NBA Draft Profiles: Derrick Williams, Arizona

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Stats: 19.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 0.7 bpg, 2.6 t/o's, 56.8% 3PT

Age: 20, sophomore

Size:

• Listed: 6'9", 250 lb
• Official: 6'7.25" (no shoes), 6'8.75" (with shoes), 7'1.5" (wingspan), 9'0" (reach), 248 lb

Strengths: There is a lot to like about Williams game. At the college level, he was an absolute nightmare to defend because he is, simply put, a complete package offensively and one of the most efficient players in the country. Williams was an quality scorer in the post, thanks to his ability to establish position on the block, solid footwork, and a soft touch around the rim. Williams is a bit undersized for a power forward, however. His post game may not translate as well to the NBA, which is why his perimeter arsenal is such a valuable asset. Williams developed into a deadly shooter this past season. Midway through the year, he was knocking down over 70% of his shots from beyond the arc before a "slump" dropped him down to 56.8% by the end of the season. He shows tremendous shot selection, rarely forcing contested perimeter jumpers. Williams has a terrific handle for a player of his size, capable of putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim with either hand. As you'll see in the highlight clips below, he's athletic enough to throw down some truly sensational dunks when he gets a head of steam. He also is excellent at getting to the free throw line, as he understands how to use his body to create contact.

Weaknesses: The biggest issue with Williams as a prospect is that he falls into that dreaded tweener category. He doesn't quite have the size to be a dominant power forward in the NBA, and while his skill set should help him translate well to playing more minutes on the perimeter, his mediocre physical tools for a small forward are worrisome. Is he big enough to be a four? Quick enough to be a three? That's a big question mark, but the talent that Williams' displayed this season and his improvement as a perimeter threat should help quiet those doubters. Beyond that, the weaknesses in Williams' game are fairly fixable. He turns the ball over a bit too much, which is the result of his habit of holding onto the ball for too long. He also needs to work on boxing out. He has a bad habit of going after the ball too early, allowing his man to get a free run at an offensive rebound.

Comparisons:

• Best Case Scenario: Somewhere between a better-shooting David West and less-knuckleheaded Michael Beasley. It depends on just how well he is able to transition to being a perimeter player. I think that Williams will, eventually, be able to become a more perimeter-oriented player, which would make the Beasley comparison seem more fitting. I could see Williams having a career arc similar to that of Antawn Jamison, who has been an 18 and 8 guy for a decade.


• Worst Case Scenario: Thaddeus Young. Young has been a major factor for the Sixers the past three seasons, averaging double figures as a starter for two years before becoming the sixth man this past season. And while he has been productive, Young hasn't become a go-to scoring option. If Williams struggles transitioning to playing the perimeter full-time, I can see him ending up in a similar role.

Outlook: Williams was the kind of player that the stat-heads love just as much as the people that scout the game by watching film. Thanks to his knack for drawing fouls and his lights-out three point shooting, Williams was one of the most efficient players in the country this past season, which is saying something for a guy that had to carry a team despite not even being a top 100 recruit just two years prior. As I said earlier, Williams is the total package offensively. He can score in the post, he can score on his jump shot, he can hit a pull-up, he can bury a three, and he can make Blake Griffin look ordinary. There is little doubt that he will be able to score at the next level. The question is what position he will play, and how effective he will be at that position. Since he is a bit undersized, I'd expect him to start to transition to playing the perimeter on a more regular basis. To do so, he is going to need to become quicker -- especially on the defensive end of the floor -- and improve his ball handling and passing. That should come with time. Since Williams' is a tweener, he also has a post game. So while its a negative to be stuck between positions for some players, Williams is talented enough that it could play to his advantage. Fours won't be able to guard him on the perimeter and threes will struggle against him in the post. For Williams, the lack of a position is another reason that he is such a unique and promising recruit.

Draft Range: Top two

And the experts say...

• Chad Ford: "Williams was one of the four or five best players in the country this year. He's become a true inside/outside threat as a scorer. He's aggressive, makes smart decisions and will really attack the rim. Some scouts are worried he's a tweener, but other teams have him No. 1 overall on their Big Board."


• Draft Express: "The deadly combination he brings to the table with his quick first step, long strides, polished footwork and outstanding body control hasn't been seen in college basketball since Michael Beasley. Power forwards at this level simply have no way to slow him down, as evidenced by the incredible rate at which he gets to the free throw line. Better yet, he converts 76% of his attempts, up from 68% last season. Not only can Williams create marvelously, he's also an excellent finisher. He's able to throw down emphatic dunks when given a head start and he shows the ability to contort his body and avoid contact in a manner more reminiscent of a wing player than a power forward."


