Charlotte Hornets: Marvin Williams Returns To Form
Marvin Williams had a fantastic year for the Charlotte Hornets last season but started this season with a shooting slump. Since his return from a knee injury, he has returned to form.
After a decent 2014-15 season for the Charlotte Hornets, Marvin Williams looked like a completely different player in 2015-16. Williams played in (and started) all but one game for the Hornets last year. He put up 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 40.2 percent from behind the arc. The Hornets rewarded him for his efforts with a four-year $54 million contract this offseason.
The results of that contract were not promising in the early portion of this season. Williams shot just 33.6 percent from the field in October and November, and only 34.1 percent from long range. He looked a step slow on defense and was unable to convert on open looks, even as Kemba Walker‘s early season brilliance created more space than ever for the players around him.
Williams missed six games in late November and early December with a bone bruise in his left knee. Since his return to the lineup, he has looked far more like the player he was last season than he did in the first few weeks of this year.
His performance on the defensive end has improved, and his long ball has returned as well. Williams has shot 37 percent from deep since his return from injury. His return to form is key for a Hornets team pushing for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.
Early Season Struggles
Marvin Williams not only shot a career-best percentage on triples in 2015-16 but also a career-high 4.7 attempts per game from deep. At the start of the 2016-17 season, Williams was attempting more long balls than ever, but without the same accuracy.
Williams averaged 5.7 attempts per game from long range in October and November. However, he was unable to make those looks with the same frequency as the year before.
He did not appear to have his usual hops to start the season. When healthy, Williams is still a great athlete. However, he could barely get off the ground in the first few weeks of the season:
Williams shot an abysmal 37.9 percent on shots less than five feet from the basket in the first few weeks of the season. He appears to favor his right leg as he runs to the rim in the play above, and does not explode to the basket with his usual strength.
His jump shot was also regularly short, another indicator that his legs may not have been entirely there through the first few weeks. Most of his misses were short of the rim, like this shot against the Celtics:
Much of the value that Williams provided to the Hornets last season was contingent on his three-point shooting. With non-shooter Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at the other forward slot, Charlotte needed Williams to space the floor to create driving lanes for Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum.
Forcing Al Horford to dart out to the perimeter to contest Williams helps open holes in opposing defenses — but only if Marvin is making those shots.
Return From Injury And Return To Form
Marvin Williams returned to the Hornets on Dec. 7 against the Pistons. Since then, he has essentially been the Marvin Williams from last season.
Marvin played decent defense in the early portion of the season, but not up to his usual standards. He posted a 103.8 Defensive Rating and a -2.9 Net Rating in November, per NBA.com. Williams followed that up with a 100.9 Defensive Rating and a 7.0 Net Rating in December.
While Williams is not solely responsible for Charlotte’s defensive performance during his time on the floor, his personal improvement from November to December is certainly noteworthy.
Williams has also looked far better on the offensive end since his return from injury. He is shooting 53.7 percent on shots less than five feet from the basket since Dec. 7. His lift also appears to be back; notice how much higher he jumps on this shot than the airball against Boston:
Instead of leaving many of his looks short of the rim, Williams has been able to get his shots just a little bit further since his return from injury. That difference may be small, but the jump in his efficiency from behind the arc is not.
Can He Keep It Up?
Williams played in 15 games prior to his injury and has played in 17 games since then.
Although the sample sizes are almost identical, his numbers since his return seem more in line with past performance. His efficiency on three-pointers since his return would be above his career high, but his shooting from last season indicates that he is a better long range shooter than he was early in his career.
His struggles early in the season were troublesome given his new contract, but his play since his return is more reminiscent of last year’s play. For that reason alone, his more recent stretch of games seems more sustainable than his cold stretch to start the year. His improved lift after his return from injury also indicates that his early season play may have been the outlier.
The Hornets are on the verge of homecourt advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Charlotte is currently tied for the fifth seed. They are 1.5 games behind Atlanta, who look poised for a second half regression after trading Kyle Korver and appearing to be on the verge of trading Paul Millsap, per The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Marvin Williams will be an important factor as the Hornets look to climb up the Eastern Conference standings. Both Williams and the Hornets will have to hope that his 2015-16 season and his post-injury play is more indicative of his future than his rough start to this season.
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