SE: K-State WBB’s Peyton Williams Learning to Add Aggressiveness to Efficiency
Dec 27, 2018 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Everyone on the K-State women's basketball team has probably said it to Peyton Williams at some point.
In one word: Shoot. In three: Shoot it more.
"Everyone has to tell Peyton Williams to shoot," senior guard Kayla Goth said, with a laugh, "but she's getting better. She knows that she needs to take shots for us to win."
The reasoning behind this is simple. Williams is K-State's most efficient player. As a team, the Wildcats (8-3) are shooting 43 percent for the season. Williams is shooting 57 percent from the field for the season, 33rd in the nation and fifth in the Big 12. She has scored in double figures in 15 straight games dating back to the final five games of the 2017-18 season.
Before her modest off night against Central Arkansas last week — she went 4-for-11 in K-State's 70-54 win, her first game shooting below 50 percent since the end of last season — Williams was converting 60 percent from the field this season.
Again, as her teammates and coaches have reminded her, the more shots from Williams, the better.
"We're trying to get her to hunt more shots. She's really too unselfish at times. She's been highly effective early, but I still think her best basketball is still yet to be played," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said a few weeks ago. "For those players that have the skill and ability to do a lot of things, sometimes that can be a detriment if they're too unselfish. If you're a 70 percent shooter from 15 feet, it's selfish for you not to take that shot if you want to win, and I know she does."
Williams has heard the requests. She said Mittie is "always" telling her to shoot it more. Sometimes she said it feels like he spends an entire practice saying it.
"He'll be, like, 'Peyton, what are you doing? You have to shoot that ball. You have to look at the basket more. You're making plays that are actually not as smart if you give it up compared to if you would just take it. Just trust the ball in your hands more,'" she said. "It's a process of him just constantly telling me, in my ear the whole practice."
Mittie said another motivating tactic he uses on Williams, albeit one he prefers not to implement, has been to simply take her out of the game if she's passing up good looks.
"She doesn't like that," he said, as K-State (8-3) closes out its non-conference schedule against Northern Iowa at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m. "I know last year one time we had ran two or three different plays and she had windows to shoot it, and I pulled her out and said, 'If you're not going to shoot it, I'm going to sit you over here.' But I don't like to take her out. I'd like to think we've progressed past that point."
As a freshman in a much more limited role, Williams averaged 3.1 shot attempts per game. Last season, that number jumped to 10.9. Twelve games into her junior campaign, it stands at 10.1. It's safe to say the entire team would like to see that number rise.
"She's got the leading field goal percentage on the team. She needs to shoot the ball for us to win, and she knows that," Goth said. "That's the unselfish side of her. Everyone has to tell her to shoot."
Including Williams. She said before each game she tries to "think of the three things" she's supposed to do. Mittie usually supplies this to-do list. Often, a certain amount of shot attempts is included.
"I always keep track of those numbers in my head, like, 'OK, I need to shoot more,' or, 'That was stupid. Don't give it up next time,'" said Williams, who also ranks in the top-15 of the Big 12 in scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, defensive rebounding and minutes played. "Just trying to keep those numbers in my head as kind of a goal the whole time."
Williams' internal battle against being too unselfish, she said, likely stems from her high school career. She played at Cair Paravel Latin School, a small private school in Topeka where she dominated a league without a ton of talent to push her.
"I always looked to pass in high school," she said. "I wasn't in a super challenging league, and I came from a small league, so I just got in the habit of trying to challenge myself to find other players."
Williams also plays volleyball at K-State and splits time with the two teams during October and November. Mittie said this is one reason why he thinks getting her to play more aggressively isn't as easy as simply telling her to shoot more.
"There's a feel out on the floor, and once again we're expediting that with her time away with volleyball," he said. "While she's played very well, she's still half a second behind on some plays. She speeds it up as quick as any player I've had, trust me. She's a smart kid, gets it, understands it, listens to you. If you tell her there's a window there, she trusts you. She doesn't go, 'No, there's not a window.' She just goes, 'OK,' and next time she'll (shoot). So, she speeds it up as quick as any player I've ever had, but it still takes some time."