• Swish Scout: "Crafty forward with a superb inside-out game, consisting of refined post moves and the ability to step out on the perimeter to knock down the 3. Williams needs to keep refining his perimeter game and moves off the dribble to play some SF in the NBA, but has a mature game and is an impact player right now."

Highlights:




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Derrick Williams played with a broken pinky

Derrick Williams had a sensational season.

The guy that couldn't crack anyone's top 100 recruiting lists averaged 19.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg while shooting 56.8% from three point land as a power forward. He had a number of absolutely dominating performances down the stretch of the season, including the 26 points, 11 boards, and game-winning block he had against Washington and the 32 points and 13 boards he put Duke in Arizona's blowout Sweet 16 win.

Most impressive?


He did all of that despite having his right hand -- his shooting hand -- strongly resemble a club for the last two months of the season. What had been reported was that Williams sprained his pinky, which is why he wore such a heavy wrap on his hand.

It turns out that Williams did a bit more that just "sprain" his pinky. He broke his finger. How close did he come to having his season ended?

"If I cracked it a half inch lower, I would have had to have surgery," Williams told reporters on Wednesday. "If I had to sit out, I would sit out, but I wasn't going to sit out if there was no reason. I just wanted to continue to play with my teammates for as long as I could."

"I told Coach I was going to play no matter what. I wasn't going to sit out. Obviously, there was a risk to that if I broke it again or made it worse. But I just wanted to go out there with my teammates and win as many games as possible."

Now not only has Williams shown a tremendous amount of improvement over the last two seasons, he dominated the second half of this season playing with just three fingers on his shooting hand. And he still managed to throw down poster dunk after poster dunk and knock down 42-74 threes on the year.

That has to be something that makes the NBA front office types salivate even more.


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POSTERIZED: Derrick Williams did the damn thing

I saw it, you saw it, we all saw it.

Duke was manhandled by Arizona in a way we haven't seen in a very long time. Arizona out-muscled them, they out-hustled them down the floor, they out-shot them, they essentially out-everything'd them.

Including out-dunking them.

Not only has Derrick Williams become one of the best players in the country, he's become one of the top dunkers as well. On the flip-side, Duke is amongst the most-posterized teams in the country.

So naturally, when these two meet, posters were bound to get, well, posted.
And they did.





But Williams wasn't the only Wildcat to get in on the posterization party. Jemelle Horne picked the perfect game to create his own personal Duke fathead.



Seriously. This may have been the most ruthless display of posterization we've seen all season.

Think about it.

It's enough just to handle Duke in the manner which they did. It's even more of an accomplishment to do it in the Sweet Sixteen, on a neutral court. But to embarrass the Blue Devils with an above-the-rim arsenal? That's just on a whole different level.

There was no greater way for the Wildcats to advance to the Elite Eight than with three posterizations.

Here's to hoping they can get four against UConn.

NOTE: Remember, the nominees for the B.I.A.H. POSTERIZED Awards will be named next week, so keep your eyes open. There will be eight different categories for you to vote in, including: Best Dunk, Best Dunker, Best Poster-dunk, Best Alley-Oop, Best Tip-dunk, and many more.

But was it as good as one of these?:
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Derrick Williams preserves Arizona's win with a controversial block

Jim Burr was the official in charge during the disaster that was the ending of the St. John's-Rutgers game in the Big East Tournament.

Its only fitting that in his first game officiating in the NCAA Tournament he would be embroiled in controversy.

With 7.0 seconds left, Momo Jones hit two free throws to put Arizona up 77-74. Sean Miller's philosophy has always been to foul when up three points, and he didn't stray, putting Joe Jackson on the line for two shots with 4.6 seconds left. After hitting the first, Jackson missed the second. The rebound bounced around before ending up in Wesley Witherspoon's hands. But Derrick Williams came out of nowhere and tossed Witherspoon's game-winning layup attempt.

Game over. Arizona won 77-75.



The problem?

It looked like Witherspoon had gotten fouled, and more than once. On the rebound, Jamelle Horne pushed Witherspoon and knocked him off-balance. And when you take a look at the slow-motion replay, it looks as if Derrick Williams makes solid contact with Witherspoon's elbow before he blocks the shot.

