No rookie has taken the NBA by storm this season quite like Philadelphia 76ers point guard Michael Carter-Williams. While other rookies have struggled at the start of the season, Carter-Williams has made a seamless transition from college to the NBA, helping the 76ers take down Eastern Conference heavyweights Miami and Chicago within the first week of the season, despite the belief that they would be one of the worst teams in the league this season. While the impressive start to the season by Carter-Williams has taken many by surprise, Carter-Williams’ early success in the NBA should be less surprising to those that watched him closely in college, helping Syracuse reach the Final Four last spring.
Throughout his two years in college, Carter-Williams displayed brilliant passing ability, a skill that easily translates from college to the NBA. That passing ability is accentuated by his great court vision and his unselfishness. In college, Carter-Williams was at his best when he was trying to get others involved rather than looking for his own shot, and that has been the case early in his time in the NBA, as he’s done a great job of trying to set up Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes, both of whom are scoring well above their career averages early in the season.
In addition to his passing abilities and impressive assist numbers, what has stood out about Carter-Williams in the games Philadelphia has won this year has been his three-point shooting, which was an inconsistent part of his game in college, but appears to be getting better. He made 8 of his 17 three-point attempts in the Philadelphia’s first three games of the season, which made a huge difference in the 76ers winning all three of those games. In college, Carter-Williams had good form and good mechanics on his jump shot, but he struggled to make perimeter shots when he wasn’t able to step into them. Now that he has more time to devote to basketball, there should be steady improvement in his outside jump shot, which will make him a far more dangerous offensive player.
Perhaps the biggest reason why no one should be surprised by Carter-Williams’ instant success in his NBA is his size. Even in the NBA, there are few point guards that are 6’6’’, and that height gives him advantages on both ends of the floor. Offensively, his size allows him to see the floor better and have better passing angles, allowing him to attempt and complete passes that few point guards can make. Being so tall and having pure point guard abilities has allowed Carter-Williams to create a lot of mismatches on the offensive end, which has been obvious early in his time in the NBA.
Defensively, there were always going to be questions about his transition from a 2-3 zone in college to the man-to-man defense that’s played in the NBA, and there will be an adjustment period. However, there’s no doubt that his size and length have allowed him to bother smaller point guards, making him a capable defender in the NBA. His size has also helped him get a lot of steals, which is something he did in Syracuse’s zone that is now translating to the NBA, as Carter-Williams has 15 steals in his first five games.
The biggest question that lingers about Carter-Williams is how his body and his thin frame will hold up over the course of an 82-game NBA season. He looked tired last March during the Big East Tournament when Syracuse played four games in as many days, and playing 35 minutes per game four times a week in the NBA could tire him out, especially with opposing teams trying to be physical with him in an effort to throw him off his game. However, his height, great passing ability, and propensity for creating turnovers have all translated well to the NBA, and those that watched him play at his best last March as he led Syracuse to the Final Four shouldn’t be surprised to see Carter-Williams pick up where he left off and excel right away in the NBA.
Bryan Zarpentine covers Syracuse Orange football and basketball for ChatSports.com. You can follow him on twitter @BZarp and @ChatSyracuse. Also, add him to your network on Google, and keep up with Syracuse at ChatSports.com/Syracuse-Orange.
Back to the Philadelphia 76ers Newsfeed