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Deron Williams

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Deron Williams
New Jersey Nets
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 weight207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
CollegeIllinois
NBA draft2005: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career2005–present
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Deron Michael Williams (Template:Pron-en DERR-in)[1] (born June 26, 1984), nicknamed D-Will, is an American basketball player currently with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to playing in the NBA, Williams played for the University of Illinois men's basketball team.

Early life and high school athletics

In elementary school and middle school, Williams won two state wrestling championships. In 1993, as an eight-year-old, he won the 67 lb. weight class Texas State championship. Four years later in 1997, he won the twelve-year-old 116 lb. weight class championship.[2][3] 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 led his team, the Cougars, to a 32–2 record and the Class 5A state semifinals against Bryan High. In 2002, as a senior, he averaged 17.6 points, 8.5 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game. His team, the Cougars, went 29–2 that season, losing the 5A Texas State semifinals.[4] Williams was a teammate of Bracey Wright who went on to play for Big Ten rival Indiana University.[5]

College

Williams was recruited to play college basketball at the University of Illinois for 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.

Bruce Weber assumed the head coach position for the Illini in April 2003 and helped develop Williams throughout his remaining collegiate career. As a sophomore, Williams improved his scoring average from 6.3 to 14.0 points per game and improved his assists per game from prior year 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 regular 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 fifteen points down in the final minutes to win the game. Deron made the game tying three-point shot with just 38.5 seconds left in regulation. He then hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, and the Illini never looked back in that game.

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 formerly of the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, Roger Powell formerly of the Utah Jazz, James Augustine formerly of the Orlando Magic, and Luther Head of the Sacramento Kings.

Williams declared for the NBA Draft after the 2005 season, forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.

College statistics

College Year GP GS PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT% 3P%
Illinois 2002-03 32 30 6.3 3.0 4.5 1.4 0.2 .426 .533 .354
Illinois 2003-04 30 30 14.0 6.2 3.2 1.0 0.3 .408 .787 .394
Illinois 2004-05 39 39 12.6 6.8 3.6 1.0 0.2 .433 .677 .364
Career 101 99 11.0 3.3 5.9 1.1 0.2 .422 .685 .374

NBA career

Rookie season

Following the season, Williams declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz selected Williams with the third overall selection, after Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. He 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,[6] 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 one first-place vote, from Jazz color commentator Ron Boone). Williams and Chris Paul have shared a friendly[7] rivalry[8] that began after the 2005 NBA Draft, where Williams and Paul were the third and fourth selections overall. Whether Williams or Paul is the superior point guard is the subject of frequent debate[7][9][10][11][12] among sports writers and fans.

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).[13] The Jazz improved to post a 51–31 record, winning the Northwest Division title.

2007 Playoffs

The playoffs ended a three-year playoff drought 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. The Jazz won the series 4–3, beating the Rockets in Houston to complete the series. It was their first playoff series victory since 2000.[14]

In the second round, Williams and the Jazz faced the Golden State Warriors, the eighth-seeded team that had upset the top seeded 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.[15] However, despite Williams's poor performance, the Jazz posted a 100–87 victory, sending the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 and the John Stockton and Karl Malone era.

The Jazz faced the eventual NBA Champion 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 over that span.[16] Spurs guard Tony Parker recognized Williams' effort after the Jazz won game three 109–83.

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.[17]

Spurs forward Bruce Bowen also highlighted Williams' skills, as he compared Williams to the previous Jazz All-Star guard John Stockton.