"At one point, he was wide open," Williams said. "I knew he wasn't going to shot fake it because there wasn't enough time on the clock, so I just went up trying to make a hard play on the ball like coach always tells us to do.

"Good thing it wasn't a foul."

If you want to complain about the Horne push not being called, I'm fine with that. It knocked Witherspoon off-balance and he couldn't get any vertical explosiveness on the shot.

But don't complain about the foul on Williams' block. Its very, very close, even when using the replay. And when a slow-motion, HD replay is needed to determine that the foul is close, then its difficult to expect a referee to be able to make that call live.

If that foul is called, you're telling me there wouldn't be just as much outrage the other way? You're telling me that Arizona fans wouldn't be claiming that Burr assumed a foul or expected contact?

Either way, a close call that decides a game is going to upset someone. For my money, if you need to see the HD, slow-motion replay to determine that a foul "probably" should have been called, there really isn't a valid complaint about a no-call.

This isn't the first time that we have had a game-saving block shrouded in controversy. Yesterday, it was Kenneth Faried's block on a Mike Marra three point attempt as Morehead State hung on to upset Louisville. Back in February, Williams blocked a shot by Darnell Gant in a win over Washington that many believed was a goaltend.
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2/27 - College Hoops Week in Review: Derrick Williams, E'Twaun Moore, and Jacob Pullen shine

Game of the Week: Arizona 87, Washington 86

This was about as entertaining as basketball can get. Washington was down by as much as 12 points in the second half, but Isaiah Thomas and Matthew-Bryan Amaning took over in the second half. Thomas finished with 12 points and nine assists with just two turnovers, absolutely shredding the Wildcat's half court defense with a series of gorgeous passes off of a pick and roll. Bryan-Amaning, for the most part, was the guy on the receiving end of those pick and roll passes, as he finished with 18 of his 24 points in the second half while adding nine boards, six blocks, four assists, and three steals.


The ending was just as exciting. Derrick Williams hit a contested three to give Arizona the lead, and after the two teams traded buckets, Washington had the ball on the final possession with a chance to win. Bryan-Amaning was called for a travel, but Arizona turned the ball right back over with 2.2 seconds left. It set up this finish:



Williams finished with 26 points and 11 boards and the game-saving block, but more on him later in this post.

St. John's 60, Pitt 59: The Panthers looked as if they had taken firm control of this game, opening up a 56-51 lead late on St. John's in the Garden. But the Red Storm was not ready to give up. After five free throws tied the game up, Paris Horne grabbed the offensive rebound when Dwight Hardy missed a free throws. He got the ball back to Hardy, who was fouled and knocked down two free throws to give the Johnnies the 58-56 lead. Travon Woodall answered with a three pointer, setting up this final possession:



Now, based on screen caps from the ESPN broadcast using the camera above the back board, it appears as if Dwight Hardy's heels are out of bounds on that last move:


Look at the referee's head in the video. Look at it in the picture. He is staring right at Hardy's feet, standing three feet away. He would have seen if Hardy's heels had touched the baseline. Hardy didn't step out. But he did finish with 19 points and the Johnnies knocked off their fifth top 15 team at home.

Cal 76, UCLA 72 OT: Cal provided another piece of evidence to the folks that believe you should automatically foul when you are up three with under five seconds left. After blowing a 12 point lead in the second half, Cal allowed Malcolm Lee to take a tough, fadeaway three from the top of the key that hit the front of the rim, bounced two feet into the air, and fell through the hoop for the game-tying basket. In overtime it was the Jorge Gutierrez show, however, as he finished with 34 points, six assists, and three steals, including finding Brandon Smith for a three with 14 seconds left that clinched the game.


Players of the Week: Just like last week, there is more than one player deserving of getting credit in this space:

Jacob Pullen, Kansas State: For the first time all season, Jacob Pullen looked like the all-american we expected to see this season. He went for a career-high 38 points in the Wildcat's win over Kansas, a win that thrust Frank Martin's club right back into the NCAA Tournament. Then on Saturday, Pullen had 27 points as K-State knocked off Oklahoma.


Derrick Williams, Arizona: We already talked about the 26 points, 11 boards, and two blocks that Williams had in Zona's win over Washington, but that wasn't his only impressive performance this week. He also went for 26 points and eight boards in a win over Washington State. Throw in UCLA's loss to Cal on Sunday, and Arizona now owns a commanding two game lead in the Pac-10 standings. Williams, to his credit, threw himself into the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick come June.

