Williams: “I Never Got the Opportunity to Play in New Jersey”

August 3, 2008, 12:12 am

Following up on his earlier comment that he was ”playing not to make mistakes, trying to stay on the court…” while with the Nets, Marcus Williams tells a Connecticut reporter, “It seems like I never got the opportunity to play in New Jersey, so to have a new start to show what I can do, it’s exciting.”  Williams, along with Josh Boone, will play in UConn’s annual charity game next weekend.

.....Interested in finding out what the fans over in sunny New Jersey had to say about the Williams trade, I spent some time looking through their forums.

Here's what they had to say about Marcus Williams, and the trade itself...

KiddLovesNets says:

"This deal is quite similar with that Camby trade, pathetic. Oddly enough, I'm actually pretty calm this time. Maybe it's time for we Nets fans to regard this team as the next Grizzlies. After all, I don't see any Grizzlies fans complaining their team's dumb trades since they've already become desperate..."

IlliniFan says:

"You're a moron. This is a very good trade for the Nets."

gigantes says:

"the point was not his PT or his averages, the point was his potential. and it wasn't potential in the typical sense of "we've been hanging on to this guy for years because his potential is still so high". the fact is that marcus williams never even had a second training camp.

and don't forget that harris has four years in the NBA, two of them as a starter. meanwhile, marcus only had a single training camp in the NBA and only got to start a few games.

also, we like harris and of course we hope that he will be a superior PG in the NBA but it's not a guarantee of anything. saying that marcus didn't improve from his rookie year is the kind of observation that someone millions of miles away from the situation would say. the reality is, there were mitigating circumstances to consider."

VCDrivesaPorcheToWork says:

"this was also done for the sake of MW.

he was a star at UConn, blessed with amazing court vision and averaging about 8-9 APG.

but comon now, we all know he is not a lights out shooter so by that alone, he cannot be brought off the bench and be expected to do anything good with the ball

he is a talent for sure, but he needs to be a starter in order to flourish.

look for him to do great things in GS."

Elone says:       

"Great job Frank. Once again you provided your young players with the confidence they needed to succeed.

This coach might be the absolute worst in the league."

Jabbez says:

"Marcus had better players in front of him while on the Nets. That won’t be the case in GS, and we’ll all be watching to see if he can be the player he thinks he is. He’ll probably have some nice offensive stats, and the Warriors will be bounced in the first playoff round if they make it at all. Perhaps his early season injury contributed, but he definitely regressed last year as a playmaker.

I’m happy for him and wish him the best, but statements like this support the deal. He was going to get increasingly frustrated on the bench and his value would only have declined, so a first round pick for him works for both sides."

Geo says:       

"Marcus, you had many opportunities and you did not cash in on them: you were out of shape and did not have a good attitude and never worked on your defense. What do you expect? Rondo was considered less talented than you and many predicted you would have a better career (Okay, it’s early) but Rondo got it and worked on it and showed he could play both ends of the court effectively. Now, you did not show a pulse on the d (Famous quote: MWilliams could not guard a bank with a gun, or something like that)and you never fully showed you could run an offense. Yes, you had flashes, but you remind me of someone who thinks you deserve it or are entitled to it and don’t have to work at it. Rondo worked, as did your other peers like Farmar etc. You have yet to work. Maybe the trade will shake you up, but judging from your demeanor, I doubt it. Yeah, it’s hard to play behind Kidd, but when you were behind Harris, you showed just as little. Don’t blame the coach, folks, not even Mwilliams would do that. Blame the man himself: stand up for once MWilliams."

Mr. DollarBill says:            

"Marcus didn’t attempt to play any defense, he overdribbled way too much, and clearly, was only concerned about his own shot and not creating anyone else’s. With that said, i do believe he was playing not to make mistakes. Antione Wright and most of the younger guys were playing the same way if you ask me…Frank is a garbage coach that cannot instill any confidence in his players or teach them effectively, you don’t coach rookies thru fear. Frank would let the veterans blow defensive assignment after defensive assignment and he’d stick with them, but let the kids screw up, they’d get yanked right out of the game, and i found that to be counter productive. You don’t sit there and let Malik Allen allow the defense to score several times and not blink an eye, then turn around and bench Sean for not being where he’s supposed to be on defense. I’m sure i’m not the only who noticed that kind of crap taking place last year.

