Marcus Williams.....

[djct1999]

seems to be playing well....


Marcus Williams (UConn) of Unicaja Malaga have been named co-MVPs of Euroleague Top 16, Week 5.

Williams had 28 points in Unicaja's 94-81 win over CSKA.


loved his game at uconn. thought he would have more of an impact in the nba.

 

[joober jones]

I have a foolish yet undying hope that he'll get back to the NBA one day and make up for lost time.

 

[CTBasketball]

He was a good passer. But I bet if you put him on even an average team his assists numbers decline rapidly.

 

[jleves]

He was a good passer. But I bet if you put him on even an average team his assists numbers decline rapidly.

Wouldn't that be the case with any point guard?

 

[boog204]

I thought he was going to be a great pro and thought the Celts were utter fools to take Rondo over him. Oops...

 

[EricLA]

I thought he was going to be a great pro and thought the Celts were utter fools to take Rondo over him. Oops...

I had the same thought as boog way back when. Part of the problem seemed Marcus never looked like he spent any time in the weight room.

 

[ChrisSmith]

I had the same thought as boog way back when. Part of the problem seemed Marcus never looked like he spent any time in the weight room.

Didnt he have something like 14% body fat at the nba pre draft camps? He is one of the most gifted passers i've ever seen, but just didnt have a good head on his shoulders.

 

[EricLA]

Didnt he have something like 14% body fat at the nba pre draft camps? He is one of the most gifted passers i've ever seen, but just didnt have a good head on his shoulders.

That i don't know. you are right - gifted passer, but never seemed athletic enough and never seemed to improve on it...

 

[jleves]

That i don't know. you are right - gifted passer, but never seemed athletic enough and never seemed to improve on it...

You can be a gifted passer but not athletic and have a long career in the NBA if you have a great work ethic. He didn't and he didn't.

 

[EricLA]

You can be a gifted passer but not athletic and have a long career in the NBA if you have a great work ethic. He didn't and he didn't.

Ah thanks. it feels like so long ago i wasn't sure if my recollection was correct!

 

[mauconnfan]

He was a good passer. But I bet if you put him on even an average team his assists numbers decline rapidly.

he wasn't a good passer he was a "great" passer........not a lot of players have that kind of vision, the vision where you already see the play or the ability to make the D move so you can make the play.......he "had it"!!

 

[Palatine]

Absolutely right, Marcus did not take care of his body and it hurt his NBA career badly.

He reads the game well, he is a very good passer, but he also needed work on his shot.


If he "wanted" it more, who knows.

 

[mauconnfan]

Actually thought he became a much better scorer his senior years and at times was huge in games. That improvement as well as his amazing vision made me think he would be at least a good pro.

As you all say he obviously didn't sit and talk to Kevin Ollie enough.

 

[partial]

his poor defense and shooting are what made him expendable in the nba, as i recall he looked pretty bad playing in NJ. But he has to be one of the best passers i've ever seen and it's sad he didn't make the most of his chances in the nba.

 

[sportsjunky1]

Im still ashamed hes not in the NBA anymore. Wasted talent.

 

[Gurleyman]

Problem is he got to the NBA and decided he didn't want to be a passer, he wanted to be Ben Gordon and shoot first and ask questions later. He ended up a high volume, low efficiency shooting point with a poor A:TO ratio. I remember reading an NBA analyst, who clearly didn't follow college, write something like "who the heck called Marcus Williams a pass-first point guard? Talk about false advertising."

I don't know if he thought he had to prove he could score in order to stick in the league. If so, he was so worried about making his weakness a strength, that his strength became a weakness

 

[Jluc]

Good for Marcus that he at least seems to be having some success now. Man do I miss those allyoop passes to Rudy and the no lookers to feed Boone and Hilton. Easily one of my favorite players to play for UConn and probably my second favorite Point guard after Taliek.

 

[Kitaman]

You can be a gifted passer but not athletic and have a long career in the NBA if you have a great work ethic. He didn't and he didn't.

Exactly, I mean Rondo didn't appear to pass anywhere near Marcus in the draft. Funny, but now I wonder if Marcus can pass anywhere near Rondo. Surely not better, which is your point. Marcus gift diminished because of that.

 

[Steve85]

You can be a gifted passer but not athletic and have a long career in the NBA if you have a great work ethic. He didn't and he didn't.

exactly jleves. most obvious example: the former St. John's star Mark Jackson, a guy who was limited athletically (no better than Marcus) and I would say no better (probably worse) when it came to perimeter shooting, but used his incredible gift/feel for passing to make himself a very good pro and top 5 all-time in assists in NBA history.

Marcus could have had a Mark Jackson-type of career (no, maybe not 10,000+ assists but you get my point) if he had the same kind of drive, motivation, work ethic.