E'Twaun Moore, Purdue: Moore was good in Purdue's win over Wisconsin, going for 19 points. He was great in their win over Ohio State, however, finishing with 38 points and five assists and 13-18 shooting and 7-10 from deep. More on Purdue and Moore in a bit.

The all they-were-good-too team:

• G: Tu Holloway, Xavier: Holloway had 14 points, seven assists, five boards, and three steals in a win over St. Joe's, but that wasn't his most impressive stat line of the week. Against Fordham, the Xavier junior had his second triple double of the season, finishing with 26 points, 11 boards, and 10 assists.
  
• G: Dwight Hardy, St. John's: Hardy, who is making a late-season run at Big East player of the year, had 28 points, six boards, and five steals in a win at Marquette and followed that up with 19 points and the game-winning layup against Pitt.
  
• F: Kenny Faried, Morehead State: The Eagles notched two road wins this week, and Faried -- as usual -- was a huge reason why, averaging 20.0 ppg and 13.5 rpg. He also passed Tim Duncan as college basketball's all-time leading rebounder in the process.
  
• F: Tony Mitchell, Alabama: Alabama keeps churning out wins in the SEC West and moving closer to an at-large bid. Mitchell had just 13 points and four boards against LSU, but he went for 27 points, nine boards, and about three vicious dunks in 'Bama's comeback win over Arkansas.
  
• C: Nikola Vucevic, USC: Vucevic may be the best big man that no one ever talks about. In two road wins this week, he averaged 20.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg.
  
• Bench: Ramone Moore, Temple (24 points in 73-53 win over Richmond); Norris Cole, Cleveland State (16 points, 10 assists, six boards vs. Wright State, 35 points at Old Dominion); Corey Fisher, Villanova (34 points in OT win vs. DePaul); Jorge Gutierrez, Cal (34 points, six assists in OT win vs. UCLA); Scotty Hopson (averaged 27.5 ppg in a 1-1 week); John Jenkins, Vanderbilt (21 points in final 13 minutes in win over Georgia);
  

Team of the Week: Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue avenged losses to both Wisconsin and Ohio State when they visited Mackey Arena this week. Against the Badgers, Purdue got 20 points and 10 boards out of JaJuan Johnson, but the star was Lewis Jackson, who outplayed Jordan Taylor with 18 points, five assists, and no turnovers in the win. Against Ohio State, it was the E'Twaun Moore show, as he went for a career-high 38 points.


Purdue did two things this week. They threw themselves right back into the mix for a Big Ten regular season title. They are now just a game behind the Buckeyes. Ohio State has a much easier road down the stretch -- they get three games at home while Purdue has to go on the road three times -- but being one game back with four games left is a much easier task than sitting three games back with four games left.

Purdue also legitimized this argument I made back in the preseason. This is still a team that can make the Final four. They have two all-americans on their roster, Lewis Jackson and Kevan Barlow are both developing into quality role players, and guys like Ryne Smith, DJ Byrd, and Travis Carroll are playing more and more valuable minutes. The Boilermakers aren't going to be able to power through opponents to make a Final Four like the top four or five teams in the country, but with some favorable matchups, this is absolutely a team with the horses to make the Final Four. (Do I even need to make the mention of how nasty this team would be with Robbie Hummel? I dont? Good.)

Teams deserving of a shoutout:

• Kansas State: The Wildcats are now right back into the thick of the NCAA Tournament race, as they blew out both Kansas and Oklahoma at home this week. Not only is Jacob Pullen finally playing like the Jacob Pullen we all expected to see this season, the rest of the Wildcats are doing the same. They are playing with energy, they are defending, they are diving on the floor, and they are finally getting some production from their front court. The question will be whether or not this holds up the rest of the season. If you are a college basketball fan, then you hope that it does.
  


• Utah State: The Aggies picked up an enormous win against St. Mary's on Saturday in Bracket Busters. The Gaels, believe it or not, are the first top 90 win that Utah State has earned this season. They are certainly not a lock for the NCAA Tournament yet, but if they win out in the regular season and avoid being upset early in the WAC Tournament, Utah State should be able to feel pretty comfortable about getting an at-large bid.

