Sixers Beat Bucks: Lou Williams Breaks Out

The satisfaction of two consecutive wins for new coach Tony DiLeo was muted by the injury to Elton Brand. Some notes on the game:

In the previous game, Andre Miller had taken just a handful of shots and failed to score double figures for the first time in a while. A number of commentators remarked that this was Miller's proper role, strictly a distributor of the ball. I don't agree. Last night, Miller scored 19 including 12 in the first quarter when the rest of the Sixer offense was AWOL. Miller needs to go to the hoop to be effective. And even though he is not a high-flyer, he is one of the best finishers on the team.

The Sixer defense really stepped up in the fourth quarter, a key to the win. The Bucks were held to 15 points but we can't get too excited about this yet because this was, after all, the Bucks.

The bench contribution was enormous, shades of last season. Speights scored 12 points, mainly from just running the floor and being active. Reggie Evans is hard to explain. He gets zero points for artistry and he can't throw the ball in the ocean. But somehow he makes things happen. He's kind of like the Joe the Plumber of the Sixers. Come to think of it, given the NBA salaries, Reggie has a lot more reason to be concerned about higher taxes than the real "Joe".

And then there is Lou Williams who had a season high 25 points. Williams started out tepidly this year but for the last few weeks, his offense has been getting into gear. Lou may well be the Sixers' most talented, most creative offensive player although he probably doesn't know it. When his outside shot is working he is almost unstoppable. Based strictly on merit, he should probably be starting but he may be just as important coming off the bench in the mold of some of the classic NBA sixth men such as John Havlicek. Just so Williams gets enough minutes and is around at crunch time.