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Shammond Williams

Drafted #34 in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Bulls
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
Weight: 200 lbs (91 kg)
Position: PG/SG
High School: Fork Union Military Academy (Virginia)
Hometown: Bronx, NY
College: North Carolina
Current Team:

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The Top Overseas Free Agents on the 2006 Market (Part Two)

Luis Fernández
Luis Fernández
Kristian Hohnjec
Kristian Hohnjec
Jul 11, 2006, 02:55 am
Another product of the prolific North Carolina factory of NBA players, Williams completed his four-year stint with the Tar Heels and rewarded with a second-round selection by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1998 draft. He averaged 16.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists his senior year.

Williams established himself in the NBA over a six-year tenure (playing for six different teams), only interrupted by a brief experience in the Turkish league. His best campaign was the 2002/03 season, when he played 78 games and averaged 8 points and 3.4 assists.

Back in Europe in the 2004/05 season, he fell for the riches of the Russian league, signing with Unics Kazan. He oddly received a passport from the Republic of Georgia, which made him a very valuable in Europe and then moved to Winterthur F.C.Barcelona, one of the traditional European powerhouses, last summer. In the ACB League, he averaged 12.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and a whooping 5.2 assists in less than 30 minutes per game, although losing in the semifinals can’t be anything than a disappointment for this team. In the Euroleague he delivered similar stats with 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists, helping his team reach the Final Four.

It’s also interesting to note that Williams acquired the Georgian citizenship because of his teammate in Orlando Magic Zaza Pachulia, so he could join (and help) the Georgian National Team. Despite his participation, Georgia couldn’t manage to qualify for the 2005 Eurobasket, despite seeing 20 points and 7.4 assists from Williams.

Strengths

A clear-cut American-style point guard, Williams is extremely hard to stop whenever he tries to step into the lane. Enjoying terrific handles, his excellent quickness and strength do the rest to allow him to get by most of his defenders. You can see there the heritage of his pretty big NBA experience in how bulked he is.

Despite not being a pure point, Williams is a very nice passer. Playing the pick and roll or dishing while penetrating, he shows decent court vision and some ability to find the open man.

More of a scorer than a passer, Williams gets his points either slashing or shooting the ball. His jumper is pretty reliable and shows nice range. He has consistently shot over 40% from behind the arc since coming to Europe. His jumper is not very easy to contest, because he delivers it with ease off the dribble, and is highly unpredictable.

Williams enjoys the physical attributes to be a nice defender (quickness, strength and enough size for a PG), and indeed he’s a decent one. Besides, he helps his teams by going after defensive rebounds.

Weaknesses

Like we see so often these days, particularly from New York City point guards, Shammond Williams is another scoring guard in the body of a point guard. This gets severely exposed in his decision making skills, which is very inconsistent. Despite having improved through the season in F.C.Barcelona, and beyond the impressive assist numbers he achieved this season in the ACB league, Williams never managed to settle down as a reliable playmaker, basically rushing things in the offense, taking ill-advised shots, and forgetting that he should be the man who has the game under control. All in all, he’s not a floor general, abusing of his off-the-dribble skills, and severely lacking a high basketball IQ.

There’s not much more to say about his flaws, although considering he’s a point guard, it’s a pretty big knock on his game. In the line with his playmaking style, he could certainly benefit from better shot selection, as well as an extra degree of intensity on defense.

At the age of 31 he’s already a veteran, but considering his NBA experience he don’t need any time to adapt, as he looks physically at full strength.

Why sign him?

Williams’ playmaking style probably fits better in the NBA than in Europe. He’s a proven player with some serious experience in the NBA, and it appears that his European tenure may have helped him to mature a little bit and become a better player. Physically, he can keep up against virtually any competition, and he will make his open shots and can pass the rock. Given the lack of point guards that the league suffers from, particularly on the free agent market, he can be a relatively valuable one in the market.

Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly close to sign him a deal. It’s a nice situation for him, and he might even have the chance to crack into the starting five, given how the Lakers have struggled at that position the last season. Playing in Phil Jackson and Tex Winters’ triangle offense, his lack of pure playmaking skills becomes less of an issue.

Euroleague Final Four: NBA Prospects

Luis Fernández
Luis Fernández
Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Kristian Hohnjec
Kristian Hohnjec
May 04, 2006, 04:40 am
Williams is a familiar name to most NBA fans, having stints with 6 different NBA teams over his career, and being a part of the rotation on most of them. Since September 2004 Williams plays in Europe, and after a good performance with Russia’s very rich Unics Kazan last season, Shammond got a contract at the more famous and respected FC Barcelona. Williams was the most consistent and reliable player in Barca’s crowded backcourt throughout this season, and the Final Four was no exception.

Shammond’s long range shooting and ability to create off the dribble kept Barcelona in the game against CSKA, as he was playing very well in the first three quarters by finding the right balance between looking for his own shot and creating for teammates. Unfortunately for his team he lost control and patience down the stretch, starting to jack up contested three-pointers and turning the ball over, as CSKA make a comeback and advanced to the finals. With 24 points and 4 assists, Williams was still Barcelona’s best player in that game.

As he was in his NBA days, Williams is still more of a scorer than a passer, but he’s improved his playmaking skills significantly in the last two seasons. He averages now 4.2 assist in 27.5 minutes per game, which is very good for the Euroleague, and he isn’t even always his team’s primary ball-handler. Offensively, Williams is hard to defend since he can shoot well from long range (41% on almost 5 attempts per game), is athletic and has the ability to get into the lane. His vision as a point guard isn’t the best around, but he will find the open man when he gets by his defender.

Already being 31 years old, Williams is no spring chicken, so it’s possible that he might have a certain urge to get back to the NBA. If that’s the case, this season certainly helped his cause and some team in need of a sparkplug off the bench might give him a shot. Williams is more mature and a better decision maker now and should be a serviceable backup if someone gives him another chance. The possibility always exists that he could make more money playing in Europe, though, as along the way he somehow managed to get a passport from the Republic of Georgia, so a minimum contract might not be all that attractive to him.