Still, Marcus was not in the best of shape, he rarely played like he wanted to succeed, and he didn’t play the PG position to the best of his abilities. Good luck to him in GS, because if he does his thing out there, that will make Lawrence Frank look horrible."

Spartan says:   

"Marcus was a star in college, but he simply has not yet shown that he has NBA level talent. Obviously there are a numbers of fans who post here who must be either UConn fans who are loyal to him or maybe even know him and support him. I am sorry but he just has not shown to be good enough for the NBA.

Look at what actually happened. He showed some early promise as a rookie. He looked good with that drive down the left side of the lane and then connected with the pull up J. Or he went all the way to the hoop. But then the league put those moves in the book on him. And he was defensed. All he could do after that was throw the ball out of bounds on his penetrations. Then came important games at the end of the season. The Nets were on the verge of an important win in Detroit. In came Marcus in the 4Q. Billings and Hunter used him like a turnstile and took over the game. Then in the playoffs against Toronto, Marcus put the Nets in a big hole in the 2Q that the Nets could not climb out of. After that, Frank did not play Marcus again for the rest of the playoffs. What a horrible coach? name some coaches that would have continued to trust Marcus, don’t bother, there aren’t any. These are facts, please tell me how I am a know nothing hater….believe me, I have no reason to hate Marcus and I do not…I just have seen with my own eyes that he could not get it done."

Rick says:      

"Loved Marcus, but guess it did not work out. Hey at least we got our first round pick back. And G-States will probably be higher. Best of luck but i think we just traded away a future all star he is going to dominate in the warriors run n gun offense"
adam.y says:        "When this guy turns into the next Steve Nash, don't tell me I didn't warn you.
Wow Thorn is just giving away all our players for peanuts this off-season…….
Seriously a guy with sooo much upside has MUCH more value than a protected 2011 pick…….."

Brian says:       

"You need to give a young point guard the FULL responsibility of running a team, and I’m only disappointed that he never got that in NJ, because he’s got tremendous potential. I think he got undue scrutiny about his D…its not like everyone in NJ was playing top flight D. The bottom line is that RT/Kiki/LF had already made their minds up about him last year, and that was that.

He is going to absolutely SHINE in GS’s system."

xcalibur says:

"@adam

you know marcus cant guard to save his life right? well then again if your comparing him to steve nash i guess he could be that. what has nash won besides mvps? zippo. mvps mean nothing if your goal is to win a nba title and thats what we want. so let marcus transform into the next nash in GS. its not like he went to the knicks.

there are certain players who need a specific system to make them look good. marcus needed a gs or phx system where he could run around like a chicken with its head cut off and score and not be accountable for the defensive end. big deal they scored lets inbound the ball and score right back. marcus will play nice there but does anyone really think hes a starting pg who you can win a title with? at times i hoped he would be but his defense is horrendous. he gets big men into foul trouble too easily

our philosophy here is that defense wins championships. its no secret that that statement is true. so we need defenders, we want defenders. marcus doesnt fit that mold. look at our recent signings. dooling and najera play tough D at times hayes can play good D as well. hell even vince can step up his D, marcus never did."

