http://0rz.net/1c1HA Changing the minds of those who doubt him isn't high on Marvin Williams' list of priorities as a professional basketball player. But whether he's focused on it or not, that's exactly what the Hawks forward did by earning MVP honors at the Rocky Mountain Revue this summer. Williams was a terror all week long in Salt Lake City, leading the Revue in scoring (23.2 points) while also averaging five rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.8 minutes per game. Williams shot 55 percent from the floor and 88 percent from the line while playing in five of the six games. In addition to leading the Revue in scoring, and free throws made and attempted, he placed second in minutes, third in free throw percentage, tied for fourth in assists, fifth in field goal percentage and sixth in rebounding. Not bad for the guy who has to endure the endless needling about not being Chris Paul -- the reigning Rookie of the Year and the player many believe the Hawks should have taken with the 2nd overall pick in the 2005 draft. Williams not only showed off a better feel for the game, he also displayed a much better understanding of the game. Knocked to the floor repeatedly by opposing teams eager to test him, Williams shed the timid label that dogged him throughout his solid but hardly spectacular rookie season. "I came in here last year this time and my head was spinning," Williams said after his second game at the Revue. "I didn't know what to expect. But I felt totally different (this time) as opposed to last year. If somebody knocks you down, you have to get up to get better." "And there wasn't a time out there when I got knocked down that I couldn't get up on my own. This is a man's game and I'm willing to take a man's lumps to be here. I'm not backing down from anyone or any challenge." No one was happier to see that than the Hawks coaching staff. After approaching Williams with kid gloves during the season, they challenged him for summer league. "I told Marvin he has really grown in the area of how to respond to certain situations," said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who is serving as the head coach of the summer league squad. "Last year this time had he been knocked down to the floor the number of times he was knocked down, he would have stopped taking the ball to the basket." "This year he used that as a motivational factor. He got knocked down a couple of times, they took a couple of cheap shots at him and he kept going right at them. He's really grown in that area. I think now he understands that if he attacks, teams are going to do one of two things. They're going to give you baskets or they're going to send you to the free throw line and he's willing to take that chance now." Williams is still the nice guy he's always been off the floor. But once he's in uniform? Well, let him tell it: "My attitude, my approach to the game," he said when asked what's changed about him most since the Hawks' season ended in April. "I'm a lot more aggressive. I've been working on my post game and everything else, but it all starts right here (pointing to his temple) with the attitude adjustment." --

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