ATHENS — The alley-oop dunk is one of the more dynamic and exciting plays in basketball, and Georgia has one of the better players when it comes to executing it.
The Bulldogs don’t keep an official statistic for how many times Donte’ Williams has executed the play, but he’s looking to do it every game, if not every possession. And he has brought down the house on more than a few occasions at Stegeman Coliseum.
“I’ve been doing it since I first got to high school,” said Williams, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound sophomore. “At first it was just messing around in the gym. Then it got easier for me, and I was able to do it in games. I’ve always been a very athletic type guy, always been able to jump and run the floor.
“So I always tell my guys, whenever they get a chance, just throw it up. I’ll go get it.”
More often than not it’s senior guard Gerald Robinson who delivers the pass.
“I wish I could have thrown him more alley-oops because it’s my job to get him the ball where he likes it and that’s where he likes the basketball,” said Robinson, who leads the Bulldogs with 3.6 assists per game.
“Donte’ is extremely athletic and can jump out of the gym. Sometimes he makes my bad passes look like good passes.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, there is more to playing the post in the SEC than high-flying acrobatics. First and foremost, the Bulldogs need Williams to defend, rebound and make the tough, contested basket against players who usually are bigger than he is.
That will be the case again Saturday as Georgia (12-15, 3-10 SEC) plays host to 12th-ranked Florida. The Gators (22-6, 10-3) are anchored inside by forward Patric Young (6-9, 247) and center Eric Murphy (6-10, 230). They average 20.6 points and 10.4 rebounds between them.
Williams has held his own in his first season as a starter. He ranks among the top 10 in the SEC in rebounds (5.5 per game) and offensive rebounding (2.6) and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding, blocks (38) and field-goal percentage (.449).
But that’s just scratching the surface, according to those who work with him every day.
“I think he’s a summer in the weight room away from being terrific,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “Right now, he’s just playing against guys that are bit more physically mature than he is. I think that will be less of an issue as he continues to add strength himself.”
In the past two games, Williams has faced LSU’s Justin Hamilton (7-0, 265) and Vanderbilt’s Festus Ezeli (6-11, 255). But he has become accustomed to such tall tasks.
“Especially in the SEC, you’ve got a lot of guys 6-10, 6-11 and taller, and they probably outweigh me by 20 or 30 pounds,” Williams said. “So I just have to play hard every game and use my athleticism to make up for it. You’ve just got to battle back and try to hold your own and compete.”
Williams has been forced to pick up the slack in the block because of the early departure of Trey Thompkins to the NBA and the graduation of Jeremy Price. Meanwhile, fellow post players John Florveus and John Cannon are coming on, but remain behind Williams in their development.
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