree. i think the thing that impressed the maloofs so much in musselman's interview was his x's and o's style, his knowledge of basketball, and his intimate knowledge of each and every player on the kings strengths. however, there's a difference between knowing every offensive set that works in this league, and fleshing it out on the court. adelman was a master at both. he knew every offensive playbook around, but focused on the ones that worked for his team. musselman got here recognizing that the rules currently favor an offensive style that gets to the basket often and quickly, and draws fouls consistently. you're definitely right about phoneix and dallas. phoneix is a unique team, while dallas is setting the standard for style of play. they get to the basket a lot. they get to the free throw line a lot. they're really friggin' good at what they do. and the kings, for whatever reason, also happen to be among the league leaders in free-throw attempts. so that much muss has done well. however, he's had a lot of trouble trying to fit his players to the playbook's mold...because you can't really do that in the nba. it has to work the other way around, and the kings lineup doesn't favor any one or two styles of play. they're all over the place, and when one thing works, another thing doesn't...so the team becomes very very inconsistent on offense. and this is just the offensive side of the ball. we don't even wanna get into the defensive side of the ball. that's a whole different nightmare...

in short, petrie is gonna have to do what he does best: look this team up and down, discover what fits and what doesn't, and get rid of the parts that don't work while adding pieces that do. when he's given license to do this by the maloofs, i think the kings will start winning again. i can't blame any one person anymore. there's just too much BS going on to place the blame on a single person or entity. its been the maloofs, its been petrie, its been the players, its been this and that and the other thing. it all needs to come back together, and what kind of fan would i be if i didn't believe in the potential for things to come together again? so, i continue to believe that the maloofs will give petrie a longer leash in the near future, that petrie will make better decisions in the draft, in the free agency market, and on the trading block, that the youngsters will continue to improve, that the coach will continue to learn, that the fans will die to support their team again, and that winning will return to sacramento. these things take time. fortunately for me, i'm just shy of 20 years old, so i gotta lotta rootin' left in me, and a lotta time to wait for the kings to get good again.

 

[nbrans]

^I know, seriously, when do we agree??? Haha

I think your post really speaks to what is good about Musselman -- he's smart at least in the big decisions, like what offense to use, and I thought he used a smart defense in the beginning. I don't think he's a leader, I don't think he makes smart in-game decisions, I don't think the players are listening to him anymore, but hey, he's smart.

And I agree that there's plenty of blame to spread. I hope the Maloofs realize that they need to just sit back and let Petrie do his thing.

 

[Padrino]

^I know, seriously, when do we agree??? Haha

I think your post really speaks to what is good about Musselman -- he's smart at least in the big decisions, like what offense to use, and I thought he used a smart defense in the beginning. I don't think he's a leader, I don't think he makes smart in-game decisions, I don't think the players are listening to him anymore, but hey, he's smart.

And I agree that there's plenty of blame to spread. I hope the Maloofs realize that they need to just sit back and let Petrie do his thing.

as a head coach...musselman still has a lot to learn. he's got a high basketball iq, but that doesn't translate to on-court success like it does for a player. a head coach needs to find a way to get his players to play together. few coaches are fortunate enough to have guys like kevin garnett who do it all, and even those coaches don't always win it because they don't know how to get the other guys involved. muss certainly doesn't have one of those do-it-all kinda guys, so he needs to find a way to get his team to play like a team, which is no easy task with this group of players. but i suppose learning in sacramento during a probable rebuilding process is as good a time as any. however, if we ever swing out of the upcoming rebuild into contention status again, and muss is still not ready, then i hope he's outta here. until then, i'm rather indifferent. losses will result in better draft positioning...plain and simple. of course, there are no guarantees in a crap shoot like the nba draft--outside of taking greg oden at #1--but i'll take my chances with a higher pick every single time.

so, here's to the future, in all of its ugly, iso-offense, no-defense, glory!

 

[Wuster]

It will be interesting to see the next move Petrie makes -- will it favor the old style passing and cutting or will it be toward the more one-on-one slashing style? Martin fits either style, really, so building around him could go either way.

My, oh my. A year ago many of us, myself included, were questioning whether Martin was really ready for the NBA. Now we're contemplating building around him!

 

[sidney]

My, oh my. A year ago many of us, myself included, were questioning whether Martin was really ready for the NBA. Now we're contemplating building around him!

Martin is a first option on a lottery team, a second option on a middling team, and a 3rd option on a contender.

I think we are (or should be) rebuilding with Martin in mind, not around him. He won't ever be a d wade or lebron. We need superior talent in addition to him.

 

[PBNJ31]

Martin is a first option on a lottery team, a second option on a middling team, and a 3rd option on a contender.

I think we are (or should be) rebuilding with Martin in mind, not around him. He won't ever be a d wade or lebron. We need superior talent in addition to him.

Well being the first option on a lottery team puts him in the perfect situation with this team.

No he wont ever be in Wade or James company but, he could make it to Pierce, Allen or even Miller (Reggie) company.

 

[BMiller52]

Well being the first option on a lottery team puts him in the perfect situation with this team.

No he wont ever be in Wade or James company but, he could make it to Pierce, Allen or even Miller (Reggie) company.

Yeag I think he still has some room to grow. Being the first option on a lottery team would give him the freedom to do whatever he wants, also could let him learn to be aggressive. He still feels like Bibby and Artest are superior offensive players that deserve more shots so he keeps that in mind, but I think if he is the best offensive player on the team(in his mind, IMO he already is) than he will be more aggressive. I can see Martin being the #1 option on a decent team, #2 to a good big man and you might just have a contender.

 

[Hella916]

Dont blame Muss for Bibbys poor play. Bibby has PLENTY of very good looks this year and he hasent made a dam thing really. The one part of Bibbys game that has a big ? is why doesnt Bibby take it to the hoop for a lay up or one of Bibbys in the lane flooters that he used to do?? Also Bibby is missing a TON of free thows this year. At times I really wonder if Bibby wants to get traded.... I sure hope it happens this offseason....

 

[Entity]

Dont blame Muss for Bibbys poor play. Bibby has PLENTY of very good looks this year and he hasent made a dam thing really. The one part of Bibbys game that has a big ? is why doesnt Bibby take it to the hoop for a lay up or one of Bibbys in the lane flooters that he used to do?? Also Bibby is missing a TON of free thows this year. At times I really wonder if Bibby wants to get traded.... I sure hope it happens this offseason....

I have to agree with that as well. Bibby is missing open 3's with nobody within 10 feet of him. I don't remember it being that bad before. In preseason (before the injury) he was hitting them and everything else. I am not sure whats going on but, something is not right with Bibbys stroke. Its not the offense is Bibbys inability to knock down his shots like he did in years past. I don't agree with the wanting to be traded part. Bibby is frustrated over his shooting as well. you can see it in his eyes. That coupled with the teams loosing ways and he seems lethargic at times during the game. Same with Miller. If Brad goes 0-4 you might as well pull him because he will beat himself up the rest of the night and never pull out of it.

 

[Entity]

Back to Justin. Why don't we sign him to 3 years 2.4 mil and see what happens. You know he can come in and get you rebounds if nothing else. thats worth a little less than 1 mil a year for the next 3 isn't it? And if he adds to his game well we will look like a genius.

 

[SacTownKid]

I hope they sign him to a long term deal and get it out of the way. That way they can take their time and develop him. By next year I expect to see some huge improvements with Justin. Especially physically. He put on a good 10-15 pounds of muscle just since November so I expect to see Justin pretty pumped by the start of next season.