Lowell Sun-Shammond profile

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Lowell Sun's Shammond Williams profile is pretty 
comprehensive. I pasted it below:

Interestingly, it hints that one reason he may have been 
offered a scholarship from UNC is in attempt to lure his 
cousin, Kevin Garnett. Prior to that, his only 
scholarship offer had come from mighty North Greenville 
JC. He's quite the self-made player. I look forward to 
seeing how good his jump shot has become.


http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%257E4767%
257E902963,00.html

Friday, October 04, 2002 - 9:36:07 AM MST 

Shammond Williams ready to prove his skeptics wrong again 

By ROB BRADFORD
Sun Staff


ROB BRADFORD, Sun Staff

WALTHAM It's a safe assumption that until Shammond 
Williams came to town, nobody compared the cache of Route 
128 to that of North Carolina's Tobacco Road. 

But if Williams said it, it must be true. It's a rule 
those who know the Boston Celtics' newest No. 11 have 
come to accept don't doubt Shammond.

"This is like being in college again," said the 6-foot-1 
guard former University of North Carolina star moments 
before working out with his new team for the first time 
at the Celtics' training facility. 

"Throughout my whole life I've been in position where 
people thought I couldn't achieve. That's what I've done 
my whole life. When I got to Carolina a lot of people 
said I couldn't play at Carolina. Well, I broke records 
at Carolina. I don't really get that anymore because when 
people say I can't do something they end up eating their 
words."

Open wide Boston Celtics fans.

"I don't think anybody had really gotten a load of the 
talent level of Shammond Williams," commented Celtics 
head coach Jim O'Brien.

Ever since Wiliams joined Vin Baker in coming to Boston 
from Seattle in a trade involving the Celtics' starting 
point guard last year, Kenny Anderson, the naysayers have 
been labeling their newest floor general as an 
unacceptable replacement.

In Williams' four-year NBA career, he has started just 13 
of his 164 regular-season games. He did start two playoff 
games for the Sonics in 2000, but even then was slighted 
after being replaced despite averaging 10 points a game.

"It just kept deteriorating and deteriorating," he 
recalled. "For me to excel I need to play. Now I feel 
like I'm in a situation where I'll get an opportunity to 
play."

Chances haven't been easy to come by for the Greenville, 
S.C., native. After high school, Williams' only 
scholarship offer came from North Greenville Junior 
College. Fortunately, there was a post-graduate year at 
Fork Union Military Academy to fall back on.

By the time his stay at Fork Union had gained momentum, 
Williams was starting to open some eyes and suddenly 
started to receive interest from both North Carolina and 
Kentucky. Even then, however, there were doubters who 
insinuated that the only reason for his sudden popularity 
was because those schools were using him to get to his 
much more highly-touted cousin Kevin Garnett.

Once Williams arrived in Chapel Hill the whispers 
continued. One recruiting expert had listed the smallish 
shooting guard as just the 18th best ACC recruit out of 
20 incoming freshman. Needless to say, that report stayed 
taped to his mirror for his entire first collegiate 
season.

Even his coach, Dean Smith, had echoed some early 
concerns about having the ball in Williams' hands. Forget 
playing point guard for the Boston Celtics, it didn't 
look like he was going to make it through one year in the 
powder blue of UNC.

"People consider you a two guard because you can shoot 
the basketball," said Williams. "But if he can't shoot, 
what is he? A point guard because he can't score. I feel 
confident in my skills and being a starting point guard. 
But it's not what one individual wants, but what the team 
needs."

But time went by and Williams' reputation changed. Not 
only did he ease his way into the Tar Heels' starting 
lineup by his sophomore season, but he also was sneaking 
his way into another place well after practices and games 
the Smith Center.

An unmatched work ethic, and healthy dose of confidence, 
allowed Williams to leave UNC as the school's all-time 
leader in three-pointers (233), while being named an 
honorable mention All-American in his senior season.

The end result was a previously unthinkable notion: 
Williams was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 34th 
pick (one ahead of current teammate Bruno Sundov) in the 
1998 draft.

"Sometimes I pass the Smith Center, I'm just driving by, 
and I see his car," Williams' former UNC teammate 
Adernola Okulaja told The Virginian-Pilot during the 
guard's senior season. "I know he's not sleeping there, 
so he must be practicing.

"He's there an hour before practice, and an hour after 
practice. Then at night, he'll practice by himself for 
one or two hours. We all practice hard. But it's like if 
the rest of us take a test, he answers the bonus 
questions."

Judging by early returns, lukewarm NBA success hasn't 
changed Williams' drive to live the dream of an NBA 
starter. Ever since the July 22 trade, he has been a 
constant visitor to the Celtics' training center, opening 
eyes with such practice sessions as the one where he made 
27 straight three-pointers.

"More or less, it was time for a change for Shammond 
Williams," he said. "My goal is being on a winning team 
and I know to be on a winning team everybody has to play 
their role, day in and day out. Whatever coach wants me 
to play, I'll go out and play that part."

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