Recruit wrapup: Erik Williams
Lots has changed since Erik Williams first committed to the Marquette Golden Eagles on Oct. 14, 2007.
Tom Crean is now coaching at Indiana. Buzz Williams, the assistant in charge of the recruitment of the then-junior at Cypress Springs (Tex.) High School, is now head coach at MU. Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal are all moving toward professional careers.
Williams himself has also changed.
At the time of his commitment he was a rail-thin wing with loads of potential. After some bumps in the road that included a fractured foot, Williams took a huge step this past season toward becoming the player both Crean and Williams believed he could be when he finally arrives at MU.
Now just a hair under 6 feet 7 inches and having upped his weight to 197 pounds, Williams is coming off a year in which he posted some mind-boggling statistics: 24.7 points, 11.4 rebs and 7.4 blocks per game for a team that battled back from a poor start to earn a playoff berth and finish 16-18 overall.
Williams wound up earning first team all-state honors, and was also named District 15-5A MVP for his efforts.
"He was really put in a tough situation," said Cypress Springs coach John Harmatuk. "He was the only returning player we had, and our two next-best players were a sophomore and a freshman. So it was pretty much 1-on-5 for most of the year. He saw every defense imaginable. He didn’t get the Steph Curry triangle-and-2, but he got just about every other defense.
"He was fantastic -- inexperienced guards having a hard time getting him the ball, facing every defense he could possibly face and still averaging almost 25 points a game."
Helping Williams' offensive game was his increased shooting range. Harmatuk said Williams knocked down 91 three-pointers in the team's 34 games, many of which came in the early portion of the schedule when Cypress Springs was playing a more uptempo style of basketball.
Now that the season's over, Williams is back in the gym and using a new regimen to solidify his shot even more. His goal is to make 300 threes every day, and estimates it takes him about 600 shots to do so.
"I’ve been doing that for about three weeks now, since the season’s been over with," said Williams. "I just have to keep on working and getting myself prepared mentally and physically for what’s to come in the future, because I know it’s going to be tough."
Added Harmatuk: "His three-point shot’s really, really good right now. He’s really put a lot of work in on it."
As well as Williams shot the ball this year, though, Harmatuk said it was his defense that helped set him apart from everyone else as he became the centerpiece of Cypress Springs' unique style of play on that end of the floor.
"The most impressive thing was defensively with him this year." Harmatuk said. "I’ll say this: it’s a different style of defense. Erik was never out on the wing guarding the ball. Our defensive philosophy and a lot of our game plan was filtering people toward Erik. Erik didn’t spend a lot of time guarding the ball, things he’s going to have to do to play at Marquette, but the way he blocked shots and rebounded and anchored what we did defensively was more impressive than what he did offensively."
Despite his thin frame, Williams most often matched up against -- and dominated -- bigger players.
"He had to guard the other team’s big, but he played facing the basket offensively 85 percent of the time," said Harmatuk. " We did a lot of junk, a lot of different combination defenses where we had a couple of guys in man and Erik’s in a zone by himself. A couple times we ran a defense called ‘tandem’ where Erik was protecting the basket, and he and our point guard were protecting the basket.
"So it was a lot of junk stuff, but it was all designed because of what Erik could do defensively. Early on in the year we were straight man and we struggled, but once we started changing up we won nine of our last 12 to get in the playoffs. We were really struggling before that, so it was a great finish."
It was a somewhat unorthodox role, but one Williams embraced.
"We just had to take advantage of our strengths, and one of our strengths was we were long and tall," he said. "I was willing to do anything in order to get the win, so whatever Coach wanted me to do, that’s what I had to do and what I wanted to do."
Williams wound up posting four triple-doubles, including a pair that saw him finish with 17 and 16 blocks. He also had a 15-block game as Harmatuk had four players in a zone, with Williams just roaming around the basket swatting everything he could get his hands on.
When asked about what types of teams Williams was posting such numbers against, Harmatuk said they came against similar-sized schools in suburban Houston. In other words, legitimate competition.
"You talk about the level of competition, 5A in Houston is as deep as high-school basketball gets," he said. "There’s some private-school leagues at the top in other cities, but from top to bottom in sheer numbers, 5A in Houston’s probably as good as it gets."
Harmatuk said Williams excelled blocking shots both straight up and coming from the weak side.
"In high school you get a lot of those really raw kids, the big, athletic kids who just jump up and swing at it and block everything. Erik is not that guy," he said. "If Erik can help, he’ll come from the weak side and block it. I never got to see Bill Russell play, but people always talk about how he would keep it in play and then start the break. Erik would jump up, block it with his left hand, get his body out of the way and get the break started and run the floor. He’s got a special skill when it comes to blocking shots.
"But he’s got to learn to guard the ball first. If I failed in one way as a coach as far as translating it to the next level, he didn’t have to get out and guard like he’s going to need to. But we weren’t going to win by using Erik as a perimeter defender. Once he gets that down, I think he’s going to surprise people."
Williams said shot blocking comes naturally to him.
"I’m pretty long and it’s pretty much all about timing," he said. "I’d just time the ball and go up there and block the shot. There’s really nothing to it but to just to time it and block it. Sometimes when I don’t actually block the shot they try to adjust and think that I’m going to block it, and sometimes I don’t really have to block it."
Williams' skill set appears to translate well as far as providing some immediate needs next season for the Golden Eagles, who lose three of their top four three-point shooters and have not had a player with legitimate shot-blocking ability in recent memory.
