Lakers: Nick Young Helping Lou Williams Through Struggles
Nick Young offers Lou Williams advice amidst shooting woes
If there were signs of hope for the Los Angeles Lakers heading into the 2015-16 NBA season, one of the largest would be the signing of reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Lou Williams. For the Toronto Raptors last season, Williams was instant offense off of the bench and, though he was never going to address the Lakers’ defensive struggles, he brought the potential of a veteran guard capable of carrying the offense for stretches.
However, that hasn’t been the case through the first 11 games of the Lakers season. While Williams has never been the bastion of efficient offense, he’s at an all-time low in his first run in Los Angeles. His previous career low in terms of field goal percentage was back in the 2008-09 season when he shot only 39.8 percent from the floor. Through 11 games with the Lakers, Williams is only converting on 33 percent of his attempts and an abysmal 22.9 percent of his three-point attempts (ESPN.com).
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Williams isn’t unaware of his struggles and, by all accounts, isn’t please with it in the slightest. Lakers head coach Byron Scott said on Thursday that Williams is incredibly frustrated, but is trying to work through it:
Scott said Lou Williams is frustrated that he isn't hitting shots, putting in a lot of extra work - said he's happy with Lou's leadership
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) November 19, 2015
Apparently, part of working through it involves getting advice from an unlikely source. According to a report from Bill Oram of The Orange County Register, Lakers guard Nick Young has been helping Williams work through this shooting slump to start the year, citing his own struggles last year as he adapted to Scott’s offensive system.
While Young isn’t normally the first person that comes to mind when you think of sage advice, his experience with struggling under Scott is undeniable. In the 42 games he played last season, Young shot a paltry 36.6 percent from the field last season and saw his three-point percentage dip almost two percent from the previous year. However, those numbers have improved as he’s further adapted to the new system with Young shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and a career-high 43.4 percent from three through the first 11 games of this year (ESPN.com).
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The Lakers have countless issues that need to be addressed moving forward, such as their defense, their rebounding, their rotations, and on and on. That being said, Williams working himself out of this slump and being the offensive weapon that the Lakers hoped he’d be when they signed him this offseason would go a long way in making the situation in Los Angeles look far more optimistic.