[外電] Q&A with early entrant Williams
Q&A with early entrant Williams
By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/21/06
Marcus Williams is already waist-deep into the pre-draft process
with the NBA draft still more than a month away.
The former UConn star has already worked out for one team and has
auditions for three more scheduled before the NBA's June 6-10
pre-draft camp in Orlando.
When you're the unquestioned best point guard in a draft
considered ultra-thin at the position, there's no better place to
be than showing your wares to prospective employers.
Williams, who declared for the draft after his junior season, is
projected to be picked anywhere from fourth to 20th. Talent isn't
the question with the Los Angeles native, who averaged 12.3
points and 8.6 assists last season for a team that flirted with
the No. 1 ranking all year.
Character concerns, however, have dogged Williams since last
August, when he and his UConn teammate A.J. Price were charged
with larceny for trying to sell stolen laptops from a school
dorm. Williams was suspended from school for the first semester
and is still completing 18 months of probation, in addition to
community service.
"He handled it, got over it, paid his debt to the school and
satisfied the courts, and now he's on track to play in the NBA,"
Raptors scout Bob Zuffelato told reporters after Williams worked
out for Toronto on Thursday.
Williams made time to speak with AJC reporter Sekou Smith.
Q: How do you feel like you performed in your workout with
Toronto, and where else do you have workouts scheduled?
A: It was OK. I could have shot the ball better. But you always
feel like you could have done more. That's just how I am. I'm
also scheduled to work out for Houston, Boston and Minnesota.
Q: Has the process already begun to take a toll on you?
A: It's been pretty hectic and a little tiring. It's a long two
months between [declaring for the draft] and the actual draft.
But I've got a great situation. I've been working out basically
down the street from my house with [former Duke star] Jay
Williams, [Missouri early entry candidate] Thomas Gardner and
[Memphis early entry candidate] Shawne Williams.
Q: So what can you give an NBA team as a rookie at one of the
most critical positions on the floor?
A: I think I can go to any team that needs a point guard and step
in right away and run the team the way the coach wants it to be
run. I'm not the world's greatest athlete. I'm not the fastest
guy or the most athletic guy. But I have a feel for the game and
my knowledge of the game is what I think sets me apart. That's
always been my game. I think I have to outsmart a lot of people
to be as effective as I can be.
Q: You say you're not the best athlete, but you have the size
(6-3, 205) and frame that would have allowed you to play other
sports. Plus, you went to Crenshaw High (the same school baseball
greats Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis attended). Did you play
any other sports growing up?
A: I played football and baseball. I played football until ninth
grade and I played baseball all the way through high school. But
I found that my niche was in basketball.
Q: How strange was it leaving L.A. after your junior year for
rural Virginia (to attend Oak Hill Academy)?
A: At first, I wanted to go home every day. It was just culture
shock, a real shock to the system. But once we started practicing
and playing games and traveling, I was fine. It made me grow up
a little bit, and it really got me prepared to go to college.
Q: How do you handle the flip in dynamics — from being pursued
during the college recruiting process to basically auditioning
for NBA teams between now and the draft?
A: It's basically the same thing to me. In high school, whether
it was with your team or in the summer, you were always playing
in front of coaches. So it was really auditioning then. And it's
the same thing now. You just have to seize the moment every time
you get out there and do what you do best.
Q: From the inside of the process looking out, how do you expect
the draft to play out, knowing that there's a long-held theory
that you draft potential over a specific need?
A: One of my assistant coaches told me once that potential is the
worst word anyone can use. You've got to be able to go out there
and do it now. There are no guarantees. But I'm sure the draft
[order] depends on what teams need.
Q: There were three point guards among the top five picks last
year — Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Raymond Felton. All three
had fabulous rookie seasons. Was it a coincidence or something
more?
A: Those three guys just know how to play the game. Deron was
one of the smartest players in the country last year at Illinois.
Chris (of Wake Forest) was the same way, and he showed he could
take it to another level this year. And Raymond won a national
championship at North Carolina, which is what we're all playing
for. So I think it was really about those three guys. They just
did their thing.
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0521insidenba.html
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