• CAA: Obviously, the headline of this group is George Mason, who extended their nation's-best win streak to 13 games with a 20 point win at VCU and then going into Northern Iowa and knocking off the Panthers. They have all but locked up an at-large bid as well. A big part of that is that during Bracket Busters, the Colonial separated themselves from the rest of the mid-major leagues. Old Dominion put themselves into a good position to get an at-large bid by knocking off Cleveland State despite a 35 point outburst from Norris Cole, while VCU got a bit lucky in their win over Wichita State on the road. Its possible that the CAA can get three bids into the NCAA Tournament.


• Nebraska: The Cornhuskers may have gotten lucky twice this week, but in the end a win is a win, and Nebraska notched two of them. Against Oklahoma, a game-tying three by Cade Davis turned out to only be a two when his toe was on the line. In a win over Texas, the Huskers were able to hold on despite doing their damnedest to give away a late 11 point lead with turnovers, missed free throws, and fouled three-point shooters. Regardless, the Huskers are now officially in the bubble picture, which is more than anyone expected this season.


• Temple: After knocking off Richmond by 20 points and getting a bit of help from Dayton when the Flyers beat Duquesne, a 2-0 week from the Owls put them all alone in second place in the Atlantic-10.
  

Matchups of the Week:

• 2/21 - 7:00 pm: Syracuse @ Villanova
• 2/22 - 7:00 pm: Illinois @ Ohio State
• 2/22 - 9:00 pm: Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
• 2/22 - 9:00 pm: Michigan State @ Minnesota
• 2/23 - 7:00 pm: Temple @ Duke
• 2/23 - 8:00 pm: Colorado State @ BYU
• 2/24 - 9:00 pm: West Virginia @ Pitt
• 2/24 - 7:00 pm: Marquette @ UConn
• 2/24 - 7:00 pm: Georgia @ Florida
• 2/26 - 12:00 pm: Syracuse @ Georgetown
• 2/26 - 12:00 pm: Missouri @ Kansas State
• 2/26 - 1:00 pm: Wichita State @ Missouri State
  
• 2/26 - 2:00 pm: BYU @ SDSU
• 2/26 - 2:30 pm: St. John's @ Villanova
  
• 2/26 - 4:00 pm: Florida @ Kentucky
• 2/27 - 2:00 pm: Pitt @ Louisville
• 2/27 - 7:45 pm: Maryland @ UNC
  

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Arizona knocks off Washington thanks to the block of the year

With one ferocious block, Derrick Williams simultaneously put Arizona into a commanding position atop the Pac-10 standings while casting a shadow of doubt on Washington's tournament resume.

Arizona was up as much as twelve points in the second half, but Isaiah Thomas (12 points, nine assists, two turnovers) and Matthew Bryan-Amaning (26 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, four assists, three steals) led the Huskies all the way back. After Solomon Hill scored to give Arizona the lead back with 22 seconds left, Bryan-Amaning traveled with three seconds left. But Arizona gave Washington the ball right back when Hill threw an inbounds pass off of Momo Jones' foot.

Washington got the ball back with 2.2 seconds left, but Darnell Gant's seemingly open layup was thrown into the student section by Williams with 0.2 seconds left and Arizona escaped with an 87-86 win.


Williams finished with 26 points, 11 boards, and two blocks. He hit threes, he scored in the post, and he penetrated from the perimeter all the way to the rim. He did everything you could ask for from a combo-forward, and had people like Chad Ford tweeting that the sophomore could end up going as high as No. 1 in this June's draft.

That's a helluva night.

With the win, Arizona move three games ahead of Washington and remained a game in front of UCLA in the Pac-10 standings with a trip left to Pauley Pavilion. The Wildcats can all but assure themselves a Pac-10 regular season title by winning that game next weekend.

As far as Washington is concerned, they are in bigger trouble in regards to the bubble than you think. The Huskies are now in third place in the Pac-10 (if you want an idea of what the Pac-10 is like this season, Oregon is sitting directly behind Washington in the league standings) and just 18-8 on the season. They have only two top 80 wins and two losses to sub-100 teams. They've also lost four of their last five road games, with the one win coming at Arizona State.

The Huskies close out their season with three straight home games, including against UCLA. They would be wise to win all three.
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POSTERIZED: Derrick Williams dunks it again

Throw the ball near the rim, and it's pretty likely that Arizona's Derrick Williams catch it and throw it down. This is the third time he's been featured in a B.I.A.H POSTERIZED post, and this dunk may be his most impressive.

Dude's got go-go-gadget arms.



Seriously, Williams extended his arm so far back it nearly came out of the socket.

