Official Warriors Starting PG Thread

Williams can put up some decent numbers, I didn't follow his career too closely to see why he never really got into the rotation, though. In the 9 games he started, he scored 10+ points, dished out 6+ assists, and averaged a steal and 2 three's a game. Unfortunately he in those games he also averaged 3 turnovers a game, and throughout his career he's shot only 40%, so maybe that's part of it. Still, a decent pickup for the price and the cheap rookie contract.

 

Maybe Marc Stein had it wrong? Maybe the Williams GS wanted wasn't Lou Williams, as he reported, but Marcus?

This is the guy I was hoping the Warriors would've drafted instead of Patrick O'Bryant in 2006. Just from watching the tape I thought he was one of the better prospects in the draft at their #9 slot. He was considered by many scouts to be the best PG in the nation at that time.

However, for some reason I never heard about his knucklehead run-in with the law: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Was arrested along with teammate A.J. Price on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops this summer. Suspended by the team.</div> http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/...;playerId=18846

Anyone know what became of the charges? edit: see articles below

I like the fact that he's a pure PG (at least he was in college) so he'll push CJ Watson for some minutes, hopefully.

But, if he doesn't, then why get him? A 1st round protected pick(not a top 10) is still an awful lot to gamble on (think that we just got a potential franchise player in Randolph at #14). This isn't just a D-League signing or a 1-year veteran's minimum signing. So hopefully they see something here that warrants the price.

I think it could work out. The exciting thing is he has the potential to be a very good player, even a long-term starting PG for the Warriors. He's young, and many scouts compared him to Marc Jackson when he came out of college. Long arms -- he's 6'3" with a 6'7" wingspan -- and big -- 205 pounds. He's got good court vision and likes to make the flashy pass, from what I've seen and read.

When I saw his name come up in the rumors, I was hoping the Warriors would make an offer. I'm glad they did, but I hope h gets a chance to prove himself with Nellie.


edit: I found what became of the charges. He owned up to it, was suspended for a semester, served 18 months probation, ordered to do 200 hours community service, then and asked for a 2nd chance:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/men...-williams_x.htm

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/10589616/

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...&id=2278440

I like how he owned up to it and didn't try to defend his actions. He didn't steal the laptops, but a friend gave him two of them and he tried to sell them, later saying "he just wasn't thinking." He served his suspension and was welcomed back to the team, so that's a good way to admit the mistake and put it behind him. Hopefully that helped him build character.

 

Being a Nets and Warriors fan, I LOVE this trade. Nets get a draft pick, and Warriors get Marcus Williams that will be good with Nellie mentoring him.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Jul 22 2008, 11:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Jul 22 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I guess that means the speculation can end about adding a starting PG to the Warriors. I think this move is fine. The focus should be to give the starting PG job to Monta and if something goes awry, we can always make a move mid-season.

The PG/SG rotation should look something like this:

PG: Monta/Watson/Bellinelli/Williams
SG: Sjax/Bellinelli/Monta

I simply don't see Williams getting minutes unless someone gets injured.</div>
I really doubt Marcus Williams is behind Watson and Belinelli. His career is only two years old and he broke his foot last year which hurt his development a lot. He actually produced pretty well after the all-star break; 8.1 ppg, 3.6 apg in 21 mpg. In the 7 games he started last year he put up 11.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 6.3 apg in 30 mins. He shot 38% from 3, 40% after the all-star break. Hes got pretty good vision along with size to play next to Monta- I think that alone will get him at least 20 mpg under Nellie. He had a solid rookie season in NJ but struggled last year when he started with the broken foot, I think he could do pretty well in GS in a running system with a bunch of scorers around him and tons of freedom.

I just don't think Nellie is going to sit a guy with this good of court vision while Monta is the starting PG. We need him to set the table for everyone and keep the team running smoothly. Add to that the fact that he's 6'3 and 205 lbs- big enough to play with Monta and defend SGs, AND hes a good 3 point shooter and I think there's no shot that CJ Watson gets above him in the rotation unless Marcus Williams does something to get in Nellie's doghouse (which is possible).

I like this move by Mullin. A first round pick is a little steep but its pretty heavily protected. Its a bit of a risk but, like I said, we got a big PG with good court vision and he can shoot the ball. I think at worst Nellie can make a solid rotation guy out of him. Also of note; Marcus is only making 1.2 million this season. I've read that the W's still have 5-6 million in cap space. That still leaves us with a nice chunk of cap space to play with (if we so choose). I'm just wondering what we'd spend it on- we got 3 PGs which Nellie wanted, we got another 20 ppg wing player, we got a productive big man in Turiaf- what welse do we need? We could match Azu but I don't think its even worth it now that Jack is going to be getting 35 mpg, Mags is going to get 30+, Monta now looks like he'll be playing at SG for a nice portion of the games, and we have Belinelli.
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I really know nothing about Marcus Williams so that's why I put him behind Watson and Belli. I've been watching both of them in summer league and it seems they can fill in at PG when needed pretty nicely. At least there will be competition for that spot now, which is always a good thing.

