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Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The Williams Code
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m as tired of reading and writing about this as some of you probably are of doing the same. But how can you watch Deron Williams and not get an empty feeling in your gut knowing that this is the point guard of the future the Hawks could have (and should have) had on their roster?
The story is old by now, - flashback to the draft of 2005 when the Hawks snag Marvin Williams with the No. 2 overall pick and Utah’s grabs Deron before the Hornets snap up Chris Paul. The thinking then, of the Hawks and anyone else that would have landed in the top two of that draft, was that Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams were the clear-cut top two players in the draft.
The point guard crew, which also included Ray Felton, was considered stellar but none of them were without an obvious flaw that teams figured would prove troublesome at the pro level (Deron Williams was knocked for his body, Paul and Felton for their lack of size). Per usual, those theories were disproved immediately, as all three of those point guards has outshined both Bogut and Williams through two seasons. It should come as no surprise. NBA teams routinely guess wrong on draft picks (scan any of the past gazillion drafts and see how badly things were botched).
But years from now, if the Hawks can’t get luck on their side for the May 22 draft lottery, a group of players with the name Williams (none related, of course) will tell the story of this sad era of Hawks basketball. For all the Hawks’ personnel missteps of the previous 30 years, none haunts them more today than passing on Deron Williams (not to mention Paul).
Follow me now.
Marvin and Shelden found their way into Hawks uniforms, with both doing admirable jobs under difficult circumstances. Deron and Marcus (both point guards, with Deron being a level or two above Marcus on the NBA food chain) did not. Those decisions have come to define the Hawks’ fate the past two seasons. They haven’t had the talented, young floor general out there to help corral the rest of their assembled talent in a way that lends itself to sustained success.
Granted, Marcus Williams is doing basically the same thing we’re all doing during the playoffs (sitting and watching). But he does have a future Hall of Famer (Jason Kidd) playing like it’s 1999 doing major work in front of him.
Deron Williams, however, is a much tougher case for me. I spent time prior to the 2005 draft studying him and his game and talking to the people closest to him leading up to the big night. They were all convinced that Atlanta was the perfect fit for him and that his workout with the Hawks had gone well enough that they felt good about him landing here (the only player with a bigger Jones for Atlanta was Paul, who to this day mentions how sick he was about not being picked by the Hawks every time I see him).
I understood the logic then of drafting Marvin Williams or Bogut (and please believe that if the Bucks had taken Marvin first, the Hawks and every other team would have passed on the point guards for Bogut. And anyone that says otherwise is being less than honest) then. But I would have been prepared to buck conventional wisdom then as I am now, because my choice would have been Deron Williams at No. 2, and you can ask Ando (wherever he is these days?) if you need outside verification. I just felt then, as I still do, that his playing style was perfectly suited for a team overloaded with similar players on the wing. His competitiveness, size, athleticism, fundamental skills and killer instinct are all things NBA teams are looking for from a leader.
That’s why I’ll be tuned in again tonight, staying up as late as need be, to watch him work. He outplayed Baron Davis in Game 1, something no one has been able to do this postseason. So it’ll be interesting to see what Davis comes back with for tonight’s matchup. One thing you know for sure, though, is that Deron Williams will be up for the challenge.
