NFL
By: Stephen PridGeon-Garner
Courtney Williams’ return to the Connecticut Sun is off to a great start for the team, and now she’s stamping her dynamic on this group by the game.
Last season, under a different style of play (one many said was of a different era in terms of pace), the Sun saw historic regular-season returns diminished and neutralized on the playoffs stage, as they ran into a buzzsaw that was the eventual champion Chicago Sky, who played with pace.
What plagued the Connecticut Sun were a few things, mainly the pace of play on their own. They bogged down in the halfcourt with great frequency and struggled to generate offense outside of their glut of frontcourt production.
That, in turn, forced them to put an emphasis on winning the possessions battle as they weren’t shooting threes at a viable rate of volume or on conversion, and subsequently had the math dynamic against them often.
What Courtney Williams addresses for the Connecticut Sun
(Re)Insert one Courtney Williams, and they not only solve the pace issue but also abundantly address the creation independent of their frontcourt dynamic as well. A two-for-one of sorts in added value.
In June (6gms):
12ppg (47/40/100), 3.2apg, 4.8rpg, 1spgHer pushing pace, solo creation, boarding, pesky off-ball defense & activity, off-ball movement & 1-2 drib pull ups are all blending
She had 14pts (5-7) in H1 Wed. vs ATL, & finished w/ a season-high 20.
It's happening.. https://t.co/al1M2zYzZ2 pic.twitter.com/hEAKKuCjLu
— Stephen PridGeon ☯️🏁 (@StayTrueSDot3) June 16, 2022
Her addition to what was already in place for the Sun, made for one of my favorite additions of the busy WNBA off-season.
The Sun are, through now 15 games, averaging their highest points per game total (88.3) in franchise history. That is also coupled with a field goal percentage (46.9%), three-point percentage (38.1%), free throw attempts per (22.5), and assists per game (21.1) that place them as franchise best marks as well.
They’ve seemingly aligned a change in philosophy, catering more to pace and space in flow and balance off of their defense, which would be the perfect strike that coach/general manager Curt Miller and company envisioned both in (re) adding Williams via free agency, and tinkering with their philosophy.
The “Mistress of the Midrange” took some time feeling out her teammates, picking her spots within the flow of their offense, and establishing her rhythm after a two-game suspension.
However, after knocking the rust off early, the dynamic exuberance that is one of the elite guards of the league is growing. That, plus her free-flowing energy serves as a perfect added bonus in balance to this “no nonsense” bunch.
You can see them having more fun as she applies her style of leadership in keeping them loose through interactions, celebrations, and her audible reactions over the course of the game. As well as her frenetic energy that often catches the eye of viewers and makes her one of the most fun players to watch work in the W.
As for her game, she’s been getting to her one and two dribble pull-ups with the signature pace and rhythm, with great frequency.
Take a look at her shot chart in June through six games.
The Connecticut Sun frequently send her off staggereds, pindowns, and Iverson cuts to flow into their halfcourt actions, getting her the ball in playmaking scenarios on the move.
Her quickness and ability to set defenders up with misdirections, getting them off balance before she attacks with her fleet-footed quickness, allows for her to get downhill with consistency.
She also is great at changing pace and ends whether it’s transition in filling lanes on the wing, semi-transition using drag screens, or flying off dribble handoffs where she can tap into her bag of unpredictability, enabling her to apply pressure with flow and pace.
In general, it’s a principle that you simply cannot duck under with her (no matter how enticing it is due to her quickness) because A.) she’s solid in her fundamentals with setting up the screen, then B.) has the ferocity and quickness to get into her one and two dribble rhythm pull ups (with either hand) with consistent balance and elevation off of her one-two inside-out footwork, converting with great frequency in the blink of an eye.
Having her entity of creation from the perimeter to freelance whenever there’s no set it’s late clock and they flow into variations of pick-and-roll, has proven invaluable as she’s their “bailout” option, consistently making something out of nothing.
There’s the aforementioned unpredictability to keep a defender guessing, often using a cagey hesitation dribble. Then she also loves to “gallop” into set-ups oftentimes getting airborne with a live dribble, then hopping into an assortment of angles chosen to get defenders to open the gate just enough for her to threaten paint touches, then do with the created space whatever she wants.
She’s, of course, leading them in percentage of points in the midrange this month. A “tough bucket,” personified, she ranks 20th and climbing in two’s made per game (4.1), on the 16th highest frequency (9.1 attempts).
Williams, as coach Miller has elocuted a few times now, is an underrated passer too. Adept at passing specifically out of pick-and-roll whether it’s htting the roller or playmaking off of the help and rotations made by the weakside. Also sporting a 28th best assist-to-turnover ratio, solid for a player with a 45th ranked usage rate of 20.8%.
As she continues to apply herself and build chemistry with this rendition of the Sun, they’re sure to grow more and more formidable.
In the moment, however, bringing Williams back is paying great dividends in evolving this roster for a team directly addressing elements responsible for the snag they hit last season.
They reached the Finals in 2019 with Williams as a key cog, losing to the Washington Mystics in five games. Continuity stemming from that rendition was part of what enticed both existing parties to want to reconnect, and the common goal in getting over the hump is what’s driven their efforts in growing as a bunch.
While in Atlanta for two seasons, including her first all-star appearance last season, she acquired skills in leadership that she hadn’t been tasked to exhibit while with the steady Sun early in her career. She now brings that dynamic conducive to winning, adding to the culture already existing with the Sun.
As it stands, they’re right in the thick of the contending realm in my estimation, they’ll be in everyone’s way.
Should they reach what they’re desiring, Courtney Williams will undoubtedly be in the middle of it all for them.
