Louisville basketball: Evaluating the performance of the Cards freshmen

Samuell Williamson

Grade: B-

I’m sort of treating these like the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, in that I’m looking at the entire body of work to this point.

Had you asked me after the first few games, I would’ve given the young wing an A-, but I think we all know Sam has been deemed inconsistent as of late. However, his season averages tell somewhat of a different story.

He is averaging 5 pts, 2.8 rebounds, and is shooting 52.6% from the field in just 15 minutes per game and is coming off his best game of the season against Clemson in which he scored 14 points.

While there is much to be desired about Williamson, such as his athleticism and his smooth entry into the lane, he has shown some glaring clumsiness on defense and in 50-50 ball situations. In fact, that was the reason Williamson only played sparingly through the non-conference schedule.

Chris Mack and his teammates have seen a big improvement over the last few weeks and it’s shown in his minutes increase. “Sam is getting better and better. If you looked back to the games in December, I couldn’t put him on the floor as much because of what he wasn’t doing on the defensive end. But he’s playing better now on defense, he’s learning and he’s starting to understand and I think he’s also got his confidence back on offense. Sometimes, it just takes a little time,” Coach Mack said after Williamson’s breakout game against the Tigers.

The young man definitely has the tool kit to make his statistics surge in the latter part of the season, but I wonder how much of his seldom use on the floor as of late has to do with his lack of speed on switches defensively and his newfound inability to protect the ball under intense pressure.

The Louisville staff is not keen on little mistakes that take away from success in each existing possession. And yes, little improvements like that come with floor experience.