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.[18]

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.[19] He also had two 20-assist games on the season.[20] 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.[21] Despite his strong performance during the season, he was not selected to represent the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game, as the point guard position was filled by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul.[22] Although he did not participate in the main event, he won the 2008 All-Star Skills Challenge.[23]

Much was made of Williams's new leadership role on the team, and how he calls the majority of the plays on the team instead of coach Jerry Sloan, something not even John Stockton did.[24] In March, Deron dished 212 assists, the most by any NBA player in any month since John Stockton in January 1992.[25] The Jazz again won the Northwest Division and the four seed, this time with a 54–28 record, and again faced a Houston Rockets team that had home-court advantage in the first round. However, the Jazz won the first two games in Houston and went on to win the series in six games.[26] In the second round, the Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.[27] Williams was the leading scorer for the Jazz in the 2008 playoffs.[28]

Deron was selected as a member of the USA Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics on June 23, 2008.[29] The team went unbeaten on the way to winning back the gold medal after defeating 2006 World Champion Spain and living up to their "Redeem Team" moniker after missing out in the 2004 Summer Olympics.[30]

2008–09 season

Deron Williams missed thirteen of the first fifteen games of the season due to a second-degree ankle sprain sustained in the preseason against the Chicago Bulls.[31] He returned November 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that time, he has led the team through an up-and-down season plagued by injuries to several key players (most notably Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko), but despite averaging 19.2 ppg and 10.0 apg through the All-Star Break, he was again snubbed from the All-Star Game. Similar to the previous year, he responded to the snub with strong play, scoring 30+ points in five consecutive games before the break (he missed one additional game during this time due to a minor injury) and leading the team to a 5–2 record to close out the first half of the season, including a win over the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers to snap their seven-game winning streak. They followed the All-Star Break with a win against the defending champion Boston Celtics.

On March 1, 2009, Deron Williams became the second active player (Steve Nash being the other) to reach 20 or more assists in at least four games in their career.

2009–10 season

On December 14, 2009, Williams was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. A week after his teammate and pick and roll partner Carlos Boozer, was named The Western Conference Player of the Week. The Jazz hadn't had consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week Awards since 1997, when Karl Malone won it back to back.

On January 28, 2010, Williams was named to participate in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This marked his All-Star debut. He was also invited to participate in the 2010 NBA Skills Challenge where he finished second to Steve Nash.

Despite being overshadowed by other point guards Chris Paul and Steve Nash prior to the 2009-2010 season, for allstar recognition, notable basketball analyst and former player Kenny Smith, and analyst and Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley proclaimed Deron Williams to be the best point guard in the NBA.[32]

2010 playoffs

Despite playing with injuries to his wrist and ankle, and playing without starters Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams became just the second player in Utah Jazz history to record at least 30 points and 10 or more assists in a playoff game. John Stockton is the only other Jazz player to accomplish said feat, doing so twice in his career. Williams scored 33 points on 7-14 shooting from the field while making 16-18 free throws from the line, while also contributing 14 assists on the road in a game 2 win against the Denver Nuggets.[33] He repeated that feat later in series while scoring 34 points and dishing out 10 assists.

On April 28, Deron Williams became the first player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and 10 or more assists in five straight games in a playoff series. Williams points/assists through the first five games, in order, were 26/11, 33/14, 24/10, 24/13, and 34/10.[34][35]

Awards and honors

Deron Williams
Medal record
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing National team
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold medal – first place 2007 Las Vegas National team
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Isla Margarita National team
  • Second Team: 2008, 2010

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Last updated January 8, 2011