Everyone on the K-State women's basketball team has probably said it to Peyton Williams at some point.
In one word: Shoot. In three: Shoot it more.
"Everyone has to tell Peyton Williams to shoot," senior guard Kayla Goth said, with a laugh, "but she's getting better. She knows that she needs to take shots for us to win."
The reasoning behind this is simple. Williams is K-State's most efficient player. As a team, the Wildcats (8-3) are shooting 43 percent for the season. Williams is shooting 57 percent from the field for the season, 33rd in the nation and fifth in the Big 12. She has scored in double figures in 15 straight games dating back to the final five games of the 2017-18 season.
Before her modest off night against Central Arkansas last week — she went 4-for-11 in K-State's 70-54 win, her first game shooting below 50 percent since the end of last season — Williams was converting 60 percent from the field this season.
Again, as her teammates and coaches have reminded her, the more shots from Williams, the better.
"We're trying to get her to hunt more shots. She's really too unselfish at times. She's been highly effective early, but I still think her best basketball is still yet to be played," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said a few weeks ago. "For those players that have the skill and ability to do a lot of things, sometimes that can be a detriment if they're too unselfish. If you're a 70 percent shooter from 15 feet, it's selfish for you not to take that shot if you want to win, and I know she does."
Williams has heard the requests. She said Mittie is "always" telling her to shoot it more. Sometimes she said it feels like he spends an entire practice saying it.
"He'll be, like, 'Peyton, what are you doing? You have to shoot that ball. You have to look at the basket more. You're making plays that are actually not as smart if you give it up compared to if you would just take it. Just trust the ball in your hands more,'" she said. "It's a process of him just constantly telling me, in my ear the whole practice."
Mittie said another motivating tactic he uses on Williams, albeit one he prefers not to implement, has been to simply take her out of the game if she's passing up good looks.
"She doesn't like that," he said, as K-State (8-3) closes out its non-conference schedule against Northern Iowa at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m. "I know last year one time we had ran two or three different plays and she had windows to shoot it, and I pulled her out and said, 'If you're not going to shoot it, I'm going to sit you over here.' But I don't like to take her out. I'd like to think we've progressed past that point."
As a freshman in a much more limited role, Williams averaged 3.1 shot attempts per game. Last season, that number jumped to 10.9. Twelve games into her junior campaign, it stands at 10.1. It's safe to say the entire team would like to see that number rise.
"She's got the leading field goal percentage on the team. She needs to shoot the ball for us to win, and she knows that," Goth said. "That's the unselfish side of her. Everyone has to tell her to shoot."
Including Williams. She said before each game she tries to "think of the three things" she's supposed to do. Mittie usually supplies this to-do list. Often, a certain amount of shot attempts is included.
"I always keep track of those numbers in my head, like, 'OK, I need to shoot more,' or, 'That was stupid. Don't give it up next time,'" said Williams, who also ranks in the top-15 of the Big 12 in scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, defensive rebounding and minutes played. "Just trying to keep those numbers in my head as kind of a goal the whole time."
Williams' internal battle against being too unselfish, she said, likely stems from her high school career. She played at Cair Paravel Latin School, a small private school in Topeka where she dominated a league without a ton of talent to push her.
"I always looked to pass in high school," she said. "I wasn't in a super challenging league, and I came from a small league, so I just got in the habit of trying to challenge myself to find other players."
Williams also plays volleyball at K-State and splits time with the two teams during October and November. Mittie said this is one reason why he thinks getting her to play more aggressively isn't as easy as simply telling her to shoot more.
"There's a feel out on the floor, and once again we're expediting that with her time away with volleyball," he said. "While she's played very well, she's still half a second behind on some plays. She speeds it up as quick as any player I've had, trust me. She's a smart kid, gets it, understands it, listens to you. If you tell her there's a window there, she trusts you. She doesn't go, 'No, there's not a window.' She just goes, 'OK,' and next time she'll (shoot). So, she speeds it up as quick as any player I've ever had, but it still takes some time."
Players Mentioned
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