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Detroit Draft Debate: Terrence Williams

With the draft just a week away, our good friend Pardeep will debate the merits of several prospects expected to be available when the Pistons pick at No. 15, even though he's bat-sh*t insane in this post. (I kid! It's just that T-Will happens to be atop my personal wishlist, and not just because of this.) If you dig Pardeep's steez, don't miss his weekly Cultural Power Rankings. -- MW

By: Pardeep Toor


(via Dime)

Final moments often translate as lasting memories and the only thing I remember about Terrence Williams this off-season is how he disappeared against Michigan State in the NCAA tourney. Against State, Williams had 5 points (1-7 from the field), 6 rebounds and 4 assists, mostly being guarded by the smaller and lighter Travis Walton and minuscule (by comparison) Kalin Lucas. Dude has to do a little better than that in the biggest game of his career.

Not to judge solely based on one game, Williams did have a plethora of highlights throughout the year, but overall was an inconsistent scorer. Williams scored in single digits in 14 games this year but he also scored 20 or more points eight times during the season. Despite being a freak athlete, he only went to the free throw line 3.2 times a game but had 12 double-digit rebounding games -- pretty ridiculous for a guard.

Williams is a prototypical mid-to-late first round pick showing tantalizing skills and potential but having fundamental flaws in his game. It's bothersome that this past season was Williams' senior year which should have been his evolution into a complete player but mimicked his previous three, albeit with marginally higher averages across the board.

College Career:

Senior Year: 12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.3 steals, 43.1 FG%, 58.1 FT%, 38.5 3 PT%, 2.0 TOs

Free throw percentage is abysmal for a guard

Best Case: Gary Payton -- not my words but his own above. If that's who he wants, I'll give it to him. (My pick -- Mickael Pietrus, with much improved shooting).

Worst Case: DeShawn Stevenson -- athletic volume shooter off the bench.

Fit With The Pistons: Not very good. Williams is a combo guard with a scoring mentality who is a streaky college scorer at best. Should he be drafted by the Pistons, Williams would probably be the best athlete on the team but his game remains unpolished and undisciplined creating a fragile situation with the instability in the frontcourt. If Stuckey isn't the team's combo guard of the future, then maybe you take Williams and decide which one will be the better leader and scorer (I think Stuckey). But a Stuckey/Williams backcourt is redundant and will continue the uncertainty and overall misdirection on the court.

Unlike Maynor and Lawson who have more true point guard potential, Williams will have a difficult learning curve to be a point guard, if that's the direction Curry wants him to go. It really makes no sense trying to train two combo guards to either co-exist in the backcourt or groom one of them to be a point guard with Rip Hamilton still lurking on the roster. That didn't really work out last year.

How about a Stuckey/Williams crunch time backcourt next year?

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Yes, please.

by Birdman on Jun 19, 2009 2:49 PM CDT reply actions  

I’ll be convinced as soon as someone shows me an example of a guy who shot under 40 percent from the field in college and was a success as a pro. T-Will shot 39.9 percent from the field for his career.

by Shinons on Jun 19, 2009 2:56 PM CDT reply actions  

T. Will is the guy, he could be our new all-star SG in a few years. He can play the backup 3, but I think if he’s starting he’s a 2.

In other news, the Raptors GM is a fan of Tay.
“He says he wishes he’d taken Tayshaun Prince at No. 22 in 2002 over Casey Jacobsen.”
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?id=4270096

That’s good news for the pro-Bosh movement.

by Roll the Dyess on Jun 19, 2009 3:54 PM CDT reply actions  

Guards who can’t shoot at least 75% from the charity stripe should be beaten with a hammer.

(Just a personal opinion from a guy who hates watching multi-millionaire athletes brick free throws.)

by Matt on Jun 19, 2009 4:16 PM CDT reply actions  

ESPN says that two sources have indicated that Detroit has given a promise to BJ Mullens if he is on the board at 15. Draft fail.

by Dafa on Jun 19, 2009 4:50 PM CDT reply actions  

And by ESPN, I meant NBA draft net..

http://www.nbadraft.net/node/7444

by Dafa on Jun 19, 2009 4:50 PM CDT reply actions  

New offseason strategy:

1) Sign Ben Gordon to a $60 million deal over 5 years (when the next closest offer is a fraction of that).

2) Draft B.J. Mullens. Watch Dejuan Blair go to the Bulls.

3) Extend Michael Curry

4) Re-sign Allen Iverson to a max contract.

5) Trade Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince for Zach Randolph.

6) Buy graffiti for championship celebration.

by Shinons on Jun 19, 2009 5:02 PM CDT reply actions  

Dafa, if that’s true… then JDIAFI.

@Shinons:

The main reasons to be optimistic about Terrance Williams are he rebounds as well as most PF’s, he has elite lateral quickness as evidenced by him leading college wing players in steals per 36 minutes, and probably most importantly, he’s the best passer among all wing players in the draft- he averaged 5.7 assists per/40 minutes and had a 2.15:1 assist to turnover ratio, which would have ranked him third among POINT GUARDS in this years draft class.

all stat info is from this:
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-By-the-Numbers-This-Years-Shooting-Guard-Crop-3264

Basically Williams does everything exceptionally well, except score. IMO he’s a pretty safe bet to at least be a good NBA rotation player for a long time, because of his defense, rebounding, and passing/facilitating.

by Gabe on Jun 19, 2009 5:10 PM CDT reply actions  

I agree with what Gabe is saying.
Twill seems like he has a higher floor than most of the players in this draft. Plus people can learn how to shoot in the nba. But effort to rebound, and play d cant be. He has a fire that has been missing around here since the championship.

