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source: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/stories/2008/02/13/shelden_0214.html
Hawks' Williams watches with love
From courtside he yearns to play, roots for fiancee
By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/08
Valentine's Day works out pretty much like any other day for Shelden Williams. He has a date at the gym.
Even when the Hawks big man steps away from his own withering season, nothing much changes. Over this NBA All-Star break, he'll be the strong, supportive type in the wings, watching someone else play basketball.
This time, he plans to be around the Tennessee Lady Vols, specifically All-American Candace Parker. Engaged for nearly two years, Williams and Parker make up a basketball celebrity couple that still works, despite the current differences in their
playing profiles.
He was the Hawks' top draft pick of 2006, struggling to fit on a team of like-bodied young men. What exactly is that fit, we ask a season-and-a-half in?
"That's a good question. I thought I knew," he said, slowly measuring his words. Then Williams can only repeat, "That's a good question."
When the talk turns to Billy Knight's drafting recipe, Williams often goes on exhibit as the vinegar in the GM's apple pie.
Parker, meanwhile, is the unquestioned star of the college game, likely to repeat as player of the year for the No. 1-ranked Lady Vols, as well as one of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people of 2007.
But all that seems to matter at this point is that her next two games — tonight at home against seventh-ranked LSU and Sunday in Nashville against No. 25 Vanderbilt — fall during the NBA lull, so that the two can spend some precious time in the same building.
Nurturing a relationship from way beyond the 3-point arc is a hard way to go.
"The hardest part is being away from each other all the time, to have a relationship and not have time [together] like everybody else I know," Williams said. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. We're learning that firsthand."
A trying season
Nothing much has come easily for Williams lately. Break — hardly. Call this his All-Star reprieve.
The last three months have been a study in good intentions turned inside-out.
A guy does everything he can to keep the wrong kind of attention off him. He doesn't wear flashy jewelry. He doesn't tattoo himself up like a carnival freak. He doesn't spend a lot of early-morning hours at those clubs where all the nasty headlines live.
And, still, Williams gets carjacked. In the full light of day. Outside a southwest Atlanta strip mall. Just a tall fella wanting to get his hair cut.
Having a gun pointed at him and his new SUV summarily trashed in December naturally made Williams more suspicious. Two alleged culprits are awaiting trial. He lost a little of the Oklahoman in him that day.
"I started looking at the cars around my car, where I park," he said. "When I go out I start looking around. The [carjacker] was saying something to me. I thought he wanted an autograph. I get that a lot. Now I'm more conscious of those sort of things."
If he listened to sports talk radio or read much of the paper, Williams might lose the last bit of faith in his fellow man. When Williams was younger, his father collected all the press clippings on his oldest son and stored them away, keeping them from view until the season's end. Williams could use just such an archivist now, because the reviews have not been kind.
"It goes back to the fact that people are going to have their opinions. I'll keep listening to the ones that matter and screen out the others," said Williams, who threatens to join such company as Jon Koncak, Adam Keefe and Doug Edwards as Hawks first-round regrets. Meanwhile, every point that Portland's Brandon Roy scores (19.6 per game) now is one more little kick in the seat over the one that got away in the draft of '06.
A guy tries to be one of those consummate Dookies. He keeps working hard, keeps applying himself to any task, no matter how humble, still working off the software Coach K installed.
"He handles himself like a straight professional," said one of the Hawks' Williamses — Marvin — about the other.
Frequently among DNPs
But all that earnestness doesn't amount to a bead of sweat when the game begins. Lately, Williams is the invisible man. His name is collecting cobwebs at the bottom of the boxscore where they keep those designated DNP (Did Not Play) — Coach's Decision. To be precise, that's happened in seven of the Hawks' past 10 games.
Spring-loaded rookie Al Horford rightfully has taken over the paint from the undersized "Landlord," as they called Williams back in Durham. While Mike Woodson preaches patience, the coach continues to play both Zaza Pachulia and Lorenzen Wright ahead of the shorter Williams (listed at 6-feet-9).
"I learned last year he's probably better playing 5
Hawks' Williams watches with love
From courtside he yearns to play, roots for fiancee
By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/08
Valentine's Day works out pretty much like any other day for Shelden Williams. He has a date at the gym.
Even when the Hawks big man steps away from his own withering season, nothing much changes. Over this NBA All-Star break, he'll be the strong, supportive type in the wings, watching someone else play basketball.
This time, he plans to be around the Tennessee Lady Vols, specifically All-American Candace Parker. Engaged for nearly two years, Williams and Parker make up a basketball celebrity couple that still works, despite the current differences in their
playing profiles.
He was the Hawks' top draft pick of 2006, struggling to fit on a team of like-bodied young men. What exactly is that fit, we ask a season-and-a-half in?
"That's a good question. I thought I knew," he said, slowly measuring his words. Then Williams can only repeat, "That's a good question."
When the talk turns to Billy Knight's drafting recipe, Williams often goes on exhibit as the vinegar in the GM's apple pie.
Parker, meanwhile, is the unquestioned star of the college game, likely to repeat as player of the year for the No. 1-ranked Lady Vols, as well as one of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people of 2007.
But all that seems to matter at this point is that her next two games — tonight at home against seventh-ranked LSU and Sunday in Nashville against No. 25 Vanderbilt — fall during the NBA lull, so that the two can spend some precious time in the same building.
Nurturing a relationship from way beyond the 3-point arc is a hard way to go.
"The hardest part is being away from each other all the time, to have a relationship and not have time [together] like everybody else I know," Williams said. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. We're learning that firsthand."
