Another Player Comparison: Lou Williams vs. Aaron Brooks
by Jordan Sams on Aug 18, 2010 11:28 AM PDT
in Stat Stuff
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PrintLast weekend I unleashed the wildly popular Monta Ellis-Louis Williams comparison. Today, I will attempt to debunk another myth -- that Aaron Brooks is head-and-shoulders above Lou Williams as a basketball player -- with a second player comparison.
The consensus among NBA fans, analysts, and even Sixers fans is that Aaron Brooks is significantly better than Lou Williams. Last season Brooks built upon his breakout playoff performance against the Lakers by averaging nearly 20 points per game. Brooks ended up winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award and also garnered a little All-Star hype before the break.
Meanwhile, Lou Williams had a breakout year of his own, yet went unnoticed by many, and rightfully so. The Sixers organization was nothing short of a complete train wreck last season, and let's be real, no one cares about some combo-guard's breakout season on a 27-win team. The only reason I care is because I'm a Sixers fan on a quest to earn Lou Williams a little respect -- not necessarily national respect, just respect amongst Sixers fans.
Follow the jump for the Aaron Brooks-Louis Williams comparison.
Career comparison
Lou and Aaron both had their career years last season, and much like their career comparison of advanced statistics, Brooks and Williams' numbers last season were similar. However; Lou's advantage in most categories improved from 'slight' to 'significant'. Higher PER (18.2 to 16.0) and shooting percentages (.576/.521 to .549/.511), much better rebounding percentages (1.5/10.1/5.8 to 2.0/6.6/4.2), and many more Win Shares per 48 (0.130 to 0.091).
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saw brooks at the lottery and while he might be listed at 6 feet, he’s 5’10" tops – standing next to him, i was clearly taller and i’m a border line 6’
"I'm a beast ready to be unleashed." -- Paul George
by Tanner Steidel on Aug 18, 2010 11:41 AM PDT reply actions
i would assume so – the only player i’ve seen (i’m sure there are others) where it’s exagerated in the other direction is kevin garnett
"I'm a beast ready to be unleashed." -- Paul George
by Tanner Steidel on Aug 18, 2010 11:45 AM PDT up reply actions
yea i’ve always thought brooks was a little overrated which i’m sure comes down to his scoring (at 16.5 shots of which almost 7 are threes plus 4 free throws per 36, any player who shoots a somewhat decent percentage should get the scoring numbers that automatically makes you a “good player”)
"I'm a beast ready to be unleashed." -- Paul George
by Tanner Steidel on Aug 18, 2010 11:52 AM PDT reply actions
Nice writeup
Again, a solid and fair comparison between two players. The main thing that stood out for me right away was salary with Brooks making $2 mil per season compared to $5 per Williams.
Point is, Lou is better than people give him credit for, and I will continue to attempt to prove that for as long as I have to.
Doing that by picking guards I don’t particularly like to boost Lou probably isn’t going to be successful.
Although I do think that Brooks extended range makes it easier for him to adapt to being a lower usage role player than Williams, and thus he’d have more value for me.
Derek Bodner
LibertyBallers || @derekbodner || derek.bodner@draftexpress.com
It depends what you’re looking for in a combo guard off the bench. The Sixers are probably better suited for the sharpshhoting defender off the bench rather than Lou because A) they have no shooting and B) have three playmakers, one of which probably being on the floor at all times, making Lou kind of redundant.
Lou can shoot the three, he just hesitates too often.
Give me an example of a comprable guard to Lou that you like?
by Jordan Sams on Aug 18, 2010 1:39 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I don’t think anyone has said Williams is a bad basketball player, just too one-dimensional. I say that even the best point guards aren’t great defenders as a rule, and that Williams is probably a Top 10 or better NBA point. But since Jrue is more like a top 5 NBA point, Lou is likely to be a backup. At his salary, that’s great for the Sixers.
It might be more useful to compare Lou with good point guards, from Dwyer’s list or from a poll here to see where we think Lou really is now relative to his peers.
Lou top 10 and Jrue top 5? That’s a little much.
