推 sam369: 12/06 20:13
With Williams running show, Jazz back on point
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
Updated 12/6/2006 3:56 AM ET
ALT LAKE CITY ─ John Stockton has been out of uniform since 2003, but even
at 44 the NBA's all-time assists and steals leader looks as if he could dish
10 assists a game.
That's the word from Deron Williams, who spent four days in Spokane, Wash.,
working on his craft with the retired point guard, a likely Hall of Famer.
The two-a-day sessions last summer, after a rough and tumble rookie season,
have paid off for the point guard from Illinois.
Look who's averaging a Stockton-like 8.9 assists and 16.5 points for the
surprising Utah Jazz, who own an NBA-best 15-4 record behind the bust-out
seasons of Williams and his sidekick at power forward, Carlos Boozer.
They aren't the reincarnation of Stockton and Karl Malone. But they are the
youthful anchors of a starting lineup that averages 24 years and of a team
that features four rookies, all rallying around the longest-tenured coach in
pro sports ─ Jerry Sloan, 64, in his 19th season with the Jazz.
The Jazz have forged the best record with firepower (they entered Tuesday
tied for first in field goal shooting and fourth in scoring), toughness (No.
1 in rebounding), depth (Derek Fisher, Matt Harpring, C.J. Miles and rookie
Paul Millsap come off the bench) and versatility. Williams, Boozer and
long-armed, 6-9 playmaker and shot blocker Andrei Kirilenko are the most
versatile.
The new-school kids are a reflection of their old-school, no-frills boss.
"Utah is the best executing team in the league," San Antonio Spurs coach
Gregg Popovich says. "They play hard and tough."
The Jazz refer to their coach as "The Legend"; he got his 999th win Monday.
"He has one attitude," Boozer says. "It's not about X's and O's. He's about
getting it done, whatever it takes to win."
Williams, a 6-3, 205-pound package of speed and strength, unique for a point
guard, is getting it done. He had 11 points, eight assists, seven rebounds
and a steal in Monday's 101-88 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Poised and borderline cocky, he loves crunchtime and embraces taking the last
shot. He even has a little Tiger Woods in him ─ he loves the color red,
perfect for a closer.
"He's become a special player," Sloan says.
"He has a rare combination of a lot of strengths and very few weaknesses,"
Fisher says. "His potential is only limited by him. He can be as good as any
point guard who has played."
Mark Jackson, an ABC analyst and No. 2 on the all-time assists list, says
Williams reminds him of Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets. "But he has more
junk. He can score, hit the jumper and get where he wants to all over the
floor. He can go from 50 to 90 (mph) in the blink of an eye. He has the
package."
What transformed Williams' career is a summer of two-a-day workouts in
Dallas, where he grew up; marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Amy Young,
with whom he has daughters Denae, 3, and Daija, 5 months; and a visit to
Spokane.
Stockton declined to discuss the progress his star pupil has made, but
Williams can't stop talking about the impact his mentor made.
"He's so smart," Williams says. "Things you wouldn't even think about he
tells you. He's a good teacher. He goes out there and shows you how to do it.
I soaked everything in he had to offer."
It's far too early to compare the two. Although Williams plays with the same
ice-in-the-veins mentality and feel-for-the-game approach that set Stockton
apart, they are physically polar opposites. Stockton was a lean 6-1, 180.
Williams knows his place. "Nobody will ever take his place here," he says.
"He has a statue out front. I'm not trying to take his place, just be Deron
Williams, the next great point guard to come through here."
Persevering to stardom
Williams' defining trait is his toughness. Little wonder his favorite movie
is Gladiator and his motto is "anything that doesn't kill me makes me
stronger."
He summoned that trait during a tough rookie season. He heard critics
question his selection at No. 3 in the 2005 draft ahead of eventual Rookie
of the Year Chris Paul, taken by the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, and
his coach question his work ethic and take away his starting job.
Williams broke into the starting lineup nine games into the season but lost
the job before Christmas after butting heads with Sloan.
"I thought he wasn't working as hard as he should have been," Sloan says.
Even today, Williams doesn't buy into that. "I've always worked hard," he says.
He called his former coach, Illinois' Bruce Weber, looking for direction.
"He was mad at Coach Sloan, and Coach Sloan is hard on rookies," Weber says.
"After he did all his crying and whining, I said, 'You're not going to win.
Jerry Sloan is the Jazz. He's a Hall of Famer, so you better figure it out.' "
He did. Sloan gave him his job back with 28 games left, and Williams
responded with a big finish, averaging 17 points and 5.8 assists.
Sloan "made him earn his way back," Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson says.
Responding to doubters, Williams says, is what motivates him. He had no
complaints with Paul winning rookie of the year. "I got one vote, and I don't
think I should have gotten that," he says.
What irked him was preseason debate about the next great point guards in the
league.
"I read stuff," he says. "My name wasn't even on the list. They said Shaun
Livingston, Raymond Felton, Chris, guys like that. I feel that's a slap in
the face. I've been doubted all my life. That's what I used as motivation.
I hope people keeping overlooking me."
Confidence, focus, maturity
He's on another list now: First in combined field goals made and assists
(295), ahead of LeBron James (272) of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Paul (252).
Williams says his hot start is all about confidence. "It's the kind of thing
I felt I could have done last year if given the opportunity. I didn't get the
playing time I'm getting this year."
Boozer, averaging career highs in points (22.7) and rebounds (12.2) after
two injury-plagued seasons, says Williams is in better shape. "He's more
focused," Boozer says.
That was evident in a victory last week vs. the Spurs. Williams put the
defensive clamps on Tony Parker and nailed a big three-pointer late that
sealed the comeback.
"He's been terrific coming down the stretch," Sloan says. "He's not afraid to
take the shot."
Williams was the guard who triggered Illinois' rousing comeback victory
against Arizona that sent the team into the Final Four two years ago. That
will to win is in his blood. His mother, Denise Smith, and aunt, Judy Ward,
played basketball and volleyball at West Liberty (W.Va.) State College.
Williams is a ferocious competitor. Ask Jazz rookie Dee Brown, who played
with him at Illinois. The two compete at everything ─ Monopoly, video games,
pingpong. "He's been dominating at pingpong," Brown says. "He's raised his
game."
So have the Jazz. They have not made the playoffs since Malone left for the
Los Angeles Lakers in 2003-04, the season after Stockton retired.
But Sloan, No. 5 on the all-time wins list as a coach and November's Western
Conference coach of the month, is working his magic again with players
generations removed from his playing days. His young group has even surprised
him, but he has a way of keeping them grounded.
"We look good in the airport," he says. "I don't know about the floor. It's a
young team. They have so much to learn to play tough basketball. It's a
growing process."
Boozer is enjoying the ride as much as anyone. This is his fifth year in
the league; he doesn't want to end it like the previous four ─ out of the
playoffs.
"That's my motivation," says Boozer, who came to Utah as a free agent in 2004
after two years with Cleveland. "I haven't won at this level. I want a taste."
So does Williams. "We got off to a good start and struggled a little bit, but
I think we can fight through things," he says. "We're not a mirage. I think
we're a special team."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/
jazz/2006-12-05-williams-cover_x.htm
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 59.41.171.42
※ 編輯: RonnieBrewer 來自: 59.41.171.42 (12/06 19:10)