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Kwisatz Haderach
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Coatesville, PA
Age: 25
Posts: 24,535
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Re: 76ers' summer league thread..
Quote:
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah -- For an ever-so-brief moment this past weekend, young Philadelphia 76ers point guard Louis Williams was pushed away from the summer spotlight.
It instead fell on brother DayRon, who got married in Memphis, Tenn.
But Louis was best man, meaning he was obliged to jump through hoops to make it to the wedding. And that he did. July's king of the court left at halftime (with 15 points) of Philly's Rocky Mountain Revue game Friday to catch an early evening flight, missed the Sixers' Saturday game, then was at the airport bright and early Monday morning so he could make to Utah in time for that afternoon's game against Chicago.
Williams picked up right where he left off -- with one hour's sleep, he said -- by scoring 31 points that included 10-of-16 shooting from the field as the 76ers beat the Bulls 88-77.
Yet it's not just against Chicago, which got 18 points from former University of Missouri guard Thomas Gardner, and 15 off the bench from Oklahoma State product JamesOn Curry, that Williams has thrived.
The 2005 McDonald's All-American who jumped straight to the NBA from South Gwinnett (Ga.) High School also averaged 25.2 points over five games earlier this month at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas -- tops among anyone who played more than one game in Vegas.
Not that Williams would expect anything less.
"If I can't figure it out now," he said, "I don't think I ever will."
The one thing Williams does still have to decipher, it would appear, is how to cut down on turnovers. He drives to the basket sans fear, evidenced by the 16 free throws he took Monday. But he also had a ton of miscues while earning All-Revue honors last summer in Utah, and committed a whopping eight turnovers against the Bulls.
Even that reality, though, doesn't seem to rattle the No. 45 overall selection from the '05 NBA draft.
"In these games," said Williams, who averaged 4.3 points in 61 games last season and had his assists-to-turnovers ratio at 2.87-to-1 over last season's final 36 games, "you try to make a pass that you wouldn't normally make during the season."
The Memphis native seems to have third-season plans in proper perspective, too.
"I realize that we do have a veteran point guard in front of me in Andre Miller," said Williams, who added he's tried to be "a sponge" playing behind not only pass-first Miller, but also points-happy former Philly guard Allen Iverson. "So I'm trying to establish myself as that backup point guard, and give [Miller] a breather when he needs it, and maintain leads, and gain leads at the same time." To that end, Williams -- who has had his contract option for next season picked up already -- has definite goals in mind for what little remains of his summer.
"Just becoming comfortable with myself and the things that I'm capable of doing on the basketball court," he said. "This past couple seasons, I've probably been over-thinking things, trying to probably do things outside of my realm. So I've just been trying to do things that I'm capable of doing."
Which means …
"Just play," Williams said. "Just play, score the basketball, make open jump shots, get to the rim, get other guys their shots, make the wide-open passes."
Now if only all that comes as easily during the season as it seems to in the summer for Williams, he may never have to step aside from the spotlight again.
Unless, that is, someone else asks him to be best man.
WHO'S HOT: Philadelphia forward Louis Amundson continues to look like the hardest-working player in the Revue.
Amundson -- who made his NBA debut with Utah last season, but finished the season with the 76ers -- finished with two blocks, six rebounds and 14 points on 6-of-9 field shooting in 27 minutes against Chicago on Monday.
In three Revue games, he's averaging 10.7 rebounds and 15.3 points while shooting 68.2 percent (15-for-22) from the field.
The undrafted University of Nevada-Las Vegas product plays as if every minute is his last, and finished Monday's game despite getting battered on a couple different plays. If for some inexplicable reason he doesn't stick with the Sixers, Amundson's heart and hustle alone seem to suggest he should have a roster spot somewhere in the NBA next season.
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