Edd says:     

"Thank you Frank. Another talented player we drafted that you fail to develop. I would not be surprised that MWilliams will turn to another Nash and we’ll forever regret it because of you. When will Thorn realize that you are not a competent coach to develop rookies and now the whole team is practically made up of rookies. When Kidd got traded and the Nets is waiting for Harris, MWilliams started for I believe 4 games and I think the Nets won all of them. When he comes in a game as back-up, he keeps looking at Frank and I am sure Frank is dictating every moves he makes. How can someone play basketball by the numbers. At GS under Nelson, Williams will be able to play freely as a PG without looking at his coach everytime."
Stevie says:        "Well we went 2-2 in these 4 games . He had two good games ( we won ) and two bad ( we lost ) ."
Jabez says:               "The reason I am sad to see Marcus go is that he reminded me of Rod Strickland. Both were mid to late first rounders from successful college programs and had silky games, sleepy demeanors, and attitude issues. Rod had about 14,000 points and 8,000 assists in his career, and was traded by the Knicks in his second season for a washed up Mo Cheeks. Who knows what Marcus will do in his career, but at least we got more than the Knicks got for Rod."

Mina says:       

"This deal is perfect for marcus. he fits GS to a tee.

nelson is notorious in developing young talent. nash, nowitzki, howard, daniels, ELLIS. GUYS LIKE DAVIS, JACKSON AND HARRINGTON HAVE BEEN REVIVED UNDER HIM.

all this will do is show the incompetence of frank in develioping youngsters. when marcus is shining wiht the warriors this year or the next, management will look at frank and blame him for giving him away cause he wasnt able to handle him.

this kid has talent, without a doubt. all he needs is a team who beleives in him, and a coach who is willing to develop him.

absolute steal for GS. frank will surely pay for it with his job."

Paul says:       

"Who are these “young players” that Frank has failed to develop? What kind of talent are we talking about? Was Antoine Wright a superstar player under a different coach? Jason Collins? Brian Scalabrine? Zoran Planinic? Who? What coach could have turned any of these guys into productive players?

What we do know is that under Frank, RJ didn’t get any worse (just hurt), Boone performed better than most imagined, ditto on Krstic until he got hurt. Sean Williams is a beast athletically, but the guy couldn’t stay out of foul trouble (5.4 fouls per 36 minutes). Even if Frank had tried to play him more, Williams’ limitations in this area would have kept him on the bench.

It’s not Frank’s fault that the draft hasn’t yielded that much talent. I love Thorn’s ability to make trades, but drafts aren’t his strong suit.

And seriously, when’s the last time that Thorn made a bad trade? Mikki Moore for a second rounder was good. Boki for Marc Jackson and Linton Johnson? Also good. The Kidd deals (both getting him and trading him away) were great. VC for Zo and 2 #1s? K-Mart for 3 #1s? I have a lot of respect for Thorn’s ability to trade. I think he’s earned it. If he deals away Marcus, I’m trusting him.

I don’t want a team that only has the capability to win 42 games every year for the next five. I’d rather have a crap team for two or three and compete for a championship during the rest. And nothing that the Nets have done so far this off-season makes me think that this plan isn’t a good idea."

What do you think of Marcus Williams? 

I have not had many chances to see him play, however, I do have a tape of one of the meetings between the Nets and Warriors last season. I believe Marcus played about 15 minutes total, and took two shots. He focused on cycling the ball around the perimeter, and did not emphasize creating any kind of offense for himself. He did well, but he did in fact look as if he were "playing not to make any mistakes."

What kind of minutes will Marcus receive this year?

Will Monta remain the starting point guard if Marcus blossoms into a MIP candidate?

Will coach Nelson be willing to develop him properly?

Any inside knowledge on what Marcus has worked on preparing for the seaon?

Will the risk of playing both he and Monta at the same time be too great a liability on the defensive end? Will it matter if the offense is roasting?

I believe that Monta will be the starting PG throughout the entire season. However, I suspect Monta will split his minutes at the 1 and 2 spots, while Marcus will receive a wealth of playing time exclusively at point (of course assuming that he plays well).

I apologize if the numerous posts were somewhat redundant, ("lot's of potential, good/bad trade") and I did not mean for this to appear one-sided or biased torwards Marcus Williams, I tried to make it even. Some of the bafoons popping off about how he will never be a good player, failed to spell extremely simple words, such as "the", or "point", and many of the outrageous opinions noted, lacked the sensibilities and common knowledge of your average GSoM'er. ;)

Link:   http://www.netsdaily.com/?p=6246