| Front And Center For The Wrong Reasons Authored by Jarrod Rudolph - May 27, 2009 - 1:31 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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"Nobody would be asking about it, they'd be talking good about it, we would be 2-2 right now if we won," Williams said. "Our coach would look real good."
Win or lose, the guarantee was poorly timed, but that isn’t the biggest issue I have with Williams.
Through the first four games of the series Williams has shot a pedestrian 23-for-71 (6-for-27 from 3-point land). He’s dished out 15 assists and has only four steals, hardly acceptable numbers from a guy that is supposed to be second in command on the “best team in basketball.” It seems as if Williams has forgotten the concept of contributing in areas other than scoring – excluding fodder for the media of course; his prognostications have been very helpful.
"I had it in the back of my mind. I wanted to take it to him, and he wasn't even guarding me. LeBron was," Rafer Alston said.
The bottom line is that Williams should have made a vow to raise the level of his play and stopped there. Truth be told, the All-Star guard hasn’t played very well during the entire postseason, but the team’s great performance in the first two rounds served as a smoke screen.
Now his lack of production is the one of the biggest reasons for the Cavs’ struggles.
It’s only right that he take responsibility for his performance and try his best to play better. Not make bold claims and predictions that do nothing more than put more pressure on his teammates, especially LeBron James.
That’s not what leaders do, at least not good leaders. Perhaps that’s the lesson that will be learned from this episode.
Williams’ comments have shown he has a very long way to go before he can really be considered a good leader. He may have an even longer road before he can be considered a legitimate sidekick for James. The way he’s played has made it crystal clear that the Cavs still need to find a co-star for their superstar. |
