Coming Of Age: Marvin Williams

[KB21]

Coming Of Age: Marvin Williams

Great Article!! Here are some snippets:

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"I think he's starting to grow as a player in our league," said Mike Woodson. "Not only is his number production up, he's also trying to defend and rebound the ball. That's what impresses me more than anything."

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This is what I like about Mike Woodson's approach to basketball. He stresses defense and rebounding, and folks, that's what wins championships in the NBA. I also think Marvin's improvement as a defender has had as much of an effect on his overall play as anything.

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"He's getting older," said Joe Johnson. "He's got another year under his belt. I think that's the main thing, getting experience. Now that he has that he's really playing with a lot more confidence."

He's confidence and improved play – along with Josh Smith – has taken a lot of pressure off of Joe Johnson. Last season Joe had to shoulder most of the load for the Hawks, now with the help of the young guys he doesn't have to focus on winning games by himself, something he welcomes.

"It takes a lot of weight off of me," said Johnson. "As far as double- and triple-teams, they're more reluctant to come. Those guys are knocking down shots, slashing to the rim and dunking. It puts pressure on the defense and makes us a better team."

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Now, aren't you glad that Atlanta didn't sell the farm to trade for the no defense playing Pau Gasol in the off season? The worry was that Joe Johnson didn't have anyone that could take the pressure off him. Both Marvin Williams and Josh Smith have stepped up to take that pressure off. Gasol? He's still a weak defender, and he's getting pushed out of the picture in Memphis by the much more dynamic Rudy Gay.

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"It definitely motivates me," said Al Horford. "It looks like he put in a lot of hard working during the summer. His jump shot looks like it's going to go in every time. Things like that motivate me."

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Marvin has become a leader by example. The young guys on the team look at the hard work he has put in and how far he has come, and it is motivating them.

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"I feel like I worked extremely this summer and it's translating over to the games," said Marvin Williams. "But I'll never take all of the credit. I definitely have to thank my teammates. We've got a great veteran point guard in Anthony Johnson that does a great job finding me. Joe does a great job of finding me, as well as Josh. I always have to thank my teammates."

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And that shows just how selfless Marvin Williams is. I highly doubt you will ever see him be arrogant over what he has done on the basketball court and take all the credit for himself. Plus, he's right. This thing started to turn around when Anthony Johnson started playing the point guard position. Anthony is essentially an extension of Mike Woodson on the court right now. I really don't anticipate Mike going away from this.

It has been a joy to watch this team and this coach grow from being a 13 win team three years ago to what they are now.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Definitely a great and on point article about Marvin. He's been the model of consistency on this team. And unlike some of the other 3rd year guys, he hasn't regressed one bit. He's steadily getting better.

I truly believe that he'd already be a 20 ppg scorer for this season, had it not been for the injury that took almost 20 games from him last season. Then it took him another month after that to get his rhythm back.

When you go to 82games.com, and look at his shooting, you'll see where he's improved across the board. Ironcally, as of this date, he's taken the exact percentage of jumpers as shots, as he did last year, which is 69%.

But instead of making 41.5% eFG on his jumpers, he's making 46% eFG on them.

Last year, his biggest problem was finishing inside. This year, he's converting over 60% of the time on the inside. That's huge for him and this team.

And he's drawing more fouls and getting to the line a lot more, with almost a 20% draw foul rate, which is damn near Wade-like.

There's no reason to believe that this guy is going to level off right here. Once he develops a good ball move to free himself for a jumper, or a real good post move, the sky is definitely the limit for him. But even if he doesn't, he's still going to be close to a 20 ppg guy who can knock down 1/2 his shots.

I'd love to see him develop a turnaround jumper when isolated in the post, that he also could knock down from 16 feet out, ala Karl Malone. A go-to scoring move like that when he has the ball in isolation, would turn him into an offensive scoring machine.

[Gray Mule]

Good points about Marvin. He is getting better. Confidence

in himself and in his team mates is growing.

Remember too, the Hawks are still one of the youngest teams

in the NBA. Marvin is the youngest. In days of old,

when players only came from college after 4 years, this

would be his senior year.

Maturity is beginning to show for our Hawks. Still, they

still have growing room. With the team playing as they

are now, just think - - They will probably get better!

WOW!!

[BusBoyIsBack]

I don't know about as soon as February, but I think people like Hollinger are way off base with the assessment that Marvin Williams will never make an all-star team.

I think Marvin can easily score 20 PPG next year if he works as hard as he did this upcoming offseason as he did last summer.

Hell he might average that for the rest of the year if he keeps driving the basketball like he's doing right now.

Throw in our team success and potential nationally televised games and we could have 3 legit all star candidates on this team by next year.

[KB21]

By this time next year, the Eastern Conference centers that people will be talking about will be Dwight Howard and Al Horford.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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By this time next year, the Eastern Conference centers that people will be talking about will be Dwight Howard and Al Horford.

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Giving us 4 guys with star potential.

That's just scary.

[deester11]

Marvin will never live down being chosen before Chris Paul in most circles. I am definitely happy to see him do what he's doing. His aggressiveness was the only thing I worried about due to his deferring to his teammates, but if he can hone any sense of killer instinct.....he'll be off the charts. It's just good to see the potential being realized by our young guys.