Q&a With Hawks Forward Marvin Williams

[Cwell]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...liams_news.html

Q&A with Hawks forward Marvin Williams

By SEKOU SMITH

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 08/08/08

Marvin Williams hasn't been able to fully indulge in his usual summer escape from the NBA.

Q. This has to have been the craziest summer yet for you as a Hawk, watching guys come and go and all the other stuff play out the way it has. How have you spent the bulk of your time?

A. You know me, the past few summers I've gone back to school, so to speak. Being here [in Chapel Hill] is kind of like my refuge. I've done pretty well in school.

Q. What about your game? What new wrinkles have you added for your fourth season?

A. As always I'm just trying to get better. I've been shooting a ton of 3s [pointers]. I've definitely been working on the 3-ball. And I've put on a lot of weight, too. I'm up to about 245 with seven percent body fat. I'm as big and strong as I've ever been. I'm finally starting to fill out my frame and it feels good.

Q. You barely shot any 3-pointers last season, was that by design?

A. I shot them my rookie year but I didn't shoot many last year, maybe 10 or so. Five or six of those were from half court, too. But I feel like that's something I can add to my game that will make me more of a threat. A lot of people feel I can shoot that shot. It's something I've got to continue working on to get better.

Q. The jump in weight seems pretty significant. Are you worried at all about carrying that much more weight and maintaining your speed and quickness?

A. I was 233 last year, but I actually feel like I'm moving a lot better. I've been running sprints on the track and my times are better than they've ever been. I think a lot of it is just natural maturation. It's like my dad always said, I was so young when I came into the league. It was just a matter of time before my body developed. I just turned 22 two months ago, man. Everybody has to go through this.

Q. Speaking of going through it, how tough is it to see one of your best friends [Josh Childress] leave the team for Greece?

A. It's crazy. Words can't explain the friendship I've built with him the past few years. It's tough first and foremost four our team. We signed Mo Evans from Orlando and that's a great get, he's a guy that's going to do a lot of good things for us. But from a personal standpoint, [Childress] was the guy that showed me what the league was all about when I got here. It's a blow to see him leave.

Q. Did you at least get the news before it broke?

A. When I heard he was going to Greece I thought he was going to hang out. I was actually in Switzerland myself at the time. So I was in the airport in New York eating and the news came across the scroll on ESPN that he was going to Greece. I was like, what the [expletive] is going on ... all I can say is I was stunned. Q. Have you heard about the offer the Grizzlies have prepared for Josh Smith?

A. No. But if they make him an offer I know we better match it. We can't lose two of the most important guys on this team at once. That can't happen. They are the first two guys that we started building with. This is crazy even talking about all this stuff.

Q. The guys drafted before and after you have gotten lucrative contract extensions already, where you do things stand with you right now and the Hawks?

A. It's not even on my mind. I saw where [Andrew] Bogut, Chris [Paul] and Deron [Williams] all got those extensions. They worked hard for that. And I'm happy for them. But from a personal standpoint I haven't concerned myself with that right now at all. I love Atlanta. And I'll let God take care of everything else.

Q. Does Billy Knight's departure make it seem like everything has started anew, like this team us undergoing yet another rebuilding process?

A. In a way it does. And I'm sure we'll have a few more bumps in the road during the process. We've some new things added to the mix, some new elements. At the same time, I'm not going to do anything out of my element going forward.

Q. This summer can't be what you expected when you guys left Boston that night after Game 7. Surely you thought things would go differently, right?

A. Absolutely. And that's the thing, everybody was talking about next season. The way we went out in Boston was not the way we wanted to finish. But we gave it everything we had. And after it was all said and done, everybody was talking about next year, next year. The entire city of Atlanta was looking forward to next year. Again, it would be tough to lose those two big pieces that really pout together your team. I just hope [management] matches the offer to Josh.

[Cwell]

good info.looks like Marvin is trying to improve. I hope he does. Nice to hear he's working on his 3 ball and his strength. I wonder if Deisel knew that Marvin was in Switzerland lol

Edited August 8, 2008 by Cwell

[gsuteke]

245 7 % body fat

Jacking 3s all Summer.....

Very nice

[HawksFan87]

Wow to have one of your core players say it's crazy to lose both of them in teh same year says a lot, Smoove better be resigned lol. Nice interview...

Edited August 8, 2008 by jsmoovefan

[DrReality]

Those things have to be two of the biggest keys for him. And to toughen up. Can't wait to see what Diesel says.

Sounded mature too.

[DJlaysitup]

I hope he's not practicing his shot too much in the Alps...the thin air up there could screw up his distance feel. He'll be leaving everything short once he gets back near sea level.

Edited August 8, 2008 by DJlaysitup

[Deeman]

Glad to see Marvin working on his range. These players be at the most random places, Switzerland?

[WraithSentinel]

Best interview I have seen with Marvin. I wonder if ASG ever thinks about what the players think? It is very obvious they don't give a s#$^ what the fans think and media think. In some way that is a good thing. However they better care what the players think.