Take another gander:



But the best part may be that as of post-time, this game is still going on. Gotta give a big H/T to @Bubbaprog and all the great videos and .gifs he grabs

But was it as good as one of these?:

POSTERIZED - Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
POSTERIZED - Darnell Wilks, Cincinnati
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
POSTERIZED - Darrius Garrett, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Travis Cohn, Jacksonville
POSTERIZED - Ramon Galloway, South Carolina
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Ashville
POSTERIZED - Kevin Smith, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Mitchell Watt, Buffalo
POSTERIZED - Chandler Parsons, Florida
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Paris Horne, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Laurence Bowers, Missouri
POSTERIZED - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - LaMarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
POSTERIZED - Marcus Morris, Kansas
POSTERIZED - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
POSTERIZED - Langston Morris-Walker
POSTERIZED - Chris Wright and Juwan Staten, Dayton
POSTERIZED - D.J Stephens, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas
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Conference Play Primer: The Pac-10

Favorite: Washington Huskies

Washington has dropped out of the national top 25. Part of the reason for that is U-Dub once again has started the season slowly, going 8-3 in non-conference play without a marquee win, unless you consider beating Texas Tech or Virginia a marquee win. That said, Washington doesn't have a bad loss year, either. They lost close games to Kentucky and Michigan State in the Maui Invitational before losing by one to Texas A&M, who has climbed all the way into the top 25, on the road. Its enough that Kenpom has the Huskies sitting pretty at fifth in the country. It generally isn't a good idea to argue with Kenpom, either. Washington is deep -- ten guys average at least 13.0 mpg and no one plays more than 27.0 mpg -- and they are balanced -- all ten of those players average at least 5.4 ppg. They have athletes, they have shooters, they have playmakers, and they have defenders. You know about Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning, so I'm going to mention Justin Holiday, Jrue's brother, who has been great thus far in his senior season. He's averaging 12.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg and has been just as good as Venoy Overton on the defensive end of the floor.


Player of the Year: Derrick Williams, Arizona

With all due respect going to Klay Thompson of Washington State, Williams is my early season pick for Pac-10 player of the year. It isn't just because of the numbers he puts up. Williams averages 19.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg while scoring at an insanely high efficiency -- he averages more than two points per shot attempt, as he is knocking down 63.2% from the floor and 68.4% from three. Its the fact that he is putting up these numbers without a true point guard on the floor with him. Williams is much improved at getting his own shot. At 6'8", he has enough athleticism and quickness that he will likely be a combo-forward in the NBA, but his perimeter skills are still dragging a bit behind his tools. He's improved -- his three point shooting percentage proves that, and he was also become adept at driving left from the perimeter -- but he's still a guy that would benefit from a point guard that could get him the ball in better spots to score. Thompson's numbers are better, but so is his supporting cast.

All-Conference Team

• G: Isaiah Thomas, Washington: 15.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg
  
• G: Faisal Aden, Washington State: 16.1 ppg, 41.9% 3PT
  
• F: Klay Thompson, Washington State: 22.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.3 spg, 42% 3PT
  
• F: Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Washington: 13.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.4 spg, 1.4 bpg
  
• C: Nikola Vucevic, USC: 15.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
  

Biggest Surprise: Washington State

The Cougars finished in last place in the Pac-10 in 2010. Dead last in a conference that many considered to be one of the worst of the decade. With their core basically intact this season, most expected an improvement out of Wazzu, but I doubt many people expected them to become a legitimate contender for the conference crown, a potential tournament team, and a group that is on the edge of cracking the top 25. There are still some concerns that I have -- DeAngelo Casto still isn't much more than a dunker and is a bit of a hot head, Klay Thompson and Faisal Aden are both a bit soft, they don't have much quality depth. Having said that, Thompson's performance in the Diamond Head Classic should help rid him of the "soft" label, and Reggie Moore's return from injury has given this group a big boost. There are not many teams in the country with a perimeter as good as Wazzu's.


Biggest Disappointment: UCLA Bruins

Simply put, there is too much talent on this team for Ben Howland's club to be struggling like this. Their front line, on paper, looks as good as anyone in the country. Joshua Smith is a force on the block when he decides to be, Reeves Nelson is a blue-collar forward that has improved this season, and Tyler Honeycutt has the tools to be a first round pick. Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson are blue-chip recruits. Zeke Jones, Tyler Lamb, and Brendan Lane are all capable players. So why the struggles? This team doesn't defend the way Ben Howland teams should defend. Jones and Anderson -- and the entire back court, for that matter -- have a habit of making the wrong decision in critical junctures. They don't get up for games against lesser competition -- UCLA nearly beat Kansas on the road, then lost to Montana at home, beat BYU, then nearly lost to Montana State and UC Irvine. Can we pin all of that on leadership? Who knows, but with the talent UCLA has, they should be a Pac-10 favorite. Few outside of Westwood currently believe that.

