Hey, You’re a Top 2 Pick!
November 12th, 2009 | by coryelfrink |There’s been plenty written about how much better off the Hawks would be had they taken Chris Paul rather than Marvin Williams back in June of 2005, but as we all know, the Hawks loved Williams’ “upside”, his youth, and his long frame.
Williams is now four years older, has put weight on his formerly wiry frame, but the upside is still just that. Now 23 and signed to a five-year $40 million contract this past summer, Williams is off to an awful start. His 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.8 steals are all his lowest marks since his rookie season. His 41.8 percent shooting and 0.4 assists are both career lows.
Some may point to his drop in minutes (down from 34.3 last season to 27.9), but Williams’ play certainly has warranted the drop. Incredibly, the Hawks starting five has an even +/- rating through 102.4 minutes played together this season. Mind you, this is a 6-2 team. When Jamal Crawford replaces Williams with the remaining starters surrounding him, the Hawks are +33 in just 34.8 minutes together. Without question, the quintet of Bibby-Crawford-Johnson-Smith-Horford has been coach Mike Woodson’s best unit through eight games.
Williams is settling for jumpers 63 percent of the time, despite generally being bigger than his opponent. On those jumpers, he has an effective field goal percentage of just 33.3. On his “inside” attempts, which have accounted for 37 percent of his shots, he is converting at a 72.2 clip.
It’s time for Williams to follow Josh Smith’s lead and ditch the three-pointer. In his third season, which was unquestionably his best, he attempted just 10 treys all season long (in 80 games). He’s already launched 15 this season, hitting four of them (26.7 percent). Many point to his 35.5 percent three-point shooting last season and say “he’s good enough to keep it in his arsenal.” Perhaps so, but not unless it’s a very wide open attempt and Marvin’s in rhythm. I’d be much happier to see him ditch it altogether. The Hawks cannot afford to run plays with Williams setting up for shots along the perimeter. Should he catch the ball there, he needs to put it on the floor and attack the interior. He’s hitting 90 percent of his free throws this season and has hit over 80 percent in his career. He needs to be going to the line around five times or more per game – as he did in his third year when he was only 21.
Williams has not played to his strengths this season and Woodson needs to put a stop to it. I don’t think Williams should be removed from the starting lineup – but it’s worth considering. There are elements to his game that warrant a starting job. He’s still an above average defender and he’s not turning the ball over much on offense. Then again, he’s not touching it much either.
But consider for a moment bringing Williams off of the bench. The starters would be just fine. Joe Johnson is capable of playing the three with Mike Bibby and Crawford in the lineup. That’s been proven by the Hawks dominance with that unit on the floor throughout the early portion of this season.
Playing with the second unit would help Williams further develop his strengths. Although the Hawks’ bench is indeed stronger than we’ve seen in a very long time, it desperately lacks interior scoring. Without Al Horford and Josh Smith in the post, there would be a spot on the block with Marvin’s name written all over it. Perhaps that is exactly what he needs to finally tap into all that “upside” that the Hawks invested so much in four years ago.
