OKC Thunder 30 for 30, part 12 – Evaluating shooting guard Lou Williams

Professional Scorer

Lou-Will has firmly established himself as one of the leagues best scorers with the ability to get hot in a hurry. While his 13.7 point average over his 12 year career doesn’t jump off the page, Williams has only started 109 times out of 861 appearances. At age 31, Sweet Lou continues to put up buckets in bunches and remains a threat every time he sets foot on the court.

Williams became the first player at year 12 to average 20 or more points in a season. To further complement this feat, Williams set a career high 50 points (16-27 shooting, 8-16 from three  and 10-10 on free throws) in the Clippers 125-106 win over the Golden State Warriors.

To further breakdown Lou-Will’s scoring prowess lies primarily in the restricted area and mid-range. At just 6’2 he does a great job finishing at the rim, completing 58.4 percent of his attempts in the restricted area and 44 percent in the mid-range. His ability to score in isolation is perhaps his most valuable attribute. When the clock winds down to the final seconds, he is a trustworthy option to create for himself (scored 365 buckets unassisted).

Surprisingly, Williams struggled shooting the corner three last season. He converted horrible 28.5 percent (31-108) from either corner but shot superbly above the break (38 percent). He’s never been a consistent shooter from beyond the arc, sporting a below league average of 34.8 percent of his attempts. While he is a fantastic scorer, his long range shooting is his weakest part of his offensive game.

At this point in his career, Lou-Will is unlikely to improve markedly in other areas. He is a pure scorer and can bail out offenses when it stalls.