Scouting Report: Terrence Williams
by Sebastian Pruiti
Oct 2, 2009 Scouting Reports, Terrence Williams
Name: Terrence Williams
Position: PG/SG/SF
Height: 6′6″
Weight: 220
Birth Date: June 28, 1987 (age 22)
Birth Place: Seattle, Washington
Number: 8
College: Louisville
Drafted: 2009, 1st round, 11th overall by New Jersey
Experience: Rookie
Contract: $2.06 million in 2009-10
On offense:
Terrence Williams seems to be the perfect addition to a team that is going to try to be an up and down team this year. At 6′5″ Terrence Williams can do just about everything on the offensive end. The one thing he can’t do however is kind of important. Right now Terrence is lacking a shot, and if he can develop that he will turn into a scary good player.
One thing for sure, he is working on his shot. Terrence has been showing up to the Nets practice facility on his own to shoot for a few weeks before the group workouts started. His attitude on working on his shooting?
“Shooting is shooting. Shooting is like video games, you gotta love to do it.”
He has the “I want to get better” attitude few players have early on in their career.
Ok, let’s back off of the shooting for the moment and look at the rest of his offensive game. Terrence’s skill-set allows him to play any of 3 positions, SF, SG, and PG. Coach Lawrence Frank has already been on record saying that he will be playing some point while Devin Harris will slide to the off-guard spot…allowing him to get into scoring mode.
Playing in the point forward role is familiar territory for him, and while doing it for the better part of his senior season at Louisville, Williams lead his team in assists at 5.1 per game, with a 2.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. His passing is probably his best skill, and he refers to it as such, “the feeling I get when I make a pass for an assist is like the one you’d get if you had a baby brother and every time he tried to walk, he fell down, until one time, he finally walked and you were there to see it. That’s the kind of happiness I get from seeing other guys score. “The guys over at The Good Point asked Louisville assistant coach Walter McCarty about Williams, his report was glowing. ”Terrence can have a huge effect on a game without ever scoring a bucket.”
So if Terrence’s shot doesn’t develop, Nets fans shouldn’t be too worried, because he can have a productive effect on the game without scoring.
On Defense:
With Terrence Williams’ size and athletic ability, he should be able to guard multiple positions on the court. Going back to The Good Point’s article:
Not only did Williams dish up some remarkable passes to his fellow Cardinals, but he also got after it on the boards better than almost any shooting guard in memory.
Finally McCarty made sure to note that they “would also use his strength on defense to stop opponent’s best players.”
We don’t know too much about how his defense will translate to the pros where everyone is bigger than in college, but one thing is for sure, he won’t be bashful on the defensive end.
Miscellaneous:
Terrence Williams has a pretty cool pregame speech that he gives himself before every game. Luke Winn’s article on Terrence Williams talks about it briefly, but he also talked to me about it:
NAS: I was reading a Luke Winn SI.com article about you and it says you have a little pregame speech you give yourself. When did you start doing that?
Terrence Williams: In college.
NAS: Do you care to repeat it, or is it a personal thing?
Terrence Williams: It’s something personal, but to sum it up, it just basically says go out and play hard, have fun, don’t take anything for granted because somebody has it worse off . And then I tell my family and the Lord to watch over me while I play on this court to protect me and everybody else on this court, the players, from injury. And just to have fun.
Comment:
I don’t know if you noticed this from the scouting report, but I am a real big fan of Terrence Williams. I just think he has a terrific skill-set, and he can impact the game in a ton of different ways. Even as he develops a shooting game (and I have no doubt he will, the kid is working hard), he can still have a solid (maybe even spectacular) rookie season.
In my mind he is a early rookie of the year candidate.
Video:
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Well I dunno, last time we saw him in summer league he still couldn't hit a shot. Like Bill Simmons said, summer league won't show you who's gonna be good, it shows you who can be bad. If a player does well in summer league, that doesn't mean anything; if he does badly however, most likely he's gonna be bad in the L.
So yeah, I don't have any doubts about his defense or the other things he can do, but I don't think he'll be breaking the double digit scoring average barrier this year.
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 PM
We'll have to see on TWill. I think Sebastian is a bit higher on him than I am. The lack of a true position scares me, as does the lack of a jump shot. He certainly her the personality and demeanor you want in a rookie, friendship with some dimunitive Knicks nonwithstanding.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 PM
T Will looks like a good prospect for the Nets, but I don't think he is a player you can judge from what he does in the first few months. I don't see him being ROY this year but in time I think we will look back and see T Will as one of the top 5 players from his draft class. He might never be THE go to guy, but will be an important player in the Nets future.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 PM
I don't know…I am not much of a Bill Simmons guy, and I don't really think you can put merit into the Summer League…good or bad…especially in a Split Squad situation, when you are playing guys you won't be playing with during the regular season
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:37 PM
He's a good fit for the team, definitely. I think from what was available, they drafted the right player. Kid seems motivated, and to be honest, the playoffs this year is a bit of a long shot, so let him play, learn the league, and he can develop into a great player. He's a part of a great young core that this team has. Young promising players – what else can a rebuilding team ask for?
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Well, we'll finally get to see him in real action in 1 day and 22 hours
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 AM
What Bill Simmons said is extremely untrue. Kevin Durant didn't have a good summer league numbers wise. He's doing pretty well for himself. A better comparison to TWill would be Nicolas Batum. Batum looked lost and useless during the Summer League. Flash forward to preseason, he earns a starting spot and starts nearly every game for the playoff bound Blazers. He's also a key member of their future.
A guy like TWill is going to look better playing with better players. He can focus on defense, running the floor, and occassionally hitting the open shot. When you're playing glorified pick up games in the SL, it's not really an indicator of everything. It's nice to see how some skills translate against better athletes but its nothing more then that.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 PM
i think terrence williams is the bomb at louisville he was the star but now you got to think he is in the nba he may not be the best player ever but i am a huge cardinals fan and i watch it religiously and twill got game he is one of the main reasons louisville did so good he is a show and he pumps the other players up so no he is not a lebron james but he is the equivalent in my perspective to allen iverson or big ben wallace
October 4th, 2009 at 5:44 PM
hes going to be good but not great with an all around stat sheet
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