Even still, Williams isn't going to be arriving this summer expecting to be handed anything.
"I know next year is going to be nothing like this year," he said. "I’m not going to be able to block shots like I have in one of the best conferences in the nation, so I know I’m going to have to work on my perimeter game, offensively and defensively. I’ve been doing that for the past two off-seasons, and it seems like I’m getting better. My outside shot’s getting better and I know I’m going to have to knock down my outside shot next year in order to be competitive and play.
"I have to improve every aspect of my game because guys are bigger, stronger, smarter in college. I just have to be ready defensively, too, because that’ll be a big factor in me playing. Right now I’m just thinking about going up there and just working my butt off."
Helping Williams in his quest will be a clean bill of health as far as his left foot is concerned -- a sigh of relief for a program hit hard in the past year with similar injuries.
Williams suffered the same fracture as Dominic James early in his junior year at Cypress Springs, and underwent surgery to repair the injury. He healed up sufficiently, played some over the summer and then made it through his senior season, but not without suffering another setback along the way.
"I kind of tweaked it a little bit and then I went to the doctor," said Williams. "Fortunately the screw just bent a little bit and he said that everything would be fine. I actually got a checkup on my foot about a week ago, and the doctor said everything is fine. So I’m not really worried about it right now, because I know everything is fine. I just have to keep on taking care of myself and watching myself."
Initial fears were that Williams could need bone-grafting surgery, which would have been a significant setback. But as of now, everything appears to be fine.
"He played all the way through it and said, ‘You know what? It feels funny again,’ " said Harmatuk. "So we actually have been seeing Dr. (Tom) Clanton. He is one of the foremost specialists for this injury. He did Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ surgery, he did Yao Ming’s surgery. Erik just saw him after the season, and he said his foot looks fantastic. That it’s completely healed. Orthotics, inserts. It’s made all the difference."
And now with him having been given the all-clear, Harmatuk expects Williams to continue making strides as he embarks on the next stage of his basketball life.
"He had almost nine months of not being fully healed and to where he is now after that injury is huge," Harmatuk said. "He’s matured so much, he’s working really, really, really hard in the weight room. He’s already put on three pounds in the off-season. He’s really become a complete basketball player."
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/42887412.html
Yikes, I hope that foot stays healthy.
Quote"In high school you get a lot of those really raw kids, the big, athletic kids who just jump up and swing at it and block everything. Erik is not that guy," he said. "If Erik can help, he'll come from the weak side and block it. I never got to see Bill Russell play, but people always talk about how he would keep it in play and then start the break. Erik would jump up, block it with his left hand, get his body out of the way and get the break started and run the floor. He's got a special skill when it comes to blocking shots.
This.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on April 13, 2009, 12:34:30 AM
Yikes, I hope that foot stays healthy.
No Kidding!
QuoteFortunately the screw just bent a little bit and he said that everything would be fine
Maybe he is a little underrated in the recruiting rankings considering he missed a lot of his junior season and last summer was still coming off an injury. Sounds like a tremendous upside to this kid and it sounds like he is willing to put in the time to work on his stroke. We can always use a pure shooter.
How does a screw bend? Jeez.
This kid put up some serious numbers.
Quote from: HoopsMalone on April 13, 2009, 01:16:45 AM
Maybe he is a little underrated in the recruiting rankings considering he missed a lot of his junior season and last summer was still coming off an injury. Sounds like a tremendous upside to this kid and it sounds like he is willing to put in the time to work on his stroke. We can always use a pure shooter.
Don't jump down my throat, but 300 of 600 from 3 in shoot-arounds is hardly a "pure" shooter. 50% in warmups is probably more like 30% in games....not saying he couldn't become a pure shooter, but he obviously isn't there now.
Not a pure shooter yet, but working. I have a feeling we are going to see a lot more zone next year. EWill and Junior both need work defending on ball. But, man, we are going to be athletic next year. Just not experienced.
Quote from: esotericmindguy on April 13, 2009, 07:29:52 AM
Don't jump down my throat, but 300 of 600 from 3 in shoot-arounds is hardly a "pure" shooter. 50% in warmups is probably more like 30% in games....not saying he couldn't become a pure shooter, but he obviously isn't there now.
The fact that he is dedicating himself to becoming a serious three point threat and filling that role for us is very promising, though. Keep it up, E-Will!
Quote from: esotericmindguy on April 13, 2009, 07:29:52 AM
Don't jump down my throat, but 300 of 600 from 3 in shoot-arounds is hardly a "pure" shooter. 50% in warmups is probably more like 30% in games....not saying he couldn't become a pure shooter, but he obviously isn't there now.
I would say 5-10 is not a pure shooter.
300-600 is pretty damn good.
You've got to remember the fatigue factor when shooting that many shots. If he can make 300-600, that means he's maintaining good form even when he's tired.
I know he's not taking 600 in a row, but 600 shots in a day is a lot.
With all of this said, I have not idea if he'll be a good shooter at the D1 level. I have never seen him play.
Of course, Novak and Diener made a lot more than 300 of 600.
I know roles are not at all fixed for next year, but do we imagine that EW will be expected to take and hit many threes? Isn't Lazar most likely expected to be our 'big' that can step out, especially as he is shorter and has proven that he can do it. Then again, I won't complain if EW can do it.
Quote from: Nukem2 on April 13, 2009, 09:07:18 AM
Of course, Novak and Diener made a lot more than 300 of 600.
How many did they take and make? ::)