Re: Official 2009 NBA Draft Recruiting Center
Here is a link to in-depth analysis of the workout: http://www.hooplife.ca/raptorshq/vie...cle.php?id=701
Here's the analysis on T-Will:
Here is a link to in-depth analysis of the workout: http://www.hooplife.ca/raptorshq/vie...cle.php?id=701
Here's the analysis on T-Will:
As for Williams, he was in top form.
He’s in great shape having worked out with Gary Payton since the end of the college season, his shot mechanics look better and better, and he’s still as dominant as ever athletically.
The Raptors ran the prospects through an interesting drill where one player would have to defend each of the other five individuals in turn. Only when the defensive player got a stop or rebounded a missed shot, did the next player take their turn attacking. If the defender committed a foul or failed to gain the possession, the two would go at it again until a stop was made, or the offensive player scored. Each of the six individuals yesterday took their turn defending the other five and of the group, Williams dominated every player he was matched up with from an offensive standpoint, from Green to the taller Ingles. He settled for a jump shot once but otherwise simply attacked off the bounce using his superior quickness and athleticism. (Sidebar – it was interesting to hear the Raptors’ brass continuously yelling for players “not to settle” in this drill. Think BC is looking for someone who’s going to attack the basket?) Williams is also extremely strong as even if the defender managed to get Terrence to pick up his dribble, Williams would simply put his shoulder into his man and power through to the hoop or out-jump his man in order to drop-in a baby-hook.
Defensively, Williams excelled as well locking down almost everyone from Green to the much taller Ingles. Only on one occasion did Williams fall for the fake, unfortunately resulting in a dunk.
However as much as we are fans of Williams’ game, he’s still got some work to do. His shot looks much improved from a standstill position (he was nearly automatic in drills from beyond the arc), however in motion, he still struggles with consistent form. Considering that the Raptors hardly need another long-range threat however, I’m not sure that’s so much of a concern. A bigger concern in my books is his ball-handling. Williams is virtually unstoppable on one-bounce plays to the rim, but you could see yesterday that he still has trouble creating off the dribble, as his handle just isn’t where it needs to be yet for an NBA slasher.
Also, just a note too on how exhausting these workouts are. Terrence Williams made an interesting point in my earlier conversation with him that there’s a big difference between working out in a gym by yourself, and being in these settings.
“When you’re working out at the gym, there’s no coaches in there, you feel you’re going hard, but you tend to go at your own pace. When you’re here with the GM and the head coach here, you tend to run more, even if it’s just to get some water.”
That being said, as tired as Williams was, he showed just how competitive he can be. As I’ve mentioned before, you can never make snap judgments about players in these settings, however there are certain pieces of minutia that do tend to stand out.
In the last drill of the day, the Raptors had all six players doing as many baseline to baseline laps as they could within a three-minute time-span. Joe Ingles raced out to an early lead while Williams was lagging quite far behind the rest of the group. At first glance, it looked like he was dogging it a bit – after all, the last drill of the day that failed to involve anything directly related to basketball was hardly going to decide your draft fate right? However with about a minute left I looked back up and suddenly, Williams was right back with the rest of the pack! And once about 15 seconds was left on the clock, Williams suddenly turned on the reserves and began an all-out sprint, just missing finishing ahead of the rest of the group.
This is the sort of thing you like to see in these settings. Last year I watched players like Marreese Speights waltz through the workouts and it hardly was an encouraging sign. Williams could easily have done the same considering he was by far the most highly touted of yesterday’s group, however even in something as simple as running laps, he wanted to finish at the top of the pile.
He’s in great shape having worked out with Gary Payton since the end of the college season, his shot mechanics look better and better, and he’s still as dominant as ever athletically.
The Raptors ran the prospects through an interesting drill where one player would have to defend each of the other five individuals in turn. Only when the defensive player got a stop or rebounded a missed shot, did the next player take their turn attacking. If the defender committed a foul or failed to gain the possession, the two would go at it again until a stop was made, or the offensive player scored. Each of the six individuals yesterday took their turn defending the other five and of the group, Williams dominated every player he was matched up with from an offensive standpoint, from Green to the taller Ingles. He settled for a jump shot once but otherwise simply attacked off the bounce using his superior quickness and athleticism. (Sidebar – it was interesting to hear the Raptors’ brass continuously yelling for players “not to settle” in this drill. Think BC is looking for someone who’s going to attack the basket?) Williams is also extremely strong as even if the defender managed to get Terrence to pick up his dribble, Williams would simply put his shoulder into his man and power through to the hoop or out-jump his man in order to drop-in a baby-hook.
Defensively, Williams excelled as well locking down almost everyone from Green to the much taller Ingles. Only on one occasion did Williams fall for the fake, unfortunately resulting in a dunk.
However as much as we are fans of Williams’ game, he’s still got some work to do. His shot looks much improved from a standstill position (he was nearly automatic in drills from beyond the arc), however in motion, he still struggles with consistent form. Considering that the Raptors hardly need another long-range threat however, I’m not sure that’s so much of a concern. A bigger concern in my books is his ball-handling. Williams is virtually unstoppable on one-bounce plays to the rim, but you could see yesterday that he still has trouble creating off the dribble, as his handle just isn’t where it needs to be yet for an NBA slasher.
Also, just a note too on how exhausting these workouts are. Terrence Williams made an interesting point in my earlier conversation with him that there’s a big difference between working out in a gym by yourself, and being in these settings.
“When you’re working out at the gym, there’s no coaches in there, you feel you’re going hard, but you tend to go at your own pace. When you’re here with the GM and the head coach here, you tend to run more, even if it’s just to get some water.”
That being said, as tired as Williams was, he showed just how competitive he can be. As I’ve mentioned before, you can never make snap judgments about players in these settings, however there are certain pieces of minutia that do tend to stand out.
In the last drill of the day, the Raptors had all six players doing as many baseline to baseline laps as they could within a three-minute time-span. Joe Ingles raced out to an early lead while Williams was lagging quite far behind the rest of the group. At first glance, it looked like he was dogging it a bit – after all, the last drill of the day that failed to involve anything directly related to basketball was hardly going to decide your draft fate right? However with about a minute left I looked back up and suddenly, Williams was right back with the rest of the pack! And once about 15 seconds was left on the clock, Williams suddenly turned on the reserves and began an all-out sprint, just missing finishing ahead of the rest of the group.
This is the sort of thing you like to see in these settings. Last year I watched players like Marreese Speights waltz through the workouts and it hardly was an encouraging sign. Williams could easily have done the same considering he was by far the most highly touted of yesterday’s group, however even in something as simple as running laps, he wanted to finish at the top of the pile.
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