Teams to keep an eye on:

• USC: The Trojans have been a different team the last month, and that was true before they added Jio Fontan, who is averaging 16.7 ppg and 3.3 apg, to the mix. They knocked off Texas at home by 17 (without Fontan) and they beat Tennessee on the road after coming up a couple of Josh Selby jumpers short of beating Kansas in the Phog. Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stephenson are big enough to compete with anyone up front, and the tandem of Maurice Jones and Fontan has been tough to handle through three games.
• Cal: There are some decent pieces on the Bears. Jorge Gutierrez is good, as is Harper Kamp. A 25 point win over New Mexico is nice, but I think their five point first half against Notre Dame is probably a better indication of how good this team is.
  
• Arizona State: This is charity, because I think Arizona State has some talent. On the perimeter, they are loaded, with guys like Ty Abbott, Rihard Kuksiks, Jamelle McMillan, and Trent Lockett. But up front, they are relying on the undersized Kyle Cain. And that's about it.
  

Teams to forget about:

• Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State: These are just not good basketball teams.
  

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POSTERIZED: Derrick Williams makes the list again

Everyone loves a good dunk contest or youtube video.

Insanely athletic people doing ridiculous things in the air before slamming home a dunk and making me say "OOOOHHHHHH!!!"

But whether the trick is going between your legs, jumping over a row of people, or doing a 360, the dunk is just that -- a trick. I always have an issue when a guy makes Sportscenter's top ten plays because they did windmill on a 1-on-0 fast break. For a lot of these athletes, a windmill dunk is about as common as me slapping the back board on a layup.

When a trick dunk is done as part of a move to beat a defender, that's when dunks reach POSTERIZED territory.

Take this gem from Derrick Williams of Arizona. He chases down a lead pass on a leak out and realizes a defender is trailing him. He catches the ball and elevates in one motion, turning away from the defender and throwing down a 360 dunk.



Was this as good as the rest of the dunks for 2010-2011?

POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas
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POSTERIZED: Dunkin' in the desert

The dry, arid southwest heat must have an affect on rim-rocking because two of the nastier dunks in this young season have come from hottest places under the US sun.

After the jump, you get a double-dose of desert-dunkage. As always, if you find a youtube clip of a posterization that we have yet to find, please send it our way: @biahthetrizzle, @ballinisahabit, or ContactBIAH AT gmail DOT com.

You want a poster of the Grand Canyon? Ask Arizona State's Trent Lockett:



Lockett used three New Mexico players as ink to paint a Bob Ross-esque poster of the scenic Arizona landscape. It may not be Dunk-of-the-Year quality, but it definitely has "Poster-of-the-Year" Potential. This isn't the first time Lockett has gone all "flying cactus" on opposing players, and I doubt it will be the last.

Not to be outdone, Derrick Williams had a sizzling-one-handed alley-oop against Idaho State that may be the flashiest dunk of the young season.



I'm not sure what they are feeding the boys out in Arizona. Could be the fresh roadrunner meat, the cactus juice, or rattlesnake tail laced with peyote, but whatever it is, it seems to be working.

Are they as good as the other posters of 2010-2011?

POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas


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Williams to Arizona, Williams to Memphis. Wait, what?

Derrick Williams, a 6'7" combo forward from California who originally committed to Tim Floyd at USC, has decided to remain in the Pac-10 to play for Arizona.

Williams becomes the third former Trojan recruit to decide to attend Arizona, following Solomon Hill and Lamont "Momo" Jones.

As we wrote last week, Williams had been considering Memphis, but evetually decided upon Arizona after visiting the school this past weekend.

This is just another addition to what has become an excellent first recruiting class for Sean Miller. In addition to getting Nic Wise back from the draft (to join returnees Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne), Miller now has five freshman - Williams, Hill, Jones, Kevin Parrom, and Kyryl Natyazhko - that can all contribute at this level.

