In defense of Eric Williams

[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

Whoa, folks!  Where's this "Eric Williams sucks, trade him" vein coming
from?  Outside of how much _I_ like him, all the comments I've heard from
the league and the estimable Coach P. are very, very positive.

1) When Willams worked out for Pitino, Pitino said he was "very impressed"
with what he saw, and sees Williams as a major factor in next year's plans.
Pitino has mentioned him in a very positive, excited light a number of
other times as well.

2) In one of the sports mags talking about the NBA draft, there was a long
discussion about 'tweeners.  Eric Williams was singled out as one of the
very few such players who would make it, "because he just plays so damn
hard!"

3) Under Pitino's system, EW should flourish.  Remember that for the middle
months of the season, he was averaging 20-22 ppg, shooting nearly 50% from
the floor and 80% from the line.  Though many of these games were losses,
the majority of them were hardfought by a small, crippled team, and went
down to the wire.

4) He's still learning the game of basketball.  He was originally a
baseball player.  Didn't play much hoop until late in high school.  There's
still a great deal of untapped potential there.

	Defensively he did have a tendency to get mauled.  I believe this
was because he was forced to guard much bigger, stronger, _true_ power
forwards.  I do not think he is a tweener.  I think he has a small
forward's game (the one caveat being his outside shot, which (mark my
words) will be here to stay this year), and the potential to be one of the
more devastating scorers in the league.  I hate to make unfair comparisons,
but his inside moves bring Olajuwon and (deep breath) McHale to mind, if
only from a joy standpoint.  There seems to be so little creativity inside
these days.  Most players are very predictable, almost robotic.  When
Williams gets inside, I just sit there wondering who he's going to juke out
of his shorts before laying the ball in and running back downcourt with
that little kid's grin on his face.

	I think Walker is a much better power forward.  A 3-forward
rotation of Walker, Williams, and Van Horn, tied together by Pitino's
coaching, has a nice ring to it.  You get passing, rebounding, and
scoring(Walker), inside scoring and raw energy (Williams), and smooth
outside scoring and rebounding (Van Horn).  Such a tandem would create
matchup problems galore.  Anchor these three with a large, nasty presence
in the middle, and I would not be unhappy at all.

	Eric Williams, all things being equal health-wise, will have a
monster year.  That is my first prediction.

Chris  (KEEP THE PICKS, RICK)