After Jameer Nelson went down with a torn meniscus on November 16, many Magic fans began to panic.
Turns out, there was never any need to.
Why?
Jason Williams.
Formally known as White Chocolate and now known as J-Will, Williams was a solid backup to Nelson and has become an even better player as a starter.
Williams has played well in several different areas of the game and exceeds in one, depending on what the team needs on any given night.
For example, in Wednesday night’s win over the New York Knicks, the Magic didn’t necessarily need Williams to drive to the hole and make plays; they are getting plenty of offense from other players. The Magic needed Williams to play good defense, especially against the pick-and-roll, something that the Knicks have used to kill the Magic in the past. Chris Duhon, New York’s starting Point Guard, who scored 11 points and dished out 9 assists in New York’s loss to Orlando Sunday, was held to just 8 points and 2 assists. Stan Van Gundy said that Orlando’s pick-and-roll defense was the best that it has ever been against the Knicks. Williams also showed off his hard work and quick hands, coming up with three steals.
On Sunday night, Orlando needed Williams to be smart with the ball, set up his teammates and avoid turnovers, and that is exactly what he did. Williams dished out 10 assists and did not have on single turnover.
Back on November 25 in a loss to the Miami Heat, the Magic really struggled shooting from the field. The team, outside of Williams, shot just 35.3%. Williams picked up the slack. He scored a game-high (and a personal season-high) 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Williams is averaging 7.2 points per game, 4.8 assists per game and .9 steals per game while playing 24.5 minutes per game and has led his team to a 7-1 record as the starting Point Guard, but you have to delve deeper into the statistics to find Williams’ real impact.
Since Jameer Nelson went down with a torn meniscus against the Bobcats and Williams took over as the starting Point Guard against Oklahoma City on November 18, he is averaging 8.9 points per game, 6.6 assists per game, and 1.6 steals per game. Williams is shooting 46.5% from the field and is shooting 44.4% from downtown. He has an eFG% of just under 57%.
One question that I personally had about Williams was how many minutes he could play. Williams is 34 years old and did not play in the NBA during the 2008-09 season but Williams has played 33 minutes per game since taking over the starting role and has yet to show any real signs of fatigue.
Williams is the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 5.75-to-1. Keep in mind that Chris Paul has the league’s second best ratio at 4.38-to-1, well over a full assist less than Williams’ league-leading ratio. Williams does a better job of taking care of the ball than any other Point Guard in the league. Williams has committed just 12 bad passes that resulted in a turnover and had committed just 2 turnovers while handling the ball.
Williams still averages 9.5 assists per 48 minutes. Williams’ scoring has taken a backseat to his ability to find his teammates, which is more important when you play for a team that has as many scorers as the Magic do. Williams has also really spread the wealth with his passing. Surprisingly, he has just 5 assists that have resulted in dunks, but he does have 21 other assists that have ended with field goals close to the hoop. Williams has shown that he fits in with Orlando’s style of play because 29 of his assists have come on made 3-pointers by the Magic.
Williams has not done a lot of shooting but when he has, he has been very efficient. Williams is shooting 44% from the field and 40.7% from downtown on the season. His eFG% is 54%. The majority of Williams’s shots have been jumpers, but he is shooting an eFG% of 52.9% on those jumpers. Williams has also shown an ability to get the basket off of the dribble, which is where nearly all of the rest of his points have come from.
If those numbers weren’t enough to show just how well Williams has played, we’ll take a look at some of Orlando’s team numbers with Williams in the game.
Let’s get passed the obvious first – Orlando is 7-1 since Williams took over as the starting Point Guard and the team is 15-4 overall. Their 15 wins are more than any other team in the league.
Orlando’s offensive rating is 111.1 with Williams Williams on the court while their defensive rating is 100. When Williams is off of the court, Orlando’s offensive rating is 109.5 while their defensive rating is 106.7.
While Williams is in the game, Orlando holds their opponents to an eFG% of 45%, but when he’s off of the court, teams shoot an eFG of 49.8%.
Keep in mind that Williams was part of Orlando’s second unit for the first 11 games of the season, meaning he has played with several different lineups, making these numbers, especially on the defensive end, even more impressive.
Obviously, Williams is not the only reason for Orlando’s recent hot streak. Ryan Anderson returned from injury and Rashard Lewis is back from his suspension, but Williams’ numbers are impressive nonetheless.
You have to be a pretty good player to replace an All-Star and have your team not skip a beat offensively or defensively.
Sources: Basketball-Reference.com, 82games.com
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)