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005–06 Utah 80 47 28.8 .421 .416 .704 2.4 4.5 .8 .2 10.8
2006–07 Utah 80 80 36.9 .456 .322 .767 3.3 9.3 1.0 .2 16.2
2007–08 Utah 82 82 37.3 .507 .395 .803 3.0 10.5 1.1 .3 18.8
2008–09 Utah 68 68 36.8 .471 .310 .849 2.9 10.7 1.1 .3 19.4
2009–10 Utah 76 76 36.9 .469 .371 .801 4.0 10.5 1.3 .2 18.7
2010–11 Utah 53 53 37.9 .458 .345 .853 3.9 9.7 1.2 .2 21.3
Career 439 406 35.6 .467 .358 .808 3.2 9.1 1.0 .2 17.3
All-Star 1 0 28.0 .545 .500 .000 3.0 6.0 4.0 1.0 14.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Utah 17 17 38.6 45.2 33.3 79.0 4.3 8.6 1.5 0.2 19.2
2007–08 Utah 12 12 42.8 49.2 50.0 77.3 3.6 10.0 0.6 0.3 21.6
2008–09 Utah 5 5 42.2 41.4 36.0 82.9 3.8 10.8 1.8 0.4 20.2
2009–10 Utah 10 10 39.8 45.0 39.2 80.2 2.7 10.3 1.0 0.4 24.3
Career 44 44 40.4 45.8 40.2 79.6 3.7 9.6 1.2 0.3 21.1

Career highs

Personal

Williams was baptized as a Christian early 2010.[37]

Williams appeared as himself on the Disney Channel show The Suite Life on Deck during the season 3 episode Twister: Part 1 along with Dwight Howard and Kevin Love.[38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ International NBA Players - Pronunciation Guide NBA.com
  2. ^ 1993 Texas State Wrestling Champions
  3. ^ 1997 Texas State Wrestling Champions
  4. ^ Player Bio Fighting Illini
  5. ^ SLAM ONLINE | » Deron Williams: Giant Steps
  6. ^ Paul headlines All-Rookie Team as lone unanimous pick Espn
  7. ^ a b Buckley, Tim (2008-02-04). "Williams, Paul renew rivalry". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  8. ^ McGraw, Mike (2008-02-09). "Jazz's Williams, Hornets' Paul eating competition alive". Chicago Daily Herald. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  9. ^ Luhm, Steve (2008-02-03). "NBA: Who's best? Debate still links Pall, Wil". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  10. ^ Denton, John (2008-02-05). "NBA: Williams-Paul Debate Rages On". Hoopsworld. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  11. ^ Bucher, Ric (2008-11-03). "HOW DO YOU KNOW ... WHO'S BETTER?". ESPN: The Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  12. ^ Broussard, Chris and Bucher, Ric (2010-11-11)."Debate: Chris Paul the best PG in NBA?". ESPN: The Magazine. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  13. ^ Player Card Espn
  14. ^ ESPN - Utah vs. Houston Recap, May 05, 2007
  15. ^ NBA - Golden State Warriors/Utah Jazz Recap Tuesday May 15, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
  16. ^ NBA - San Antonio Spurs/Utah Jazz Recap Saturday May 26, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
  17. ^ Salt Lake Tribune - JAZZ: Williams' aggressive play sparks rally
  18. ^ Salt Lake Tribune - JAZZ NOTES: Williams' fan club growing
  19. ^ NBA.com: Jazz at Mavericks Game Info
  20. ^ NBA.com : Deron Williams Career Stats Page
  21. ^ NBA.com: 2007-08 ASSISTS LEADERS: Total Assists
  22. ^ ESPN - NBA All-Star Game 2008 - NBA
  23. ^ NBA.com: 2008 PlayStation Skills Challenge
  24. ^ Deseret News | Utah Jazz: Sloan likes Williams calling plays
  25. ^ ksl.com - Williams and Boozer Earn All-NBA Honors
  26. ^ "Jazz: Playoffs 2008 Round 1 Recap". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  27. ^ "Jazz: Playoffs 2008 Round 2 Recap". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  28. ^ "Jazz Stats". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  29. ^ "Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams Named to USA Senior National Team". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  30. ^ US hoops back on top, beats Spain for gold medal
  31. ^ Deron Williams out at least 2 weeks
  32. ^ [1]
  33. ^ [2]
  34. ^ [3]
  35. ^ [4]
  36. ^ 2010 All-Star Rosters
  37. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/jazz/50546667-87/jefferson-williams-jazz-real.html.csp
  38. ^ Dwight, Kevin Love, DWill on ‘The Suite Life’

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