New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez

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http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ns_coach_monty_williams_is_going_to_miss.html

“I can’t say enough about how good of a guy he is,” said Williams, a longtime former Blazers assistant. “He’s just a solid person. A solid locker room guy. A solid guy on the (team) bus. And he’s really passionate about playing — more so than I thought.”

Sounds sooo refreshing! Not saying hickson wasn't a good lockerroom guy, but I could only imagine if we brought in some center with a chip on his shoulder

“You can’t equate defense by the numbers all the time,” Williams said. “That’s the issue I have with all these numbers. He has a good feel for where he’s supposed to be. He may not take a charge, but he’ll distract a guy. To me, that’s just as important at times. He’s also going to help LaMarcus out tremendously. Because LaMarcus doesn’t have to guard Dwight (Howard). He doesn’t have to guard (Kendrick) Perkins and (Marc) Gasol and all those other bigs. It’s a totally different deal. LaMarcus can guard Jason Thompson without having to guard DeMarcus Cousins. That’s going to free him up.”

This is another refreshing comment. It was pretty obvious that Hickson playing out of position usually forced Aldridge to play against a lot of centers. Having someone like Lopez will give Aldridge a bit more rest on the defensive end so most of his damage will be offensively.

“When we lost him, we lost a lot of intelligence — our intellect quotient went down a ton because a he’s really bright person,” Williams said. “He just understands how to play defense. He understands the game and his role. I’m going to miss him.”

This was the game changing comment. High BBALL IQ. Its nice knowing your last line of defense has a head for the game. It's great knowing that your center isn't as concerned about stats as he is about boxing out and giving the other players a good opportunity to get the rebound, have a wide open shot or protect the paint.

 

[HailBlazers]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

Having someone like Lopez will give Aldridge a bit more rest on the defensive end so most of his damage will be offensively.

Exactly. Don't think this can be overstated. Some were underwhelmed with the signing, but the potential impact on LMA's game is huge.

 

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Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

Exactly. Don't think this can be overstated. Some were underwhelmed with the signing, but the potential impact on LMA's game is huge.

Maybe for once, the center will help Aldridge in his rebounding numbers. Not the other way around.

 

[maxiep]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

I miss Monty. Man do I wish we would have fired Nate a bit earlier so we could have promoted him. Of course, Monty probably wouldn't have taken the job under those circumstances.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

I miss Monty. Man do I wish we would have fired Nate a bit earlier so we could have promoted him. Of course, Monty probably wouldn't have taken the job under those circumstances.

Bench promotions are pretty common and I suspect he'd have jumped at the opportunity.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

Why do I have this picture of Lopez being petulant, whiny, lazy and standoffish?

 

[BlazerWookee]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

An NBA player complaining to a referee? The horror.

 

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Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

Why do I have this picture of Lopez being petulant, whiny, lazy and standoffish?

Don't know. Maybe because you don't know?

 

[bigbailes]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

I'm hoping Lopez can come in and be more of a Pryz type. With his high BBIQ, he should be able to anchor the defense and call out where players need to be, much like what Joel provided.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

Don't know. Maybe because you don't know?

It just seems to me that the only moments that stick out in my memory are the ones where he's pouting on the bench, complaining incredulously to the referee, or looking daggers at the coach for pulling him from the game.

Maybe it's selective memory triggered by the douch-nozzle hair?

 

[PDXKass]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ns_coach_monty_williams_is_going_to_miss.html



Sounds sooo refreshing! Not saying hickson wasn't a good lockerroom guy, but I could only imagine if we brought in some center with a chip on his shoulder



This is another refreshing comment. It was pretty obvious that Hickson playing out of position usually forced Aldridge to play against a lot of centers. Having someone like Lopez will give Aldridge a bit more rest on the defensive end so most of his damage will be offensively.



This was the game changing comment. High BBALL IQ. Its nice knowing your last line of defense has a head for the game. It's great knowing that your center isn't as concerned about stats as he is about boxing out and giving the other players a good opportunity to get the rebound, have a wide open shot or protect the paint.

i've alwayd liked and respected Monty as a coach -- head or assistant. the guy is a class act. i'm also pleased that despite their trying times, the Pelicans have kept him in place and given him a real chance.

 

[jlprk]

Re: New Orleans coach Monty Williams is 'going to miss' Trail Blazers center Robin Lo

It just seems to me that the only moments that stick out in my memory are the ones where he's pouting on the bench, complaining incredulously to the referee, or looking daggers at the coach for pulling him from the game.

Maybe it's selective memory triggered by the douch-nozzle hair?

Most people like long hair on both sexes. Why don't you lose your dorky shaved-head look?

Lopez doesn't smile much, but he's smart.