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The Colony's Williams proves point
Guard is finally getting attention as Jazz star
04:54 PM CDT on Friday, May 11, 2007
By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News
tmacmahon@dallasnews.com
Deron Williams never expressed envy toward his more decorated teammate at
The Colony High School.
But Williams remembered every honor that was bestowed upon Bracey Wright but
not him. He remembered every time a high-profile college coach didn't ask
about him during a visit to The Colony's campus.
Williams, a pass-first point guard without a flashy game, didn't complain
about being the second fiddle, nor did he begrudge his friend. He simply
stored every perceived slight and used them to fuel his obsession of
fulfilling the immense potential he knew he had.
"It motivated me a lot to see the attention Bracey was getting," Williams
said. "He deserved it, but at the same time, I wanted that same attention.
It made me work harder. It made me want it a lot more."
Five years later, the national spotlight has found Williams. He's led the
Utah Jazz to a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals against the
Golden State Warriors, who are suddenly media darlings after their historic
first-round upset of the Mavericks.
The duel with Dallas killer Baron Davis represents an opportunity for
Williams to prove he's one of the NBA's elite point guards in only his
second pro season.
Williams had 31 points and eight assists in Game 1. He spent most of Game 2
in foul trouble while Davis dominated with 36 points. But Williams excelled
down the stretch. He had nine points and six assists after the beginning of
the fourth quarter, hitting a 10-foot floater to force overtime.
"Deron Williams is going to be a household name after this series," Charles
Barkley told the TNT audience after Game 1.
The silent star
Williams was somewhat of an afterthought in the most star-studded class of
basketball prospects to come through the area. Wright was joined by Lincoln's
Chris Bosh and Cedar Hill's Daniel Horton in the McDonald's All-American
Game, which Williams watched from home, determined to prove the selection
committee erred by omitting him. There was debate whether Bryan Hopkins,
Bosh's acrobatic sidekick on a mythical national championship team, was a
better point guard than Williams.
The bumper crop of local talent sparked Williams' competitiveness.
He considered the other stars, especially Wright, as measuring sticks.
"Now, everything has changed," said Wright, a shooting guard who will become
a free agent this summer after playing sparingly the last two seasons for the
Minnesota Timberwolves. "I kind of see myself doing the same thing with him."
All the tools to succeed
Williams averaged 16.2 points and ranked second behind the Suns' Steve Nash
with 9.3 assists per game this season. At 6-3, 205 pounds, he has a rare
combination of strength and quickness for a point guard. But his best
attributes are intangibles, according to those who have helped shape his game.
Former The Colony coach Tommy Thomas and ex-Mavericks point guard Derek Harper
rave about Williams' desire and work ethic. Thomas said Williams never left
school until the gym was locked for the night. Harper, whose son, Darius,
played on several youth teams with Williams, said he always knew Williams had
a chance to be special because of his eagerness to improve.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan says Williams' intelligence is one of the biggest
keys to his success. That's high praise from a grumpy guy who coached
all-time assists leader John Stockton for his entire career. Williams works
out with Stockton in Washington each off-season and picks his brain about
such topics as the intricacies of Sloan's offensive sets.
Williams also has a feel for knowing when to distribute the ball and when to
take over a game. He was the third-leading scorer on Illinois' national
runner-up team in 2005, but he scored 31 points to spark a comeback over
Arizona that clinched a Final Four berth.
"As a point guard, you have to be sort of a silent assassin in a lot of
ways," Harper said. "You have to have that kind of attitude. That's his
attitude. It's very deceiving from the standpoint that he looks almost like
he's shy and quiet, but he has a killer instinct inside of him."
Staying hungry
Williams, whom the Jazz picked third overall in the 2005 draft, hasn't had
any problem being motivated since he became a multimillionaire.
Sloan didn't make Williams a regular starter until the final two months of
his rookie season. Chris Paul, the point guard chosen fourth overall by the
New Orleans Hornets in 2005, lit up the league right away. Reporters often
mentioned this to Williams, who received the only first-place Rookie of the
Year vote that didn't go to Paul.
"I thought I could do some of these things last year if I was given the same
opportunity, but that's not how it went," Williams said. "I just wanted to
have a good summer. I had a productive summer, worked hard, got in the best
shape of my life. My confidence level is definitely 10 times higher than it
was last year. I'm out there playing free, not worrying about if I make a
mistake, I might have to come out or this or that. I can just go out there
and play."
Williams has quieted the critics who pounded the Jazz for passing on Paul -
"Keep doing it," he says - but he still doesn't think he gets the recognition
he's earned. Williams says he considers it a sign of disrespect every time an
opposing team's public-address announcer mispronounces his first name; it's
pronounced "Dare-in." And he wasn't happy about playing in the
Rookie-Sophomore game instead of the All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
"He knew he'd played good enough to be an All-Star," said Thomas, who works
for the agency that represents Williams and Wright. "He'll never gripe about
it. He never said one negative word about it. All he did was lock it in his
mind and say, 'There's some people out there who don't think I'm good enough.'"
DUELING WITH THE BARON
How Deron Williams has fared in his head-to-head matchup with Golden State's
Baron Davis:
Player Pts. FG-FGA Asts. Wins
Davis 30.0 21-39 7.0 0
Williams 24.0 17-30 11.0 2
THE CLASS OF '02
A look at what SportsDay's 2002 boys basketball All-Area team did in the
pros this season:
*Chris Bosh, Lincoln: All-Star averaged 22.6 points and 10.7 rebounds for
Toronto Raptors.
Bracey Wright, The Colony: Averaged 3.5 points and 1.1 rebounds for Minnesota
Timberwolves.
Daniel Horton, Cedar Hill: Waived by Heat and played in Turkey and for the
Los Angeles D-Fenders of the D-League.
Deron Williams, The Colony: Averaged 16.2 points and 9.3 assists for Utah Jazz.
Ike Diogu, Garland: Averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds for Golden State
Warriors and Indiana Pacers.
Bryan Hopkins, Lincoln: SMU-ex played in Ukraine.
*Player of the Year
DERON WILLIAMS
Team: Utah Jazz
Position: PG
Age: 22
High school: The Colony
College: Illinois
Notable: Credits mother, Denise Smith, for his unselfish style of play. She
played college basketball at West Valley State (W.Va.) and coached some of
Williams' childhood teams. ... The Colony went 90-8 during Williams' high
school career but never won a state title. .. On following in John Stockton's
footsteps with the Jazz: "He's not going anywhere. They've got a statue of
him in front of the arena. I've never felt any pressure to fill his shoes.
I'm just trying to be me."
--
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/051107dnsponba.35bd736.html
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