A trying season
Nothing much has come easily for Williams lately. Break — hardly. Call this his All-Star reprieve.
The last three months have been a study in good intentions turned inside-out.
A guy does everything he can to keep the wrong kind of attention off him. He doesn't wear flashy jewelry. He doesn't tattoo himself up like a carnival freak. He doesn't spend a lot of early-morning hours at those clubs where all the nasty headlines live.
And, still, Williams gets carjacked. In the full light of day. Outside a southwest Atlanta strip mall. Just a tall fella wanting to get his hair cut.
Having a gun pointed at him and his new SUV summarily trashed in December naturally made Williams more suspicious. Two alleged culprits are awaiting trial. He lost a little of the Oklahoman in him that day.
"I started looking at the cars around my car, where I park," he said. "When I go out I start looking around. The [carjacker] was saying something to me. I thought he wanted an autograph. I get that a lot. Now I'm more conscious of those sort of things."
If he listened to sports talk radio or read much of the paper, Williams might lose the last bit of faith in his fellow man. When Williams was younger, his father collected all the press clippings on his oldest son and stored them away, keeping them from view until the season's end. Williams could use just such an archivist now, because the reviews have not been kind.
"It goes back to the fact that people are going to have their opinions. I'll keep listening to the ones that matter and screen out the others," said Williams, who threatens to join such company as Jon Koncak, Adam Keefe and Doug Edwards as Hawks first-round regrets. Meanwhile, every point that Portland's Brandon Roy scores (19.6 per game) now is one more little kick in the seat over the one that got away in the draft of '06.
A guy tries to be one of those consummate Dookies. He keeps working hard, keeps applying himself to any task, no matter how humble, still working off the software Coach K installed.
"He handles himself like a straight professional," said one of the Hawks' Williamses — Marvin — about the other.
Frequently among DNPs
But all that earnestness doesn't amount to a bead of sweat when the game begins. Lately, Williams is the invisible man. His name is collecting cobwebs at the bottom of the boxscore where they keep those designated DNP (Did Not Play) — Coach's Decision. To be precise, that's happened in seven of the Hawks' past 10 games.
Spring-loaded rookie Al Horford rightfully has taken over the paint from the undersized "Landlord," as they called Williams back in Durham. While Mike Woodson preaches patience, the coach continues to play both Zaza Pachulia and Lorenzen Wright ahead of the shorter Williams (listed at 6-feet-9).
"I learned last year he's probably better playing 5
. It's tough to play four 5 guys," Woodson said.
Williams hasn't played so little since he was 6 years old, just learning the game, and his father threw him into an 8-and-under league.
It is difficult to know how much to put on the player and how much to put on the front office. After all, Williams didn't draft himself so high and onto a team where his job skills would blend into the background. In flashes, Williams has shown the ability to be a solid NBA role player. He was the NBA's Rookie of the Month at the end of the '06-'07 season and was among the top players in the 2007 summer league. But he can prove nothing now, buried up to his neck on the bench.
"It's not like I can't do this," he said. "I've had games I've played really well last year and this year. I know I can play at this level. That's something I try to keep in mind.
"It's difficult; it's frustrating. Anytime you have a competitive attitude, you think you should be playing. Some days are better than others. As best you can, you got to try to stay positive."
There has been plenty to talk about as Williams and Parker have burned up the anytime minutes between Atlanta and Knoxville. She can fret when her surgically repaired knee flares. He can vent about another game viewed from a courtside seat.
"I always try to just stay supportive," Parker said. "The special thing about us is that we don't constantly talk about basketball."
"We have built a strong foundation early in the relationship where we tell each other pretty much everything," Williams said.
One codicil, though: "We pride ourselves on not making excuses," he said. "We have a no-excuses rule."
The All-Star leave falls at the perfect time for Williams, as his career frustrations are peaking. He gets shown scarce little love here. What better day to break away and find some a short drive away?
As Parker puts it, "At the end of the day in our relationship, love comes before basketball."
Williams hasn't played so little since he was 6 years old, just learning the game, and his father threw him into an 8-and-under league.
It is difficult to know how much to put on the player and how much to put on the front office. After all, Williams didn't draft himself so high and onto a team where his job skills would blend into the background. In flashes, Williams has shown the ability to be a solid NBA role player. He was the NBA's Rookie of the Month at the end of the '06-'07 season and was among the top players in the 2007 summer league. But he can prove nothing now, buried up to his neck on the bench.
"It's not like I can't do this," he said. "I've had games I've played really well last year and this year. I know I can play at this level. That's something I try to keep in mind.
"It's difficult; it's frustrating. Anytime you have a competitive attitude, you think you should be playing. Some days are better than others. As best you can, you got to try to stay positive."
There has been plenty to talk about as Williams and Parker have burned up the anytime minutes between Atlanta and Knoxville. She can fret when her surgically repaired knee flares. He can vent about another game viewed from a courtside seat.
"I always try to just stay supportive," Parker said. "The special thing about us is that we don't constantly talk about basketball."
"We have built a strong foundation early in the relationship where we tell each other pretty much everything," Williams said.
One codicil, though: "We pride ourselves on not making excuses," he said. "We have a no-excuses rule."
The All-Star leave falls at the perfect time for Williams, as his career frustrations are peaking. He gets shown scarce little love here. What better day to break away and find some a short drive away?
As Parker puts it, "At the end of the day in our relationship, love comes before basketball."
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...no, just kidding.
