He barely looks old enough to have a driver's license, but 76ers guard Lou Williams has been handed the keys to the team as the starting point guard for new coach Eddie Jordan.

Yesterday, while making an appearance at the Betty and Milton Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, N.J., Williams talked with a crowd of about 100 kids, then shot around with them at the eight baskets that surround the gym. He was at ease mingling with the youngsters, just as he is about his new role.

"I'm anxious, I'm ready to go," he proclaimed while taking a timeout from the throng surrounding him. "It's going to be exciting to really show what I got, what my capabilities are."

Though he won't turn 23 until Oct. 27, Williams is entering his fifth year with the Sixers. Taken with the 45th pick out of South Gwinnett High School in Georgia, the 6-2, 190-pounder needed time to adapt to the NBA style. He proved to be a valuable asset to the team during the 2007-08 season, when he came off the bench to average 11.5 points a game. Following that season, he was rewarded with a $25 million contract over 5 years, and last year upped his average to 12.8.

But with Andre Miller's departure in the offseason, Williams is in a role he hasn't really played since his high school.

"I realize the responsibility of being a starting point guard," he said. "I'm just excited more than anything. I'm not nervous. I'm not scared. This is something I've been ready for for a long time. I'm just ready to get it going.

"Professionally, it's new waters, but it's something I've done from 8 to 18. I think it will be territory that's revisited. It's something that I've been used to my whole life. Coming off the bench was an adjustment for me. I think that this is something that won't take me as long to get adjusted to, because, like I said, I did it my entire career when I wasn't a professional."

It is a lot to put on his slender shoulders, especially with a new offense and a position he hasn't yet played, and now it will be against the world's best. Maybe you could attribute his abundant confidence to his youth. Or maybe he's just wise beyond his 22 years.

"[During the summer], we trained a little harder, we worked on attention to detail more than anything," he said. "I didn't go into the gym and try to kill myself. I went in and tried to perfect the things I know I can do."

And he will do it for a new coach, who runs the (pro-style) Princeton offense, which could benefit Williams.

"Coach Jordan just told me to be myself, just a little bit more of it," he said. "Instead of 20 minutes, I'll be out there for 30 or 35. He just wants me to bring more of myself. And the great thing about being the starting point guard in coach Jordan's system is you're not a point guard, per se. It's not a pound-the-ball point-guard system. Everybody is going to have the ball, flying around, picking, screen-and-rolling. There's going to be a lot of stuff going on. That's the great thing about being in his offense, especially going into my first year in this role."

Williams also has been given the role of mentor to this year's first-round pick, Jrue Holiday. Jordan called Williams and asked him to come up from Atlanta for a week to work out with Holiday, which Williams said he gladly did.

The rest of his offseason, he spent working out in Atlanta - at times with teammates Thaddeus Young, Andre Iguodala and Jason Smith - perfecting the skills he'll need at his new position. His excitement is expected, but it isn't there solely because he will be a starter. Williams thinks Jordan's offense will be a difference-maker, with him the key cog.

"I'm just going to be the facilitator, the guy who makes sure everything is organized," he said. "It's going to be different for everybody. We went through some dummy stuff the other day with three or four guys on the court, and the options that we have offensively, teams aren't going to be able to guard us. They're not going to be able to load up on Andre Iguodala. They're not going to be able to stop me from getting to the hole, and that's going to open up opportunities for everybody. I think Sam [Dalembert] and Elton [Brand], having them on the block, I think we're going to be a hard team to guard against."

Time will tell. And, at 22, Williams has plenty of it.

Basketball camp

 

Lou Williams' foundation will conduct a free 3-day basketball camp today through Friday at the James Wright Recreation Center, 34th and Haverford Avenue.

Williams and former players Gene Banks and Michael Blackshear are among the scheduled guests at the camp, which opens at 9 a.m. today and 10 a.m. tomorrow and Friday. For information, call 678-516-4856 or 856-857-5361. *