Williams regains touch

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Williams regains touch
By Mark Murphy/The NBA
Thursday, October 30, 2003

The role is so distant in Eric Williams' career, it's almost like a separate
identity.

     But when Rick Pitino traded the forward to Denver prior to the 1997-98
season, he was a 15 points per game scorer. That season, over the four games
before Williams blew out a knee, he was averaging 19.8 points per game.

     Though many probably don't understand as much, Williams does indeed carry
scoring credentials.

     But his scoring inclination was a little rusty heading into this season.
He was accustomed to moving without the ball, knowing that he also wasn't
going to get the ball.

     That's quite simply the way the Celtics' offense flowed with Antoine
Walker [news] and Paul Pierce [news] having dibs on touches.

     Perhaps Williams' scoring touch needed a blast of WD-40 heading into the
Celtics' 98-75 season-opening win over Miami last night.

     But that much was taken care of by the uncommonly high proportion of
assists cutting through the FleetCenter air. Williams filled yet another role,
this time coming off the bench behind Kedrick Brown [news].

     Williams followed through with a couple of medium-range jumpers, a couple
of drives, and all of a sudden he was back in that long-dormant groove.

     Though Williams closed out last night by missing a hurried 10-footer, it
was his only errant moment. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

     ``You know what I always say?'' Williams said, referring to what he has
often told himself regarding his role the last four years with the Celtics.
``That I must be doing a good job in the defensive end to stay here.

     ``I used to be a 20-point scorer in this league. Now I play defense, take
on the other team's top scorer - take on anyone. But I also know that I can
still do it (in the offensive end).

     ``Now I can do some freelance out there, and a lot of shots are
available.''

     Last night, it roused Williams' memory. It brought him back through those
early Celtics years, and back through his short but dynamic career at
Providence College, when Williams was expected to play an explosive two-way
game.

     It even brought him back to his adolescence in Newark, N.J.

     ``It's fun right now,'' Williams said of this new experience. ``It's the
way I used to play in the street. I love this kind of game. I'm having so much
fun right now.''

     That much isn't difficult to see - not when Williams misses his final
shot, and then turns and sprints back down the floor jabbing his fist in the
air in regret.

      Like every other Celtic, of course, Williams' primary hope one game into
the schedule is that there is no going back - no freezing back into isolation.

     But last night's box score told an encouraging story in this regard. Six
players finished in double figures. The Celtics attached 28 assists to 37
baskets, including an assist for each of their 12 third-quarter hoops.

     So perish the thought. This doesn't seem like a backward trend at all.

     ``We know we have to play as a team right now,'' said Williams. ``Antoine
was a 20-point scorer for us, and we now have to fill in that gap. At one
point or another all of us were the leading scorers at our colleges. Now Paul
is our main guy, and we have to fill in behind him. ``But it's been a long
time, though,'' Williams said of the sudden abundance of shots. ``I still know
I can do it. I never lost it.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx