On Monday, North Carolina basketball returned to the practice floor — the team’s first tiny step in defense of its NCAA title. There are several new faces in Chapel Hill; however, a handful of talented holdovers remain. Included in that older bunch: Kenny Williams.
After surgery in July — the second on his right knee since February — Williams was finally cleared to return to basketball activities. The junior guard will reportedly have his practice reps monitored, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
UNC's Kenny Williams (knee) has been fully cleared for all basketball activities, but will have his reps monitored, per a school spokesman.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 2, 2017
This is obviously great news for Williams, who has been put through a great deal of recovery in 2017. Williams watched from the sideline as his team won the national championship; now he gets the chance to contribute again.
Two-way — By the numbers
Kenny Williams appeared in 26 games as a sophomore, including 22 starts before tearing his right meniscus in late February.
Williams was also one of 14 ACC players last season to play at least 600 minutes, record an assist rate above 13 percent, a true shooting rate above 52 percent and a steal rate of at least two percent.
He’s a ball-mover on offense, evidenced by a solid assist rate (13.5 percent); his defense is steady, too. And with Justin Jackson now in the pros, Williams may have to be a stopper at times for UNC, although Theo Pinson is best suited for the role.
Xs and Os
As I wrote back in June, Kenny Williams and Cameron Johnson have the ability to create all kinds of issues for ACC defenses in 2017-18; the offense won’t have to be exclusively Joel Berry drives to the hoop. That’s important, too, because the Tar Heels simply don’t have the interior scoring options that have dominated college hoops the last few seasons.
UNC will have to get points from it’s offensive sets, which is where Williams can thrive. Berry and Pinson give the Heels two experienced and gifted playmakers; the ball will be in their hands. That’s a boon for UNC and Williams, though.
According to Synergy Sports, Williams and Johnson combined to shoot 85-of-215 (39.5 percent) on catch-and-shoot opportunities last season. They scored 253 points on a combined 215 catch-and-shoot possessions — 1.18 points per possession.
Cam Johnson also posted an effective field goal rate of 55 percent on off-screen possessions in 2016-17, per Synergy. This bodes well for this screen-the-screener guard action.
Justin Jackson used 204 catch-and-shoot possession last season, per Synergy, so opportunities are abound. Jackson was one of only two ACC players to record 200-plus of these type of possessions — the other being Andrew White at Syracuse. The last ACC cager to do this was Kyle Singler for Duke — way back in 2009-10
Additionally, Williams will likely benefit defensive coverages that are slanted to stop Berry and Johnson. He could feast on lesser defenders.
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