Louis Williams Is The Next Jamal Crawford
Louis Williams of the Toronto Raptors is the heir apparent to Jamal Crawford as the NBA’s best instant-offense sixth man. In fact, he is not only the heir apparent, he is a usurper challenging Crawford’s claim to the throne this very season.
Williams and Crawford—along with Phoenix Suns’ Isaiah Thomas, New Orleans’ Ryan Anderson and the ever present Manu Ginobili for the San Antonio Spurs—are in competition for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Ric Bucher for Bleacher Report adds Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls to the conversation and gives the nod to Golden State Warriors’ Marreese Speights so far for his all-around contribution to the league leading Warriors.
While there many deserving names to throw into the discussion for Sixth Man of the Year and players that do a lot of useful things such as defend, rebound, pass and the like, no two players come into the game gunning quite like Louis Williams and Jamal Crawford. They are brought into the game to score, score and then score some more.
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The original “Microwave,” Vinnie Johnson of the Detroit Pistons, earned his nickname for being able to come off the bench and get hot in a hurry. Both Crawford and Williams continue Johnson’s legacy of bench scoring prowess.
Whereas many of the top scorers in the league “let the game come to them” and can take time to get into a rhythm, Crawford and Williams are shooting almost from the time they check-in at the scorer’s table.
Their game is akin to the Hot Pocket or microwaveable burrito. It may not be the most complete meal (all-around game), but it gives you what you want (points) in a hurry.
Jamal Crawford leads all bench players in scoring with 15.7 per game in 25.3 minutes per. Louis Williams is second with 15.1 points per game in 24.2 minutes, according to NBA.com.
While Crawford is in the game, he accounts for 28.3 percent of the Los Angeles Clippers points. That number ranks him 20th in the league according to NBA.com. Louis Williams is 27th trailing Damian Lillard with 27.6 percent of his team’s points while on the floor.
With a few exceptions, that list is populated by All-Stars such as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and other superstars.
How Do They Score?
For both Louis Williams and Jamal Crawford, it starts with their ball handling. They are premier isolation players that are two of the best in the league at getting their own shot.
A quick search for “Jamal Crawford Crossover” reveals a plethora of videos to choose from. Below is just one of those results.
A similar search for Louis Williams doesn’t yield nearly as many results. One reason for that is Crawford has been in the league longer and the other reason is that while Williams’ handle is good, it isn’t quite on “JCrossover’s” level.
Both Crawford and Williams use picks well, especially as the ball handler. Their ability to crossover and switch the direction of the pick make them extremely difficult to guard in the pick-and-roll.
They are also two of the most active pull-up shooters in the game. Williams ranks 20th in points off pull-ups per game and Crawford ranks 24th, per NBA.com. Williams also ranks eighth in pull-up three pointers with one made per game.
However, he is only shooting 30.3 percent on those pull-up threes. Jamal Crawford ranks 24th in pull-up threes while shooting an ugly 28 percent on those threes.
Three Point Shooting
Both Williams and Crawford are prolific three point shooters outside of merely pulling up in transition. Among bench players, Crawford ranks fifth with 1.9 threes made per game and Williams is sixth with 1.8, per NBA.com.
Looking at both starters and bench players that have played at least 30 games and attempted at least 10 percent of their field goals from three, Louis Williams ranks 16th in unassisted three-point percentage at 41.9 percent. That means that 41.9 percent of his made three pointers are not assisted by another player according to NBA.com.
That puts him ahead of noted step-back artists such as Stephen Curry (41.3 percent), Nick Young (37.1 percent) and Kemba Walker (33.8 percent). Crawford ranks 44th with 27.2 percent of his made threes being unassisted.
Free Throws
Williams and Crawford use the threat of their long-range shooting, ball handling and effective pull-up game to draw a high number of fouls, especially shooting fouls.
Williams leads all bench players in free throws attempted and made with 4.9 attempted and 4.2 made per game according to NBA.com. Crawford is third in free throws made and attempted by bench players with 4.2 attempt and 3.8 made.
Jamal Crawford also happens to be the best four-point play artist the NBA has ever had. Fred Katz for Bleacher Report notes in his column about Crawford’s career that at the time he had 44 career four-point plays. The next highest on the list is Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller with 23.
Their ability to draw shooting fouls and convert those attempts is one of their most important skills. Both Williams and Crawford have low field goal percentages. Williams’ field goal percentage of 40.8 percent ranks him 213th. Crawford’s 40.3 percent shooting from the field ranks him 219th according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Their proficiency for drawing shooting fouls and converting at the line redeems their scoring efficiency somewhat. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Louis Williams’ True Shooting percentage of 56.6 percent places him 77th in the league. Jamal Crawford’s True Shooting percentage is 55.2 percent, good for 103rd.
Who’s Better?
| Player | Season | G | MP | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamal Crawford | 2014-15 | 42 | 25.8 | .403 | 1.9 | 5.7 | .339 | 3.8 | 4.1 | .913 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 15.7 |
| Louis Williams | 2014-15 | 42 | 24.2 | .408 | 1.8 | 5.1 | .344 | 4.2 | 4.9 | .859 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 15.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/23/2015.
Their statistics for this season are extremely similar. They are both aggressive, if at times inefficient. Their coaches use them as spark plugs off the bench to make things happen, especially on offense. Sometimes they force bad shots, but their aggressiveness leads to fouls and opportunities at the line.
Even though Williams’ True Shooting percentage is a little bit higher, Crawford’s advantage in assists per game accounts for more points for his team per game. Crawford is still the best volume scorer off the bench in the NBA, but only by a hair and Louis Williams is coming for his spot. Check out their similarities below.