University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Kenny Will
November 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
by Turner Walston
The North Carolina Tar Heels were sort of lazily limping toward halftime in Sunday's home opener. The Chattanooga Mocs were outmatched, and the Tar Heels knew it, but they weren't exactly showing it on the scoreboard. With just under five minutes to play in the first half, a Justin Tuoyo dunk pulled the visitors within three.
This would not do. Forty-four seconds earlier, sophomore guard Kenny Williams had checked into the game for the second time. It was Williams who answered Tuoyo's dunk with a three-pointer just 30 seconds later. It was Williams who Kennedy Meeks found after diving for a loose ball. Williams then dished to Luke Maye for a lay-up. It was Williams who started the break after a defensive rebound. Justin Jackson missed a lay-up on that break, but Williams got the offensive rebound, then found Joel Berry for a three.
Williams' line over the half's final four minutes reads as though he's trying to fill every column next to his name on the box score. Three-point field goal. Assist. Defensive rebound. Offensive rebound. Assist. Free throw. Free throw. Carolina pushed a three-point lead to 11 at halftime, in a game they would win by 40. And Kenny Williams was the spark.
"That last couple minutes, we just turned up the defensive intensity and turned up our effort," Williams said after the game. "Guys were diving on the floor, guys were getting after it on defense and the crowd got into it, after that we got into it, everybody on the bench and everybody on the court. We just got a lot of fast-break easy lay-ups and opened it up."
A year ago, Kenny Williams was a wide-eyed freshman on a veteran team. He came to Carolina, a late commit with a shooter's reputation. And that's all he needed to be. The Heels were loaded, and any contribution from Williams or fellow freshman Maye was almost a luxury. But the shooter struggled making the adjustment to the college game. In limited minutes, he often didn't find a rhythm. The shooter made just one three-point basket in his freshman season, against Pitt in the ACC Tournament.
But sophomore Kenny Williams is a different Kenny Williams. The hair is shorter. The shoulders are broader. The arms are bigger, and the confidence is apparent. "Effort. That's all it is," he said of his secret to early-season success. "Just come in and give all that you can on the court for the time that you're on the court, and whatever happens, happens. Right now, it's just give maximum effort, and on the offensive end, if you have a shot, take it without hesitation. Confidence and effort, that's it."
And so in three games of his sophomore season, Williams has made twice as many three-point attempts as he did in ten times that many as a freshman. But Williams is more than just a shooter, and his head coach knows it. Need someone to dive on the floor? Kenny will. Need someone to take a three? Kenny will. Need someone to grab a rebound? Kenny will. "I did think he was a really good shooter (when recruiting him), but the first time I ever saw him play, he made five threes, but he also took three charges," said Roy Williams. "And he's an intelligent player." Of course, Roy Williams won't often lavish praise without a dose of humility, and he chided Kenny Williams for committing an offensive foul in the second half. But the coach said Kenny would learn from that, and he will.
Roy Williams also said that the coaches thought last year and during the preseason that Kenny Williams might be the team's best perimeter defender. That's saying something, with the quickness of Nate Britt and Joel Berry and the length of Justin Jackson on the wing. And with Theo Pinson out indefinitely after foot surgery, the Tar Heels will lean on Williams even heavier. While missing Pinson is not ideal, his absence does allow Williams more minutes and more opportunity to gain confidence and comfort on the court. "It's definitely a bigger opportunity now that Theo's [injured]," Williams said. "Somebody has to take those minutes. Those minutes have to be filled, so it's automatically going to be more opportunity, more minutes to play. I came in expecting a big opportunity, and with that happening, I guess it's a little bit bigger now."
An ankle injury to Luke Maye will have Williams' fellow sophomore out for a bit, perhaps the team's entire Hawaii trip. That takes a hit on Carolina's already-thin post depth. Pinson had been the anchor of the Tar Heels' small lineup. Now, Jackson will slide down to play the four in spots, and Williams will be relied upon on the wing, and with his new strength, he may bang with the bigs as well. "I can go up now and I'll snatch the ball, and it'll be mine, and it'll be no debate about it," he said. "Last year I don't think that would have happened." Just look at his arms. I envy them. "I'm noticing (now) when I go up and snatch it, it's mine," he said. "Nobody's taking it, and we're off to the races."
Kenny Williams is proving that he's a shooter, but he's more than that. And Sunday night, his head coach dropped a weighty comparison on the young man. "Four for seven, six rebounds, 11 points, five assists, one turnover, three steals," Roy Williams said, reading Kenny's line. "That's a Danny Green kind of stat sheet right there, where you're involved in a lot of good things."
That'll do. Kenny Williams is making things happen, and the freshmen who was happy to be along for the ride last year is contributing, and his confidence is reflected in that box score. "Right now I would say skyrocketing," he said of that conference. "Even in high school, I've never been this confident in myself, so I'm looking to keep that going."
And so are the Tar Heels. Need a sophomore to step up in big spots? Kenny will.
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