It’s that time of year again…the Deron Williams pandering
By Paul M. Banks
On Thursday, Deron Williams was named to the All-NBA second team. He was also an All-Star snub this season. In fairness, there are plenty of great point guards in the West. You know who they are. One is the man most often compared to D. Will, the one picked in the 2005 lottery along with him, Chris Paul. CP3 did have a better season, I’ll give him that. However, in two of the four meetings this season, Deron OWNED CP3, ABSOLUTELY OWNED HIM! In the postseason, Williams’ running mate Carlos Boozer has been really slumping, but Deron has taken over to carry them this far. In the clinching game six win over Houston, he was on fire. It was exactly like the old arcade game NBA Jam Session. Remember when you hit a few shots in a row and the opponents didn’t score? Then you would literally be “on fire.†Every time you released the ball, there was smoke behind it and flames all around it. Of course, you never missed a shot in this state. That was Deron Williams’ shooting the three-ball in the second half of the first round series ending victory.
History Lesson
After a national title game appearance in 2005, Deron Williams skipped his senior season and became the all-time highest draft pick (#3 overall) in Illinois school history. During his second NBA season, Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams developed immensely. He finished second behind only “the Karl Marx of the Hardwood†Steve Nash (thank you Details magazine for that article and nickname) for the NBA lead in assists. He put on a good show during the 2007 rookie-sophomore game at All-Star weekend and will be playing in the big boy game soon enough. After game one Charles Barkley remarked, “after this series, Deron Williams will be a household name.†He turned it up another notch in the postseason and he carried the Jazz to a very surprising Conference finals appearance. In 2008, the New Orleans Hornets are this year’s Jazz. If they can close the deal against the San Antonio Spurs a.k.a. the most boring and unloved team in the world, they would be a great match-up for the Jazz in the conference finals. (If Utah can turn this series around of course) Some say the regular season means nothing come playoff time, I disagree. Utah won three of four versus the Hornets this season, and all three of their wins were BIG TIME blowouts. Kind of like when Chris Paul and Deron Williams met in college. Remember when #3 Illinois destroyed #1 Wake Forest by 30 in the 2004 Big Ten-ACC Challenge? Â
Deron Williams Disease
There are people who still talk about how Williams looks ‘chubby’ for an NBA player or that ‘he’s just big.’ Around the time of the NBA draft, pundits repeatedly stated how much he needed to ‘lose his baby fat.’ These people are way off. Perhaps he just has that kind of body; maybe it’s simply his genetics. Given all the conditioning his position in life requires, it’s quite obvious that he is in elite physical shape. I’m sure all his measurable numbers would verify that too. Some people are just like that; they are in much better health than the exterior of their body makes them appear to be. These people suffer from “Deron Williams disease.†We heard announcers make this same exact knock on Deron a few times during the 2007 Western Conference finals, in a more subtle form. Every time an announcer calls him ‘deceptively quick’ or ‘deceptively fast’ he’s making the same exact point. I should know. Deceptively fast was essentially my name when I played high school football. Even though it was ten years ago, people from my graduating class still bring that up whenever they play sports with me. All I can say is, when Deron attacked the rim and threw down on that drive in the second half on Wednesday night’s game two…there was nothing deceptive, only AUTHORITATIVE about that! Williams tried to speed up the tempo in the second half of their game two defeat at Staples Center. Unfortunately, none of his teammates were able to come along with him.
Latter-Day Jazz
In the 1990s, Utah was known for basketball almost as much as it was known for the Latter-Day Saints temple. (You know, the one picturesque building you see in all of TNT’s Salt Lake City shots.) They had a hall of fame caliber combo with point guard John Stockton and frontcourt scorer/rebounder Karl Malone. D Will and current leading scorer/rebounder Carlos Boozer develop into a combo as lethal as Stockton and Malone. Why Booze has disappeared for the playoffs is unexplainable, but they will need him to be his regular self soon to slavage the series against the Lakers. Your older brother’s Jazz also had solid two-guards named Jeff Hornacek and Jeff Malone who were excellent perimeter shooters. Deron is a decent three point shooter, but Utah’s main threat from distance are (surprisingly) 6 foot 11 Mehmet Okur and the man with totally awesome hair, Kyle Korver. Luckily, there is no one playing the role of Greg Ostertag on the current Jazz team. D. Will has stepped up his game again in the postseason just like the playoffs last year. Mehmet has been a stud too, having many 15-15+ games in the playoffs. By the way, did you realize that Okur is married to a former Miss Turkey? Check out the picture below. His marriage is yet another example of my social relationship theory; the one that I articulated here. https://www.therealchicago.org/0206writers.htm And that a certain female columnist from Time Out New York “borrowed†from me…and then called me a “retard†when I confronted her on it last December.
The Lakers are to the NBA what Duke is to college ball, the Yankees are to baseball, Notre Dame is to college football etc. etc. People love to root against them. If you don’t have a “dog in this fight†you gotta root for the Jazz in this series. Jazz basketball is all about backside screens, good movement along the baseline to get spacing, players setting the necessary picks and giving of their bodies in subsequent rotation to get the right shot. How can you root against a team this fundamentally sound and well coached by Jerry Sloan? It’s even made Paul Millsap look good at times!