Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Posted: 11:38 a.m.
By Reuben Frank
CSNPhilly.com
Lou Williams is back playing. Hes just not back to being Lou Williams.
Williams, the Sixers explosive Sixth Man of the Year candidate, has struggled in the first two games of the Sixers first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with the Miami Heat, his first games since suffering a hamstring strain during the Sixers loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee on April 2.
After averaging 13.7 points per game during the regular season -- second-best among NBA reserves -- Williams made just 4 of 18 shots for 18 points in the two losses in Miami. Williams is 2 for 8 from three in the series and not remotely 100 percent after missing two weeks.
Its rough, Williams said. Obviously, Im not myself.
Williams is such an important part of the Sixers attack, delivering energy, clutch three-pointers and the ability to attack the rim. But so far in this series, hes had a tough time of it, and so have his teammates.
During the regular season, Williams ranked 17th in the NBA and first on the Sixers with 28.3 points per 48 minutes played. Without his motion, movement without the ball and scoring from a variety of spots on the floor, the Sixers offense looks lost.
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My mobility is a little stricken, he said. A hamstring is not an easy thing. Game 1 was the first time I played live 5-on-5 basketball since the injury. I didnt get an opportunity to practice. Its rough. Im trying to do in two or three days a lot of guys do in two or three weeks. In the playoffs.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Williams made three of 10 shots in Game 1, then was just 1 for 8 in Game 2 Monday, when the Heat won by 21 points.
Just having a rough time trying to find my rhythm, Williams said. Theres not a lot of time for me to try to find it. Ive just got to go out there and play and see what happens.
Iguodala mired in offensive funkIn his last playoff appearance, Andre Iguodala carried the Sixers. He averaged 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists in the Sixers series loss to the Magic in 2009.
So far in this series, Iguodala has made just 4 of 15 shot attempts, hes shot 0 for 4 from three-point range, and hes scored just nine points in the first two games -- an average of 4.5 points per game.
Iguodala does have 16 assists and 15 rebounds, but the absence of his offensive game is mystifying. He is hurting with a bad right knee, but 4 12 points per game? Iguodala scored 14.1 during the regular season and was healthy enough to score 14.1 also in March and April.
Iguodala said his poor shooting so far is a product of Miamis tremendous defense.
I havent shot an open shot all series, he said. Every time I get the ball, I see a guy in front of me. And you get past him, theres another guy there.
These first two games, Ive just really been facilitating. I think Ive been catching the ball out too far. I havent really been catching it at the point of attack, so I think Ill try to get in that area a little bit more.
Seven straight bad quarters
The Sixers outscored the Heat 31-19 in the first quarter of Game 1 and made 14 of 23 shots (61 percent).
In seven quarters since, theyre 48 for 142 from the field, just 34 percent.
Here are shooting stats for all the Sixers over those last seven quarters:
Iguodala 3-13 (23 percent), Elton Brand 4 for 12 (33 percent), Spencer Hawes 1 for 5 (20 percent), Jodie Meeks 3 for 8 (38 percent), Jrue Holiday 7 for 21 (33 percent), Thaddeus Young 16 for 38 (42 percent), Andres Nocioni 0 for 3 and Williams 4-16 (25 percent).
The five starters combined to make 13 baskets in the first quarter of Game 1. Theyve made 18 in the last seven quarters.
Coach Doug Collins answer? Keep shooting.
Youve got to forget it, he said. As a shooter, you better have amnesia.
Pistol Pete Maravich was one of my heroes, and I read something from him when I was a little kid -- he said, If youre a 50 percent shooter and you miss 10 in a row, at some point youre going to make 10 in a row. Because the stats say that. Thats what you have to believe. I tell our guys all the time, if you have a good shot, take it.
Looking for a positive?
Thaddeus Young has 13 offensive rebounds in the first two games, more than twice as many offensive boards as anybody else from either team.
Not many things the Sixers are working, but Youngs work on the offensive glass is giving the Heat a hard time.
If we figured that out, he definitely wouldnt be working on the boards like he is, Heat forward Chris Bosh said. He uses his quickness to his advantage. Sometimes, you try to out-muscle him, but its hard to describe. His lateral quickness is very good, and he can jump pretty high. Hes very athletic.
When you have a guy like that, sometimes its confusing to box him out, especially in the rotations when our guards have to pick him up, but thats something we can improve on and try to limit his offensive rebounds and their easy baskets.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
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