Hello everyone, this post will hopefully give you a little flavor of the type of analysis I will provide as part of Nets Are Scorching. I am truly honored for the opportunity to contribute towards the Nets, and am thankful for a chance to talk to Nets fans like myself everyday.
What I took away from the Nets pre-season game against the Rockets was the play of Terrence Williams offensively. While I do agree that for the Nets to be successful, Williams would be thriving more as a play maker rather than a “scorer” but I think its a nice sign in TWill’s development that he was taking what Houston was giving him, and knocking down shots.
Let’s take a closer look at ways Williams found the hoop:
In transition:
Its always a luxury when you have a guard who is capable of handling the break go in and rebound, and the athlete Williams is, he is able to do. This also triggers our break. Here’s what I liked, Williams decision making in two break situations.
This first one came off a Williams defensive rebound. As he pushed the ball up into the front court, the Rockets do a poor job of stopping him, as they allow TWill to dribble almost to the foul line before picking him up. In the picture below you’ll see Shane Battier (guarding Williams with the ball) dropped below the foul line.
Williams from this position is a decision maker, and I feel he’s taking what the defense gives him here and calmly knocks down the jump shot. See video below.
The second video clip is virtually identical to the first. Williams again is pushing the action after a defensive rebound, the Rockets and especially Battier are retreating. Williams, takes what Battier gives him and this time stops on a dime and pulls up for a jump shot which he drains.
Here’s another way TWill was effective, pick and roll situations:
In this first clip, Williams is paired with Jordan Farmar in the back court. After some action off the ball with Farmar, Travis Outlaw and Johan Petro, Petro does a nice job and sprints out to screen for Williams near the top of the key. Williams comes off the screen well and is attacking the paint. Again the Rockets all back off him.
With the Rockets defenders for the most part staying home and the roll man (Petro) not open, Williams scores on a runner. See video below.
Again, another pick and roll situation, and this time the set was directly after a time-out and involved Brook Lopez as the screener. Williams does a nice job of attacking the paint off of the screen, and effectively gets Brook Lopez a bucket as he tips home Williams miss. See video.
And just for good measure, Williams shows us that he has worked on his post game some. In a secondary transition break, Williams runs and immediately seals his man in the mid-post, backs him down, and shoots a fade away over him.
Now while this may not be the types of shots we’ll want or expect always from TWill, it is nice to know his confidence in his outside is growing.
