Sean Showing Early Promise

By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com
November 14, 2007

Rookie Sean Williams continues to open eyes.

The 21 year-old first round draft pick entered his first training camp in October as probably the last man on the depth chart in the Nets’ six-deep, big man rotation. This would be a year of learning for the kid Coach Lawrence Frank calls – in the most positive sense - the “wild card.” Williams would potentially have his moments; but mostly, the athlete with the preternatural wingspan would get spot-duty.

It’s still very early in the season, but quickly those plans have changed.

Sean got his first taste of regular-season action in games where the Nets were on the wrong side of blowouts. In a 106-69 loss to Toronto in the season’s second game, he played 21 minutes and had four blocks, four rebounds, and four points. Against the Celtics, a 112-101 Net loss, he came into the game in the fourth quarter with New Jersey about to go down by 23 points. Matched up at times with future hall-of-famer Kevin Garnett, the rookie’s 10 points and four rebounds helped the Nets cut Boston’s lead all the way down to eight with just under two minutes left. In the run, Williams caught two alley-oop passes from Jason Kidd and scored on a pretty left-handed hook shot over Garnett.

“It was the shot that was given to me,” said Williams, who practices that shot over and over again with Assistant Coach Bill Cartwright after practice and before games.

“I flashed in and I could only go to my left; I’m not going to force anything. I’m going to take what’s given to me. Being a horrible offensive player for so long, you want to be able to do everything. You don’t want to limit yourself…I felt like if I was going to get better at anything I might as well get better at everything.”

With the promising performances in these early games, Frank wanted to give Williams a chance to play “in the guts” of the game, as he has called it.

And that happened, against the Hornets on Monday night, as Sean was the first big man off the bench in the first quarter. He showed some early jitters, starting off with a happy-feet traveling violation, and when he was subbed back out in the second quarter, he had just a rebound and a block to show for his time. But he was not done.

“I feel like when I’m in the game and everything’s flowing with my teammates and everything – and we’re running – I feel like I can do good things.”

And good things he did. After being re-inserted into game with 1:17 in the third, Williams amassed seven rebounds - including two on the offensive end - six points, and three blocks. He helped the Nets push out to an 11-point lead with under five minutes to play, before the team succumbed to New Orleans at the end.

Sean has worked to make his case on the floor for getting more time in games. He has also worked hard to do it in practice and off the court. His after-practice big man work with Coach Cartwright has become a constant and there were some evenings in training camp where he could be found in Coach Frank’s office going over plays.

“I definitely see the opportunity in front of me and everything. Even in college, I don’t want to give a coach an excuse not to play me. I want to know all the plays so he can’t say ‘you don’t know the plays’. I want to be in tune with my teammates. I’m going to do everything possible for me to get the opportunity.”

“He played pretty well in the preseason,” said Richard Jefferson.

“He’s been playing extremely well in practice also. So, for us it’s to see that carry over, to see him continue with that same kind of confidence that he has in practice. To see that in a game is encouraging. There weren’t too many surprised looks out there on the court when he was doing what he was doing. It’s just a matter of him continuing to do that and understand that when you start to play well, team’s are going to adjust to you and that’s where you make your most growth.”

Said Vince Carter: “It’s always great to see a guy in the beginning and the struggles and how his game just flourishes over a matter of weeks and days sometimes just because he’s comfortable and it kind of clicks in and he gets it. It’s great to see and I’m happy for him.”

A major thing Williams is still working on is positioning on the defensive end. He very much wants to get those game-changing blocked shots, but sometimes discretion can be the better part of valor.

“I’m still learning. I feel like in this league you have to stay connected to your man a little bit more. You have to stay connected to your man and you just have to know when to pick and choose your spots. In time it will come.”

<< Back to All Access News