 

As a nets fan who watched marcus for two years and followed all the nets news about the players closely, I can say that the biggest problems with Marcus were:

a. bad conditioning. If you just look at his weight, like a lot of people seem to on this thread, you would think that he's a big point guard who can defend other big pgs and take other pgs down low in the post. He was actually just quite out of shape - thus the weight.
b. speaking of defending, marcus was easily the worst defensive player on the nets - as an NBA scout once put it, Marcus 'couldn't guard an ATM with a machine gun'. He was a huge liability on defense for us but I don't know how much that would matter on a runandgun style of offense like GS. He could run around like a chicken with his head cut off and that might work out awesome for both marcus and GS.
c. attitude problems around the coach and in the locker room. With all the young guys we brought in this summer, the rumor was that Marcus had to be shipped so he wouldn't spread his negative attitude wouldn't spread to them as well.

That said, Marcus oculd very well flourish in a new change of environment and GS kinda gameplan (more of a 'outscoring' 'outgunning' and 'outrunning' mindset than defensive mindset, correct me if i am wrong). at the very least, he can be a usable backup point guard at a position for that GS seems rather thin at now. A lot of nets fans are glad to see him gone but now we really dont have a pure point guard, or rather anyone who can dish assists other than maybe vince. His attitude, conditioning, and being a defensive liability turned the nets off - even though he had some good flashes of potential (albeit inconsistent of course).

I'd be happy to see marcus do well in the different environment but i have my doubts.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (syc514 @ Jul 22 2008, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As a nets fan who watched marcus for two years and followed all the nets news about the players closely, I can say that the biggest problems with Marcus were:

a. bad conditioning. If you just look at his weight, like a lot of people seem to on this thread, you would think that he's a big point guard who can defend other big pgs and take other pgs down low in the post. He was actually just quite out of shape - thus the weight.
b. speaking of defending, marcus was easily the worst defensive player on the nets - as an NBA scout once put it, Marcus 'couldn't guard an ATM with a machine gun'. He was a huge liability on defense for us but I don't know how much that would matter on a runandgun style of offense like GS. He could run around like a chicken with his head cut off and that might work out awesome for both marcus and GS.
c. attitude problems around the coach and in the locker room. With all the young guys we brought in this summer, the rumor was that Marcus had to be shipped so he wouldn't spread his negative attitude wouldn't spread to them as well.

That said, Marcus oculd very well flourish in a new change of environment and GS kinda gameplan (more of a 'outscoring' 'outgunning' and 'outrunning' mindset than defensive mindset, correct me if i am wrong). at the very least, he can be a usable backup point guard at a position for that GS seems rather thin at now. A lot of nets fans are glad to see him gone but now we really dont have a pure point guard, or rather anyone who can dish assists other than maybe vince. His attitude, conditioning, and being a defensive liability turned the nets off - even though he had some good flashes of potential (albeit inconsistent of course).

I'd be happy to see marcus do well in the different environment but i have my doubts.</div>

Thank you for the input.

If you expect to play for Don Nelson you have to be in shape. So I guess we will learn pretty quickly just what Marcus Williams is all about. I remember hearing a lot about how much conditioning they've been going through the last two seasons with Nelson as head coach. Even the summer league team has been kept very busy with lots of practices and workouts and shoot-arounds. I really don't know about this guy's shooting, just looking at his stats. But I guess he can get some assists. I hope he's decent. The Warriors could use a solid point guard behind Monta. Also hopefully after getting into shape if he decides that he wants to be in the NBA, maybe his defense will take a step in the right direction.

 

I don't think putting Monta at PG is a good idea, they should just go trade for a good PG.

 

Let's not pre-judge the guy. Sjax had a crappy attitude and the guy re-invented himself here under Don Nelson.

I heard Marcus Williams was a Deron Williams type body. Excellent athleticism, but almost terribly slow. Like Deron, has all the pure point guard instincts with the ability to score from almost anywhere (midrange being his game). The downside: inconsistency, poor quickness, lack of defensive effort, and lacking the "it" factor that grabs fans attention.

Still, he might pay off and do very well. It's like a free lotto pick really. He should have gone much higher considering good lead guards are hard to find (almost as much as good big men). There's too many guys that can score and not enough guys that make others around them better by passing the ball or dominating the paint.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (syc514 @ Jul 22 2008, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As a nets fan who watched marcus for two years and followed all the nets news about the players closely, I can say that the biggest problems with Marcus were:

a. bad conditioning. If you just look at his weight, like a lot of people seem to on this thread, you would think that he's a big point guard who can defend other big pgs and take other pgs down low in the post. He was actually just quite out of shape - thus the weight.
b. speaking of defending, marcus was easily the worst defensive player on the nets - as an NBA scout once put it, Marcus 'couldn't guard an ATM with a machine gun'. He was a huge liability on defense for us but I don't know how much that would matter on a runandgun style of offense like GS. He could run around like a chicken with his head cut off and that might work out awesome for both marcus and GS.
c. attitude problems around the coach and in the locker room. With all the young guys we brought in this summer, the rumor was that Marcus had to be shipped so he wouldn't spread his negative attitude wouldn't spread to them as well.

