[edit] College
Williams was recruited to play college basketball at the University of Illinois by then-head coach Bill Self for the 2002–03 NCAA season. In his freshman year, he started 30 of 32 games and ranked third in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 4.53 per game. As a sophomore, Williams improved his scoring average from 6.3 to 14.0 points per game and improved his assists per game to 6.17. Williams was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media.
In 2005, as a junior starting point guard, Williams led the Fighting Illini to the NCAA championship game where they lost to the University of North Carolina. That season saw the Illini go undefeated until the final game of the regular season, where they lost to Ohio State by one point. Illinois's road to the Final Four was marked by a staggering comeback win over the Arizona Wildcats, where the Illini, led by Williams, came back from fifteen points down in the final minutes to win the game. Deron made the game tying three-point shot with just 38.5 seconds left in regulation. He then hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, and the Illini never looked back in that game.
Williams received many awards after the 2004–05 season. These honors include being named a consensus Second Team All American, as well as being named First Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, and All-Final Four team. Williams was also a finalist for the Wooden Award and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Chicago Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Williams was named First-Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2004 and as a junior in 2005, the year in which Williams, called by coach Bruce Weber "the MVP of the team", led the Illini to the Final Four. The team included four other former and current NBA players, including Dee Brown formerly of the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, Roger Powell formerly of the Utah Jazz, James Augustine formerly of the Orlando Magic, and Luther Head of the Indiana Pacers.
Williams declared for the NBA Draft after the 2005 season, forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.
[edit] NBA career
[edit] Rookie season
Following the season, Williams declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz selected Williams with the third overall selection, after Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. He started the season coming off the bench, eventually moved into the role of starting point guard, and was later sent back to the bench. Williams finished his rookie season averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, in 80 games played. Williams was rewarded by being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team,[6] as well as being the only other rookie besides Chris Paul to receive a first-place vote in the 2005–06 NBA Rookie of the Year voting (Williams received one first-place vote, from Jazz color commentator Ron Boone). Williams and Chris Paul have shared a friendly[7] rivalry[8] that began after the 2005 NBA Draft, where Williams and Paul were the third and fourth selections overall. Whether Williams or Paul is the superior point guard is the subject of frequent debate[7][9][10][11] among sports writers and fans.
[edit] 2006–07 season
Williams began the 2006–07 season as the starting point guard for the Jazz. The Jazz started the season with a 12–1 record. This record was the best in team history and in the league. During these first 13 games of the season Williams played remarkably well, delivering five double-doubles. Two of these double-doubles were back-to-back performances of 26/14 and 27/15 (points/assists). Both of these assists totals bested his previous career high. In the second of those two games, he also had a career high in steals, with five. On January 17, 2007, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, he recorded a career high 31 points. A few days later, on January 24, he recorded a career high 21 assists in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. In his second season, his numbers improved in almost all categories, increasing to 16.2 points and 9.3 assists per game (second only to Steve Nash in the NBA).[12] The Jazz improved to post a 51–31 record, winning the Northwest Division title.
[edit] 2007 Playoffs
The playoffs ended a three-year playoff drought for the Jazz, and in the first round, they faced the Houston Rockets. Williams scored in double figures in each of the seven games in the series, including a 14 assist, 20 point double-double on May 5 to close out the series. The Jazz won the series 4–3, beating the Rockets in Houston to complete the series. It was their first playoff series victory since 2000.[13]
In the second round, Williams and the Jazz faced the Golden State Warriors, the eighth-seeded team that had upset the top seeded Dallas Mavericks 4–2 in the first round. Williams started off the series strong, posting double-doubles in two of the first four games as the Jazz jumped out to a 3–1 series lead. In the fifth game, Williams was plagued by foul problems and struggled from the floor, hitting only one of eleven shots from the field and scoring just two points.[14] However, despite Williams's poor performance, the Jazz posted a 100–87 victory, sending the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 and the John Stockton and Karl Malone era.
The Jazz faced the eventual NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals, a team led by Tim Duncan who had posted three NBA championships since 1999. Williams played his best basketball of the season in the first three games, averaging nine assists and over thirty points over that span.[15] Spurs guard Tony Parker recognized Williams' effort after the Jazz won game three 109–83.
Deron Williams again elevated his play during his third season in the NBA. He scored a career high 41 points on December 8, 2007 in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, although they ended up losing the game.[18] He also had two 20-assist games on the season.[19] He elevated all of his stats, improving to 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game, third in the league behind Chris Paul and Steve Nash.[20] Despite his strong performance during the season, he was not selected to represent the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game, as the point guard position was filled by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul.[21] Although he did not participate in the main event, he won the 2008 All-Star Skills Challenge.[22]
Much was made of Williams's new leadership role on the team, and how he calls the majority of the plays on the team instead of coach Jerry Sloan, something not even John Stockton did.[23] In March, Deron dished 212 assists, the most by any NBA player in any month since John Stockton in January 1992.[24] The Jazz again won the Northwest Division and the four seed, this time with a 54–28 record, and again faced a Houston Rockets team that had home-court advantage in the first round. However, the Jazz won the first two games in Houston and went on to win the series in six games.[25] In the second round, the Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.[26] Williams was the leading scorer for the Jazz in the 2008 playoffs.[27]
Deron was selected as a member of the USA Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics on June 23, 2008.[28] The team went unbeaten on the way to winning back the gold medal after defeating 2006 World Champion Spain and living up to their "Redeem Team" moniker after missing out in the 2004 Summer Olympics.[29]
Deron Williams missed thirteen of the first fifteen games of the season due to a second-degree ankle sprain sustained in the preseason against the Chicago Bulls.[30] He returned November 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that time, he has led the team through an up-and-down season plagued by injuries to several key players (most notably Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko), but despite averaging 19.2 ppg and 10.0 apg through the All-Star Break, he was again snubbed from the All-Star Game. Similar to the previous year, he responded to the snub with strong play, scoring 30+ points in five consecutive games before the break (he missed one additional game during this time due to a minor injury) and leading the team to a 5–2 record to close out the first half of the season, including a win over the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers to snap their seven-game winning streak. They followed the All-Star Break with a win against the defending champion Boston Celtics.
On March 1, 2009, Deron Williams became the second active player (Steve Nash being the other) to reach 20 or more assists in at least four games in their career.
[edit] 2009–10 season
On December 14, 2009, Williams was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. A week after his teammate and pick and roll partner Carlos Boozer, was named The Western Conference Player of the Week. The Jazz hadn't had consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week Awards since 1997, when Karl Malone won it back to back.
On January 28, 2010, Williams was named to participate in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This marked his All-Star debut. He was also invited to participate in the 2010 NBA Skills Challenge where he finished second to Steve Nash.
Despite being overshadowed by other point guards Chris Paul and Steve Nash prior to the 2009-2010 season, for allstar recognition, notable basketball analyst and former player Kenny Smith, and analyst and Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley proclaimed Deron Williams to be the best point guard in the NBA. [31]
[edit] 2010 playoffs
Despite playing with injuries to his wrist and ankle, and playing without starters Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams became just the second player in Utah Jazz history to record at least 30 points and 10 or more assists in a playoff game. John Stockton is the only other Jazz player to accomplish said feat, doing so twice in his career. Williams scored 33 points on 7-14 shooting from the field while making 16-18 free throws from the line, while also contributing 14 assists on the road in a game 2 win against the Denver Nuggets.[32]
On April 28, Deron Williams became the first player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and 10 or more assists in five straight games in a playoff series. Williams points/assists through the first five games, in order, were 26/11, 33/14, 24/10, 24/13, and 34/10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deron_Williams
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