[Coatesvillain]

I read an article where Louis Williams said the reason he has more turnovers now is because he takes more chances in the summer. We'll see.

[Coatesvillain]

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.

LINK

[Sliccat]

I'm rooting for Louis. I don't know if he's a starter, but he's a much better second round pick than you guys gave him credit for.

[BEEZ]

I like Amundson, like Chris Anderson but not on CRACK!!!!

[SirCharles34]

Originally Posted by BEEZ

Him and John Cox both. They are both garbage. John Cox claim to fame is that hes the cousin of Kobe Bryant. Way to go John

Cox looked good tonight against Utah. He can drill the 3.

[SirCharles34]

Originally Posted by Coatesvillain

Looks like all the progress that Lou Williams had at the end of the regular season has gone down the drain. With lesser talent around him and vs lesser competition he's settling back into the mode of a scorer.

What we know about him is that he can get into the lane at will (he was getting to the line almost at will Vs the pros), but everything else has reset. I'm kinda disappointed in his approach to summer league, this is where he's supposed to work on running the team and continue to develop his skills as a point. What good does his putting up 32 points do? We already knew he was capable of this.

Hopefully the coaches instill the importance of him developing his PG skills, that is the difference between him being a potential starter and a reserve. As of right now he's a poor man's Tony Parker, but I think even Parker (as a rookie) was more capable of creating for others.

Damn, sounds like you're describing another Allen Iverson.

[SirCharles34]

Just got NBA tv and finished watching the 2nd half of the 76er /Utah game. Amundson looked good. He was scrappy and aggressive. Jason Smith surprised the hell out of me with his offense game. His D needs work. When Bobby Jones got beat to the hoop he didn't rotate to cover.

This is my 2nd summer league game and it would be better if the announcers would give updates as to who is on the court plus their stats, ht,wt, etc... Didn't see Carney or Lou Williams in the game. The announcer made a comment about not another injury when Jason Smith went down briefly but didn't mention who was injured on the sixers?

Cox, like I said earlier was knocking down some 3's.

Anyway, 6ers won and the team looked good.

[benfica]

Louis Amundson got some hops and quick jumper, seems to have his hand on every offensive board.

He will be playing in the NBA for someone for sure.

Found this from last years predraft workouts:
North Carolina’s David Noel tested as the top athlete in the draft. He was followed by Arkansas’ Ronnie Brewer, Louisiana Lafayette’s Dwyane Mitchell, Michigan’s Daniel Horton, Memphis’ Rodney Carney, Villanova’s Randy Foye, Louisville’s Taquan Dean, Georgetown’s Brandon Bowman, Maryland’s Nik Caner-Medley and UNLV’s Louis Amundson.

looks like Louis Amundson is a pretty good athlete at 6'9".

[CocaineisaHelluvaDrug]

Originally Posted by SirCharles34

Damn, sounds like you're describing another Allen Iverson.

There is a certain amount of truth to that statement charles,now williams will never be as good as iverson but he has the same problem that iverson did when he came into the league,he`s undersized and not a natural pg (never will be either),he`s a 20 min a game backup at the 2.

this franchise just needs to stop trying to force square pegs into round holes

[iversonfan 349]

where can you watch summerleague games

[SirCharles34]

Originally Posted by iversonfan 349

where can you watch summerleague games

I didn't even know I had it because typically, you would have to pay extra for the NBA TV channel. I just noticed that it came with my new cable package.

Man, I'm loving it so far because they seem to be showing a lot of 6er games. I'm watching the 6er/spurs game and Amundson's showing his D by blocking 4 shots, JSmith conts to impress (but left game w/a left ankle sprain), TYoung scored on a jordan like move to the hoop, and I would be very surprised if Lou Will doesn't get more playing time this year; he has looked very good.

Don't know about the rest of you but to me these summer league games seem to be more competitive than NBA preseason games.

[Sixerfanforlife]

Coatesvillian: I'd have to digest and disagree. Louis Williams's mentaility as a basketball player has improved a bunch. An example of this would be in Vegas in a game against the Warriors. Do you think Rodney Carney got hot? No, he lived on Louis Williams's ability to get to the rack. Is it Jason Kidd? Hell no, but Louis Williams makes plays off of his ability to get to the rack. It's not a pure PG, and I never did expect a pure PG. I expected a guy that can come in and make plays. Louis Williams is that type of guy.