That said, Marcus oculd very well flourish in a new change of environment and GS kinda gameplan (more of a 'outscoring' 'outgunning' and 'outrunning' mindset than defensive mindset, correct me if i am wrong). at the very least, he can be a usable backup point guard at a position for that GS seems rather thin at now. A lot of nets fans are glad to see him gone but now we really dont have a pure point guard, or rather anyone who can dish assists other than maybe vince. His attitude, conditioning, and being a defensive liability turned the nets off - even though he had some good flashes of potential (albeit inconsistent of course).

I'd be happy to see marcus do well in the different environment but i have my doubts.</div>

I didn't know about A and C, but after seeing Marcus Williams play against the Kings last season, I have to agree about the doubts. Williams was horrible shooting the ball and he didn't get a lot of PT either. I have to defer to Mullin on this because he must see something in Williams that I didn't see. Williams seems like a backup PG to me and not a starter even though New Jersey was saying before they got Devin Harris that he was the guy to replace Jason Kidd. Right now, I think the Nets got the better of the deal. We traded a conditional #1 draft pick for a career backup PG.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jason voorhees @ Jul 23 2008, 02:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>We traded a conditional #1 draft pick for a career backup PG.</div>

Well, back-up until this point in his career, which has only been two years, behind Jason Kidd for much of it and then Devin Harris. But, by all accounts, if you look at what he did in college, this kid was not drafted for hype -- he was one of the best PGs in the nation at one of the top schools (UConn), and he was considered a top PG because of his court vision, passing, and ball control. He is big for a PG but not fast. He makes up for lack of quickness with good vision and pacing.

I know he's struggled so far to live up to expectations as the next Marc Jackson and the successor to JKidd in New Jersey, but many good players don't get it going full steam their first two years in the league.

Look at Andris Biedrins. He averaged 13 minutes and 3.6 points his first year, followed by 15 minutes and 3.8 points his second year. He started 1 game his first year and 2 games his second year. IF after those two years, you were asked about that pick, you'd have to throw your hands up and say "we don't know yet." It wasn't until his third year, when was given 29 minutes a game and averaged 9/9, that he emerged on the scene as an exciting young center.

If you go on the Nets board --
http://sportstwo.com/forums/Marcus-William...ed-t120105.html -- there's a lot of people on both sides of the Williams wagon. There are many who say this is the perfect situation for him in Nellie's system to finally break out as a starter.

Nonetheless, it is a gamble giving away a first round pick. But to me, Marcus isn't a bust. He's simply a PG prospect with tremendous upside who has yet to prove himself. So, in this aspect, we'd spend a pick on that type of player anyway. Might as well spend a pick on a talented PG prospect this year, when we really need one, than in 2011 or whenever the Nets finally cash in on the pick.

 

delete

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CohanHater @ Jul 14 2008, 04:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ah, ya, I'm actually with you on that... I think that it's going to be a very long season if we don't get a veteran presence at least to help Monta get through the season. An Andre Miller type of player. I'm with most people, that I don't think we necessarily need a starting 1. Just one to help carry Monta the next couple of seasons when he's really stuck.</div>


Andre Miller type of player... I think we got that in Marcus Williams. Just without the veteran presnece.

 

Thank God. Now sign Beans!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Jul 24 2008, 12:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Interesting blurb from ESPN about Monta having agreed to a deal:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Monta Ellis (Golden State) -- although a source told ESPN.com that Ellis has agreed conceptually to a six-year contract to remain with the Warriors.</div>
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...Sheridan-080723
We probably won't hear anything about it until next week at the earliest. Friday is the day we either re-sign Azu or sign someone else to replace him (Mo Evans perhaps) and I believe Friday is also when we make a decision on CJ Watson being on the team or not. Mullin said that after that the off-season is basically over and most of the cap room will be used up so we can start re-signing out own players.
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I would like to see CJ Watson on the roster for next season. I have heard that he's been working very hard, and he's been playing well this summer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Jul 23 2008, 10:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Interesting blurb from ESPN about Monta having agreed to a deal:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Monta Ellis (Golden State) -- although a source told ESPN.com that Ellis has agreed conceptually to a six-year contract to remain with the Warriors.</div>
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...Sheridan-080723
We probably won't hear anything about it until next week at the earliest. Friday is the day we either re-sign Azu or sign someone else to replace him (Mo Evans perhaps) and I believe Friday is also when we make a decision on CJ Watson being on the team or not. Mullin said that after that the off-season is basically over and most of the cap room will be used up so we can start re-signing out own players.
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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

 

hmmm im not too sold on monta ellis playing the point... especially if im contemplating in picking him as my PG in my on going fantasy keeper league. hehe Wont his production decrease if he plays the point?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kobe23 @ Jul 24 2008, 11:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>hmmm im not too sold on monta ellis playing the point... especially if im contemplating in picking him as my PG in my on going fantasy keeper league. hehe Wont his production decrease if he plays the point?</div>

I think his PPG will still be comparable to last year, if not higher. His assist total should go up too but don't know and don't want to know about his TO ratio