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Deron Williams

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Deron Williams
No. 8 – Utah Jazz
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1984-06-26) June 26, 1984 (age 40)
Parkersburg, West Virginia
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
CollegeIllinois
NBA draft2005: 3rd overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career2005–present
Career highlights and awards
2005-06 NBA All-Rookie First Team
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Deron Michael Williams (Template:PronEng[1]) (born June 26, 1984 in Parkersburg, West Virginia) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Utah Jazz of the NBA. Prior to that, he played for the University of Illinois men's basketball team. Point guards Williams and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets have shared a friendly[2] rivalry[3] that began in the 2005 NBA Draft, where they were the third and fourth selections overall. Whether Williams or Paul is the superior point guard is the subject of frequent debate[2][4][5] among sports writers and fans.

Youth

Deron Williams attended Arbor Creek Middle School in Carrollton, Texas. Williams attended The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas and averaged 17 points, 9.4 assists, and 2 steals per game as a junior in 2001. That year he lead his team, the Cougars, to a 32-2 record and the Class 5A state semifinals. In 2002 as a senior he averaged 17.6 points, 8.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game. His team, the Cougars, went 29-2 that season, losing the 5A Texas State Final to Fort Bend Willowridge, featuring TJ Ford and Daniel Ewing. [6] Williams was a teammate of Bracey Wright who went on to play for Big Ten rival Indiana University.[7]

College

Williams played college basketball at the University of Illinois beginning with the 2002-03 NCAA season. In his freshman year, he started 30 of 32 games and ranked third in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 4.53 per game. As a sophomore, Williams improved his scoring average from 6.3 to 14.0 points per game (led team) and improved his assists per game to 6.17. Williams was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media.

In 2005, as a junior starting point guard, Williams led the Fighting Illini to the NCAA championship game where they lost to the University of North Carolina. That season saw the Illini go undefeated until the final game of the season, where they lost to Ohio State by one point. Illinois's road to the Final Four was marked by a staggering comeback win over the Arizona Wildcats, where the Illini, led by Williams, came back from 15 points down in the final minutes to win the game. Deron made the game tying three-point shot with just 30 seconds left in regulation. Williams declared for the NBA Draft after the 2005 season, forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Williams received many awards after the 2004-05 season. These honors include being named a consensus Second Team All American, as well as being named First Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, and All-Final Four team. Williams was also a finalist for the Wooden Award and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Chicago Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Williams was named First-Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2004 and as a junior in 2005, the year in which Williams, called by coach Bruce Weber "the MVP of the team", led the Illini to the Final Four. The team included four other former and current NBA players, including Dee Brown and Roger Powell, both formerly of the Utah Jazz, James Augustine of the Orlando Magic, and Luther Head of the Houston Rockets.

NBA career

Rookie season

Following the season, Williams declared for the 2005 NBA Draft, in which the Utah Jazz selected Williams with the third overall selection. He was selected after #1 pick Andrew Bogut and #2 pick Marvin Williams. Williams started the season coming off the bench, eventually moved into the role of starting point guard, and was later sent back to the bench. Williams finished his rookie season averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, in 80 games played. Williams was rewarded by being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team,[8] as well as being the only other rookie besides Chris Paul to receive a first-place vote in the 2005-06 NBA Rookie of the Year voting (Williams received 1 first-place vote).

2006-07 season

Williams began the 2006-07 season as the starting point guard for the Jazz. The Jazz started the season with a 12-1 record. This record was the best in team history and in the league. During these first 13 games of the season Williams played remarkably well, delivering five double-doubles. Two of these double-doubles were back-to-back performances of 26/14 and 27/15 (points/assists). Both of these assists totals bested his previous career high. In the second of those two games, he also had a career high in steals, with five. On January 17, 2007, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, he recorded a career high 31 points. A few days later, on January 24, he recorded a career high 21 assists in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. In his second season, his numbers improved in almost all categories, increasing to 16.2 points and 9.3 assists per game (second only to Steve Nash in the NBA).[9] The Jazz improved to post a 51-31 record, winning the Northwest Division title.

2007 Playoffs

The playoffs ended a three year layoff for the Jazz, and in the first round they faced the Houston Rockets. Williams scored in double figures in each of the seven games in the series, including a 14 assist, 20 point double-double on May 5 to close out the series in Houston. It was their first playoff series victory since 2000.[10]

In the second round, Williams and the Jazz faced the Golden State Warriors who had just upset the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in the first round. Williams started off the series strong, posting double-doubles in two of the first four games as the Jazz jumped out to a 3-1 series lead. In the fifth game, Williams was plagued by foul problems and struggled from the floor hitting only one of eleven shots from the field, and scoring just two points.[11] His teammates picked him up, and posted a 100-87 victory, sending the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 - in the days of John Stockton and Karl Malone.