[crimedog]

Glad to see Marvin working on his range. These players be at the most random places, Switzerland?

If I had Marvin Williams money I'd be somewhere nice. Prolly in Greece actually, that seems like a really nice place. Maybe Chil was onto something.

Glad he said this:

"No. But if they make him an offer I know we better match it."

I actually like to see a player come out like that, liked that Evans and Hofo said about the same thing.

[EazyRoc]

245 ?! What the..?

He's got to be the third biggest SF behind LeBron James and Ron Artest. What's more impressive is that he feels that he hasn't lost a step with all the weight he's put on. I'm very happy that he's been practicing the 3 ball. If he can put all of this together in the games next season, he could make a case for Most Improved.

[Jammin29]

I like this Interview, great to see he's improving, i hope he works on his ball handling a bit to. and i like that he likes Atlanta, we gotta resign him to.

[Vafan]

Thanks for the article. Very informative. Hopefully, this shuts up Walter and Diesel.

[Swish]

Q. What about your game? What new wrinkles have you added for your fourth season?

A. As always I'm just trying to get better. I've been shooting a ton of 3s [pointers]. I've definitely been working on the 3-ball. And I've put on a lot of weight, too. I'm up to about 245 with seven percent body fat. I'm as big and strong as I've ever been. I'm finally starting to fill out my frame and it feels good.

Q. You barely shot any 3-pointers last season, was that by design?

A. I shot them my rookie year but I didn't shoot many last year, maybe 10 or so. Five or six of those were from half court, too. But I feel like that's something I can add to my game that will make me more of a threat. A lot of people feel I can shoot that shot. It's something I've got to continue working on to get better.

Q. The jump in weight seems pretty significant. Are you worried at all about carrying that much more weight and maintaining your speed and quickness?

I'm liking the sound of that stuff right there...he has to be HUGE! And if he starts hitting threes...EazyRoc is right, Most Improved Player??? Where is Diesel?? Still in the shop D?

[Chris18]

Good to see Marvin's working to improve his game this summer. Hopefully this extra weight that he has put on will help his post game.

[Cwell]

I'm liking the sound of that stuff right there...he has to be HUGE! And if he starts hitting threes...EazyRoc is right, Most Improved Player??? Where is Diesel?? Still in the shop D?

let's not get too ahead of ourselves. This is Marvin Williams we're talking about here. I'm not getting my hopes up so he can dissapoint me again.

[Swish]

This is true...too true actually.

[coachx]

Great news from Marvin.

All people mature at a different rate. If Marvin is both bigger and faster and extending his range what else could you ask from the 22 year ld kid.

Love his comment about if he is worried about his free agency status.

[DJlaysitup]

I'm liking the sound of that stuff right there...he has to be HUGE! And if he starts hitting threes...EazyRoc is right, Most Improved Player??? Where is Diesel?? Still in the shop D?

I love the talk but I can't understand the whole thing. Why would a guy put on 20 pounds of muscle in order to start shooting threes? Makes no sense to me. He was 6'9" -223Lbs last year and couldn't hit the side of a barn from the three point range. It's not like a 5'10-150 pound fella can't get the ball there from the three point line????? I follow mid-major basketball and there are a lot of guys who can hit NBA level threes...they just aren't big enough to make it in the NBA. Sounds odd to me.

[Cwell]

I love the talk but I can't understand the whole thing. Why would a guy put on 20 pounds of muscle in order to start shooting threes? Makes no sense to me. He was 6'9" -223Lbs last year and couldn't hit the side of a barn from the three point range. It's not like a 5'10-150 pound fella can't get the ball there from the three point line????? I follow mid-major basketball and there are a lot of guys who can hit NBA level threes...they just aren't big enough to make it in the NBA. Sounds odd to me.

he was 233 last year and i'm pretty sure he didn't put on the weight to shoot threes. He put it one so he won't get thrown around like a rag doll everytime he drives. He just chose not to shoot threes last year it's not that he can't reach the rim lol

[gurpilo]

he was 233 last year and i'm pretty sure he didn't put on the weight to shoot threes. He put it one so he won't get thrown around like a rag doll everytime he drives. He just chose not to shoot threes last year it's not that he can't reach the rim lol

Guys, he simply put weight on as result of natural maduration, he is a 22 year athlete, it's normal that his body will evolve with the years. The thing I wan to see is if he is still as quick as he was with 233 to play SF, that seems he is. He has very good tools to become special, he just have to believe in himself and drive to the rim more consistently (actually he did last year) and add the 3pt shot to his game, he is working on that. Adding this things and if Woody gives him the role he should be (2nd scorer) he will do well.

I have the feeling that with Childress gone he will play more consistently and finally explodes this year. I allways thought he could have something similar McGrady, show some upside the first three years and explode the 4th. Have some faith in the guy, we already lost Paul and Williams, we won't earn anything of hating the guy, he still can be a top SF on the league and I bet he will be here or out of here! (sadly more likely he will become top SF out of here with all the Paul's stuff he has here...)