That being said, if some how Jonny Flynn (very unlikely but with the way this draft is) slips, Joe D needs to grab him. Doubt it will happen though.

by Matt Gibson on Jun 19, 2009 6:05 PM CDT reply actions  

No thanks.

@ Gabe: “Basically Williams does everything exceptionally well, except score.”

Well, that puts him out as a 2 and probably as a small 3. Anyone say PG?

And I apologize to the kid, but I’ve seen a couple of guys at ESPN (FWIW) that his background came back with red flags. Perhaps a bit unfair or perhaps that’s what we need.

As for Mullens, hope he’s not another Darko only 13 picks later which is where most here lean. But as we all agree, barring some sensational trade, we’re 2-3 years away and he is a project. I’d like to think he’s a potential Andrew Bynum but from what others have said, that’d be a miracle. Do you believe in magic?

by MarkButter in SoCal on Jun 19, 2009 6:11 PM CDT reply actions  

“Pardeep will debate the merits of several prospects expected to be available when the Pistons pick at No. 15, even though he’s bat-sh*t insane in this post.”

I have yet to read a post by Pardeep here or anywhere that wasn’t at least a little batshit insane.

by Patrick Hayes on Jun 19, 2009 6:22 PM CDT reply actions  

Gabe: I understand what he does well. But I don’t think you can be successful in the NBA if you can’t even shoot 40 percent in college. I’m just wondering if there’s an example out there that says otherwise – even Jason Kidd shot in the mid-40s. Right now, I just can’t feel good about a fringe lottery pick who shoots like Sebastain Telfair.

by Shinons on Jun 19, 2009 6:29 PM CDT reply actions  

Shinons:

There’s a definite chance you might be right. I think he projects more as a SF than a SG, basically making him a “point-forward” type, which could help off-set his lack of shooting (as a SF he’d be a great addition to teams with high scoring backcourts, as he can help set up the offense, and defend the other teams biggest threat at PG/SG/SF). But if the team that drafts Williams forces him into more of a pure SG role, then he could struggle and possibly fall out of the league.

Still, what I like about him is his combination of off the charts “athletic markers,” and play-making ability. It’s a pretty rare combo, and I think it makes him a relatively safe choice, because even if he never becomes a better shooter he can still help a team in a number of areas.

by Gabe on Jun 19, 2009 10:22 PM CDT reply actions  

Hopefully he develops a better nickname than “T-Will.” How about Terre-Bear?

by TDP on Jun 19, 2009 10:43 PM CDT reply actions  

Dave Dial is saying that the Pistons have “promised” to pick B.J. Mullens at #15…

If that’s true (and I‘m sure hope it’s not), I will lose any remaining faith in this front office.

by TDP on Jun 19, 2009 11:03 PM CDT reply actions  

I really doubt the Pistons gave anyone a promise. It doesn’t make any sense. The only reason you would give a player a promise (that I can think of) is if you’re afraid they will pull out of the draft because they think they’ll fall too far. i’m pretty sure Mullins had an agent a long time ago so unless they made the promise then…

by Quick Darshan on Jun 19, 2009 11:44 PM CDT reply actions  

The last two drafts, both reported promises came true. Fortunately, 50% of those promises were traded for other picks. So if the rumor IS true, there’s not a definitive chance that said player will be a Piston past June.

by Mike Payne on Jun 19, 2009 11:51 PM CDT reply actions  

the pistons need to get terrance williams if they want the next superstar of league. gary patton is not jumping on his bandwagon for no reason. joe dumars don’t be stupid like when you pass on melo, wade and bosh for darko.read between the lines and jump on the terrance williams bandwagon, so you can once again make detroit fans think that you know what you’re real doing.oh by the way fire curry that shit will improve your image too. the nu shaq and wade or kobe = williams and amarie 2009 let make it happen pistons!!!!!

by joe on Jun 20, 2009 11:20 PM CDT reply actions  

rodney suck me is nobodys future. he suck as pointguard because other teams just through shooting guards on him defensivly and they lock him down. so putting him at the two and trade rip is stupid as fuck. trade stuckey and let him become somebody elses problem. if the player don’t cut the mustard don’t kiss his ass get rid of him. that what you did to billups and he’s way better than a suckey. his upside is learning how to shoot and run a team, if he come back this summer just being able to drive to the basket trade him while you got the chance.

by joe on Jun 20, 2009 11:34 PM CDT reply actions  

I haven’t check the stats but I’d bet Stuckeys second yr stats are as good or better then Billups in his second yr.I like our back court we need to focus on the front court.As to Curry I agree he needs to go unfortunately I don’t think it’ll be til after this season.

by Defor on Jun 21, 2009 3:19 PM CDT reply actions  

No Mullens, please.
I would like to have Terrence Williams, it’s a rather safe pick. And he can easily contribute to the team as soon as he is drafted.

by SHH on Jun 21, 2009 11:30 PM CDT reply actions  

I don’t follow much college ball so I’ll not chime in too much on these threads out of ignorance, but I very much liked Terrence Williams’ pledge to become a defensive force in the league, I think we really need that, drafts are tough & hindsight is indeed 20/20, so I offer no criticism on Dumars’ taste in potential Pistons. Hopefully some gold pans out for us this year.

by Skylar on Jun 22, 2009 9:48 AM CDT reply actions  

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