I’ve said before that I want to see more from Jrue before I annoint him. He has the potential to be an absolute stud — basically a reincarnation of Iguodala at the point. He also has a relatively high floor because of his defense. That said, he’s still only 19 and only only scratched the surface last year.
by Jordan Sams on Aug 18, 2010 1:50 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
THANK YOU JORDAN SAMS
Now I know I’m not the only Lou fan. He IS the best Guard and WILL BE the 2010-11 MVP! Ask Jordan Sams if you don’t believe me because he’s on the same page as I am about now.
by LouWilliamsMVP on Aug 18, 2010 1:08 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs
Another key is that even with all his time as a pro, he is still young at only 23.
Philly born and raised with plenty of Orange in my blood!
It’s not the age as much as it’s the years of experience. Lou has five years in the league. I’m not sure how much more he’s going to develop. With that said, he could have better seasons, but it’s questionable if his overall skillset will improve.
"I admire his competitiveness. As much as I admire it, I thought that he was trying too hard."- Eddie Jordan
At his age he’d normally be coming off of his rookie season. He has another 5 years before he reaches his full potential as a player.
There is enormous room for Lou to improve as a player as well. One thing he has not been is a floor general, one who runs plays and hit’s the open man. Then again the Sixers haven’t played that kind of game in the time he’s been a Sixer.
Lou is still more of a score-first player, which is a terrible waste of his talent. His speed and ability to get to the rim can open up space for his teamates. During the past season he showed the ability to work a game with Speights, but there was far too little of that to suit me.
“Lou is still more of a score-first player, which is a terrible waste of his talent.”
Unfortunately, that’s the case for a majority of the athletic players in the league. Just because you possess athleticism doesn’t mean you are capable of mastering the techniques at PG. Couple this with being undersized and he’s not a starter, rather a 6th man.
And yes, years in the league matter more than age.
"I admire his competitiveness. As much as I admire it, I thought that he was trying too hard."- Eddie Jordan
Lou is definitely underated in Philly
One of the major problems lou has had to deal with is playing in Philly after of those years of AI. There are generally two schools of thought in philly: AI didn’t win here because he didn’t get the help he needed or AI couldn’t win here because he is not a player that you can build around due to his height, ball dominance and defensive liabilities.
The general consensus has been if AI couldn’t get it done here while being the franchise player, then lou can’t get it done here while being even just being a major piece. The sixers have made it a point to keep lou on the bench. when he got his chance to start, he put up good numbers across the board. then he got injured AI came back and that was that. to say that lou benefited from jordan’s lack of coaching is absurd. he put up solid numbers while being jerked around by a coach who was clearly in over his head. Rather than look at Lou’s numbers and say that he worked on his game in the offseason and really came into the season prepared, you choose to come up with some far fetched half bakedtheory that somehow jordan lack of coaching helped lou’s shooting percentages and his A/to rise. that is a serious stretch.
there are always things that stats can forget
like clutchness:
exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTmVxtTLsA&feature=related
exhibit B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bSdhTH8NLQ&feature=related
exhibit C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5aKHrtpiws&NR=1
exhibit D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tos_PvTNhlY&feature=related
exhibit E: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaV130DG6Pw
exhibit F: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iShcYDLCTo
Lou Williams is a little bit of a better defender, but Brooks is capable of getting unstoppably hot on a pretty consistent basis. he shot ~ 40% from deep when taking 6.4 a game, that’s impressive. All he needs is more rep so that he gets the calls he deserves when wandering into the paint off isolation.
Wafer . . . again. (Marv Albert, HOU v. CLE Feb 2009)
-one of the FEW at Toyota Center who has the Wafer jersey
to underpin my argument
aaron brooks’ speed and versatility on the offensive end lessen his need to be an above-average defender because he has the capability to wear his man down. He has been particularly effective against bigger point guards (like Billups, Rondo, Andre Miller, etc) for this very reason.
Wafer . . . again. (Marv Albert, HOU v. CLE Feb 2009)
-one of the FEW at Toyota Center who has the Wafer jersey
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