Williams still making NBA transition Ex-Gwinnett star earning notice in summer league games By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/18/06 Salt Lake City — If your last memory of Louis Williams is that of a dejected draft-night victim a year ago, then you're missing something. You have missed his defiance of the odds that suggested he would be a casualty of the ruthless NBA draft process that has claimed its fair share of victims. Williams hasn't completely buried the bitter feelings that remain from his entrance into the NBA as a second-round draft pick. The former South Gwinnett High star and Philadelphia 76ers guard is trying to let his actions speak for him these days. That's why it was hard to ignore his obvious pleasure after the 76ers' first two summer-league games at the Rocky Mountain Revue, both wins, the second thanks in large part to the game-high 27 points Williams scored Saturday against Utah. In the win over the Jazz, Williams showed off his slick ballhandling, crafty playmaking and otherworldly athletic ability for a 6-foot-1 player, all the things that led 76ers general manager Billy King to draft him with the No. 45 pick — after so many others passed. "Billy and [76ers coach Maurice Cheeks] told me that they wanted me to show them why they picked me in the first place," Williams said. "They wanted to see me scoring the basketball and getting guys in position. They wanted me to play my game. And that game was probably one of my better games since I've been a professional." Williams figured he would have a moment like that long before now, perhaps during his rookie season. But it never happened. He played a total of 145 minutes in 30 games last season. It was a startling adjustment, one Williams acknowledges that he wasn't totally prepared for after finishing his high school career rated by many as the nation's top prospect. "My high school career was unreal," the 2005 Georgia Mr. Basketball said. "We had so much success that I was pretty high on my team and myself. Then basically you start over. It's like going from middle school to high school. In the eighth grade, you're the man and doing whatever you want on the floor and then you go to high school, and you're back to square one. It was the same thing." Williams spent so much time as a rookie trying to be the "perfect" teammate that he abandoned the style of play that had captivated so many. He realizes now that it's time to relocate his game, the one that had Allen Iverson sitting in awe last season as he watched one of Williams' high school game tapes. "I need to get things going for myself," Williams said. "Now it's time for me to be classic me, to do the things I know I can do." That means looking for his shot in the summer league while also creating shots for teammates such as rookie lottery pick Rodney Carney and second-year forward Shavlik Randolph. "It's really up to him," Cheeks said. "I think [Louis] realizes that. What happens in the future for him and all our young guys depends on how hard they work and how bad they want to be [players] in this league." If his first two games here count for anything, Williams is off to a promising start. He's third behind Hawks second-year players Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire in scoring at 19.5 points per game. He's also averaging 5.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and is playing 34.5 minutes; the increased playing time obviously is something he relished in his second summer-league stint. Every positive step helps erase the nasty memories from draft night last summer, when Williams didn't celebrate the way he planned with family and friends at a party in his honor. "Truthfully, I was nervous on draft night because I knew I didn't work out for any teams [drafting] past [No.] 28, and the Hawks said it's basically not happening at 31," Williams said. "So I basically walked out of my own draft party. I didn't even get to celebrate with the people that were there for me because I was so frustrated, nervous and I had all these emotions going because I was scared. I didn't expect to be in that situation. When I heard my name called I was standing in the lobby [of the ESPN Zone]. I'm just standing there by myself." Being a year removed from that jolting process, however, has given Williams a different perspective on what transpired. Much like his future, he knows that what happened then was a result of his actions. "I'm not bitter because things have worked out for me," Williams said. "And the thing that bothered me wasn't all the college guys who got drafted before me but the other high school guys. Basically every award they gave out to high school players, they're all in mom's living room. But to be completely honest with you, I wasn't in the best shape and I wasn't ready for the workouts. So I can understand why some teams passed one me." That ability to critically examine his humble start as a pro is another wrinkle Williams has added since leaving Gwinnett County for the notoriously rugged sports fans of Philadelphia. Most people would call it growing up. Williams still is trying to come up with the right words. "I don't know if there are words that can do it justice," he said of his personal transformation the past 13 months. "Really, the things I've been through in the past year and a half, I can't see a normal 19-year-old kid going through this if they didn't have a strong family surrounding them and good friends and just good people around them. It's tough. "I've definitely got a different respect for all the high school guys who have done this. It's the hardest way to go, being in a different environment without your family and getting beaten up by grown men every night. It's a hard sell. The funny thing is, I am loving every minute of it right now. This is my life and I love it." 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0718williams.html --

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