The Jazz faced the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals, a team led by Tim Duncan who had posted three NBA championships since 1999. Williams played his best basketball of the season in the first three games, averaging nine assists and over thirty points in the first three games.[12] Spurs guard Tony Parker recognized Deron's effort in the Jazz game three 109-83 win.

He played good tonight. He was very aggressive from the beginning of the game. His outside shot was going and he was aggressive in getting everyone involved.[13]

Spurs player Bruce Bowen highlighted Deron's skills, and compared him to the previous Jazz all-star guard.

That's what's missing today in the NBA is solid point guards. You have the scoring guards, you have guards that can't do some things. With him, it's special because he spent that time in college and learned more and more about the game of basketball. So he goes to a team that really needs a great point guard and he just fits the mold of a young Stockton.[14]

2007-08 season

Deron Williams again elevated his play during his third season in the NBA. He scored a career high 41 points on December 8, 2007 in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, although they ended up losing the game.[15] He also had two 20-assist games on the season.[16] He elevated all of his stats, improving to 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game, third in the league behind Chris Paul and Steve Nash.[17] Despite his remarkable poise and productivity during the season, he was again snubbed during the All-Star game, the point guard position being filled by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul[18]. Although he did not participate in the main event, he did win the 2008 All-Star Skills Challenge.[19]

Much was made of Deron's new leadership role on the team, and how Deron calls the majority of the plays on the team instead of coach Jerry Sloan, something not even John Stockton did.[20] The Deron Williams/Chris Paul rivalry was as intense as always, although Paul elevated his play to become a legitimate MVP candidate.[21] The Jazz again won the Northwest Division and the #4 seed, this time with a 54-28 record, and again faced a Houston Rockets team that had home-court advantage in the first round.

Honors/Achievements

NBA career statistics

Last updated April 21, 2008

SEASON TEAM GP GS MPG SPG BPG RPG APG PPG FG% 3P% FT% TOPG
2005–06 UTA 80 47 28.8 0.8 0.2 2.4 4.5 10.8 0.421 0.416 0.704 1.8
2006–07 UTA 80 80 36.9 1.1 0.3 3.0 10.4 16.2 0.456 0.322 0.767 3.1
2007–08 UTA 82 82 37.3 1.1 0.3 3.0 10.5 18.8 0.507 0.395 0.803 3.4
Career 242 209 34.4 0.9 0.2 2.9 8.1 15.3 0.466 0.374 0.774 2.8
Playoffs Team GP MPG SPG BPG RPG APG PPG FG% 3P% FT%
2006–07 Utah 17 38.6 1.5 0.2 4.3 8.6 19.2 0.452 0.333 0.790
Career Utah 17 38.6 1.5 0.2 4.3 8.6 19.2 0.452 0.333 0.790

Career highs

[22]

Notes

  1. ^ International NBA Players - Pronunciation Guide NBA.com
  2. ^ a b Template:Cite news Peol argue for Chris Paul because of his better stats, but people argue Deron williams for supirior floor play and team around him.
  3. ^ McGraw, Mike (February 9, 2008). "Jazz's Williams, Hornets' Paul eating competition alive". Chicago Daily Herald. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  4. ^ Luhm, Steve (February 3, 2008). "NBA: Who's best? Debate still links Paul, Williams". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  5. ^ Denton, John (February 5, 2008). "NBA: Williams-Paul Debate Rages On". Hoopsworld. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  6. ^ Player Bio Fighting Illini
  7. ^ SLAM ONLINE | » Deron Williams: Giant Steps
  8. ^ Paul headlines All-Rookie Team as lone unanimous pick Espn
  9. ^ Player Card Espn
  10. ^ ESPN - Utah vs. Houston Recap, May 05, 2007
  11. ^ NBA - Golden State Warriors/Utah Jazz Recap Tuesday May 15, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
  12. ^ NBA - San Antonio Spurs/Utah Jazz Recap Saturday May 26, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
  13. ^ Salt Lake Tribune - JAZZ: Williams' aggressive play sparks rally
  14. ^ Salt Lake Tribune - JAZZ NOTES: Williams' fan club growing
  15. ^ http://www.nba.com/games/20071208/UTADAL/boxscore.html
  16. ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/deron_williams/career_stats.html
  17. ^ http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Assists.jsp?league=00&season=22007&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=1
  18. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstargame
  19. ^ http://www.nba.com/allstar2008/skills_challenge/
  20. ^ http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695261478,00.html
  21. ^ http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings.html
  22. ^ Deron Williams career statistics

Template:Skills Challenge Winners

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