The guy that must be hurting here is Kevin O'Neil. He was supposed to be the coach at Arizona now. But instead he was let go when Lute Olson thought he wanted to come back, eventually ending up with USC. Now, he is forced to coach a team that will struggle in the Pac-10 while Sean Miller will be coaching a roster full of freshman that O'Neil was supposed to coach at the school he was supposed to coach at.

But Derrick wasn't the only Williams in the news this weekend. Elliot, the two-guard and former McDonald's all-american that spent his freshman season at Duke, has decided to transfer to Memphis.

Everyone saw this coming. Williams is from Memphis, and transferred out of Duke to be closer to his sick mother.

It is a big signing for Josh Pastner, and helps to ease the sting of missing on Derrick Williams (who visited Memphis before Arizona). Williams can play both guard positions (although he is more of a two), is an excellent slasher and defender, and if he gets eligible for the season, has a chance to slide into a starting role.

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Former USC recruits starting to make decisions

With Tim Floyd leaving USC and the wrath of the NCAA descending upon Troy, the Trojans have been hemorrhaging recruits. All told, USC lost three commits from the class of '09 (not including the morally ambiguous Renardo Sidney).

But those three guys have to end up some where, and they seem to be making their decisions.

• Noel Johnson, 6'7" SF, #53 Rivals, #56 Scout: After flirting with a number of schools, including UNLV, UNC-Charlotte, Xavier, and both Georgia and Georgia Tech, Johnson finally settled on Clemson as his destination. This is a great signing for the Tigers. For starters, Johnson is known for his shooting and scoring ability, and with KC Rivers graduating and Terrence Oglesby headed to Europe, Oliver Purnell really needed a wing scorer/shooter.
  
  What might be more important is that Johnson is a long, lean, and athletic 6'7", which means that he should fit right into the Tiger's pressing defense (as opposed to Oglesby, who never fit in with Purnell's system). Johnson will compete with Tanner Smith and David Potter to start on the wings alongside Demontez Stitt. With the Tigers excellent frontline (Trevor Booker, Jerai Grant, and Raymond Sykes return, while Purnell added top-25 recruit Milton Jennings and Trevor's younger brother Devin), Johnson may have been the missing piece.


• Lamont "Momo" Jones, 5'11" PG, #68 Rivals, NR Scout: It seems that Momo has settled on two schools: Florida and Arizona. Last week, he visited both campuses, but he has yet to announce a decision on where he will play (for the record, this will be his fifth commitment - he backed out on Virginia Tech last March, committed and de-committed from Louisville twice, and has now left USC).
  
  Originally, it looked like Memphis was going to end up being the front runner, but the Tigers backed off of their recruitment of Jones after they signed the Barton brothers. Antonio Barton is a PG, and Memphis's #1 target in the class of '10 is a local kid named Joe Jackson, who is a top 25 recruit.
  
  This will be a tough decision for Momo. While both Florida and Arizona are excellent programs with a great tradition of winning, both are expected to have a down year next year. But Jones would be a valuable addition to either school. Florida lost Nick Calathes to Greece, which combined with the decision by Jai Lucas to transfer has left Florida a bit shorthanded in their backcourt. Jones would probably see a lot of minutes off the bench as he would back up Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker.
  
  But the situation could be even better in Arizona. Known as Point Guard U, Arizona currently has a future pro starting at the point and a coach that was a phenomenal lead guard when he was in college. Tell those two wouldn't be great to learn under. And with Nic Wise graduating at the end of the season, Jones stands to inherit the starting job as a sophomore.


• Derrick Williams, 6'7" F, NR Rivals, #32 PF Scout: Williams was not as highly recruited as Jones or Johnson, as he failed to crack Rivals top 150 and Scouts top 100. But that doesn't mean he can't be an effective player at the next level. Right now, Williams is more of an athlete than a basketball player. He is a versatile wing that can play a little at both of the forward spots. He seems to be one of those guys that gets by right now on instincts and savvy as opposed to being a more skilled player.
  
  As we speak, Williams is in Memphis on an official visit, although he, too, is also looking at Arizona. I think Memphis would be a much better fit for Williams. I'm not quite sure what to expect from Pastner as a head coach (what kind of system will he run?), but given the make-up of the roster at Memphis, he more than likely will run something similar to what Coach Cal was running. Spread the floor, get out and play tough defense, and let athleticism take over. Williams should be a perfect fit.
  
  That said, Sean Miller seems to love guys with Williams' skill set (see Derrick Brown or CJ Anderson), and Arizona is much closer to California, where Williams grew up.
  

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