LA Clippers Should Dial Back Lou’s Minutes

After All-Star Break, the LA Clippers might be asking a little too much of their sixth man. Should Lou Williams’ minutes be cut back a bit?

As we are at a (much needed) break in the season, Lou Williams is averaging 30.0 minutes per game for the LA Clippers. Not counting Marcus Morris, who’s only played in three games for us, this is second-most on the team.

That’s the 8th most minutes per game this season among players age 33 or older.  It’s the second most minutes he’s averaged in any season his whole career. He’s also taking the second most shots per game he’s ever taken in his career.

Lou is seeing more action than he’s seen at almost any other point in his time in the NBA. And as they say, Father Time is undefeated.

Look, this isn’t a hate piece on Sweet Lou. He’s shown that he’s still as effective as ever at finding his shot, and he can knock down that fader going left as well as anybody else in the game. But maybe it’s not fair to the guy or to the team to ask him to do it for 30 minutes, night in and night out.

Lou’s on/off stats aren’t good, per Basketball-Reference. The team is playing better with him off the court than on in any meaningful metric. The gap between our net rating with him on and with him off is bigger than the gap between our net rating and the Orlando Magic’s net rating. Now, there are two different ways you can take those stats.

1. Lou’s washed. He’s done. He’s old and can’t play anymore. Lou, if you’re reading this, this is NOT what I am arguing. No divide and conquer here.
2. He’s being asked to do too much for too many minutes a game.

My money’s on 2.

Let the guy pick his spots for 20, 25 minutes a game. Let him attack opposing benches more, and stop asking him to hold up defensively against their starters so much. Let him play big minutes if the matchup calls for it, but don’t have him do it every night.

And with some of those minutes, give our young guys some run! Let’s see what Amir Coffey, or Terance Mann can do with a few more minutes.

And then, come playoffs, when the game slows down and the ability to create your own shot is a premium skill? Lou will be more rested, and ready to do his thing.