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Malik Williams

ShortCreek

Three-Star Poster
Jul 17, 2008
3,415
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Watching Derby Classic on Fox-41. Williams is very disappointing, very low motor, very soft, wants no part of physical contact! Yawn, more of the same. This guy should have been a golfer or played volleyball, makes Ray Spalding look like a beast, I think I'll go puke now!
 
Watching Derby Classic on Fox-41. Williams is very disappointing, very low motor, very soft, wants no part of physical contact! Yawn, more of the same. This guy should have been a golfer or played volleyball, makes Ray Spalding look like a beast, I think I'll go puke now!

I think you are the soft one for trying to use an all star game as a measurement than what he's done at prep school.
 
Very well aware it's an all star setting, but soft is soft, he wants no part of the physical part of the game. Which, my friend, is what we need with the likes of Anas and Ray! And, he wasn't at a prep school. He attended Snider High School in Indy
 
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Have to admit, from a VERY small sampling so far, I expect the soft tag for Williams AND Thomas. Smaller players were muscling them out for rebounds and put backs. Really like Perry so far though. And more missed dunks in this game (and the slam dunk contest) than expected. Just a pretty sad athletic display all around from the entire game.
 
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I think you are the soft one for trying to use an all star game as a measurement than what he's done at prep school.
With his thin build, MW does not appear to be a threat at this time to unseat any of our current slim bigs, unless his shooting is much better than he has shown this weekend. I assume Papa John will donate pizza to bulk MW up.
 
Have to admit, from a VERY small sampling so far, I expect the soft tag for Williams AND Thomas. Smaller players were muscling them out for rebounds and put backs. Really like Perry so far though. And more missed dunks in this game (and the slam dunk contest) than expected. Just a pretty sad athletic display all around from the entire game.
Funny how certain posters arn't jumping on the moderator for saying what others want too and see also.
 
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Thomas will get more clock than Williams next year IMO.
In my previous comment on MW, I confused him with Thomas. Thomas along with MW has a lot of bulking up to do. At present, Perry appears to be the only contributor next season. Unfortunately, Alexander was the best player on the floor tonight, and appears to be a clone of the departing 6' 5" freshman Kentucky point guard who will be a lottery pick this year.
 
The kitty point that had 29 tonight is no where near the player Fox was for them this year! Not even close, the kid who played in the Derby Classic won't even sniff starting point for them next year. Quade Green is their next point guard, I watched him in the Jordan game last night. Hate to admit it but he's a stud, much better than the kid from the Derby Classic, he'll be Green's mop up guy!
 
I think two to three of the four guys from tonight's game will help us next season. Perry will back up Q, Nwora is a shooter and shooters are always needed. I like Thomas over Williams although he doesn't appear to be a world beater.

Williams is soft, soft, soft!!! I'm very disappointed in what I saw of him tonight. He let smaller guys punk him for rebounds, he let small guards drive to the rim without challenging them, he didn't run the floor, plenty of holes in his game. But, more concerning, I think there are holes in his basketball psyche. I don't think he's tough. I know it's an all-star game but man, have some pride!
 
The kitty point that had 29 tonight is no where near the player Fox was for them this year! Not even close, the kid who played in the Derby Classic won't even sniff starting point for them next year. Quade Green is their next point guard, I watched him in the Jordan game last night. Hate to admit it but he's a stud, much better than the kid from the Derby Classic, he'll be Green's mop up guy!
All that you say may be true, but that just amplifies the point that Alexander was the best player in a game that included all of UL's highly touted recruiting class, Once again, CRP must coach "em up, and this will take multiple years.
 
I think two to three of the four guys from tonight's game will help us next season. Perry will back up Q, Nwora is a shooter and shooters are always needed. I like Thomas over Williams although he doesn't appear to be a world beater.

Williams is soft, soft, soft!!! I'm very disappointed in what I saw of him tonight. He let smaller guys punk him for rebounds, he let small guards drive to the rim without challenging them, he didn't run the floor, plenty of holes in his game. But, more concerning, I think there are holes in his basketball psyche. I don't think he's tough. I know it's an all-star game but man, have some pride!

Calm down.
Its a pick up game. They were competitive, but no one cared who won or lost.
How you or anyone else can determine the future by an pickup game is silly.

Malik, Darius, Jordan , and Lance will all get summer and fall conditioning and coaching by the Cards staff. Not an all star team who hung out for the weekend.

Yes i wanted the Thunder to win, however its no indicator of Malik's future.
We want Malik to be one and done because it increases the odds to win a Title and
it could lead to Romeo coming here.

If Ray, Anas, and JJ step up, then Malik can ease into things.
 
Very well aware it's an all star setting, but soft is soft, he wants no part of the physical part of the game. Which, my friend, is what we need with the likes of Anas and Ray! And, he wasn't at a prep school. He attended Snider High School in Indy
Who said Williams is a low post banger? Nobody said Malik was going to cure our lack of physical play in the post. Williams Is a stretch 4 with impressive offensive skills and he shouldn't be criticized because of false assumptions. Snider hs is in Fort Wayne.
 
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A large percentage of the hardcore fans were banking on Malik coming in, pushing our bigs for playing time and forcing them to improve or get out of the way. Well, it ain't gonna happen! He's basically a Spalding clone!

That, is bad news. What we have done is sign a guy who is not physical, not a rim protector, cannot guard on the perimeter, and is not comfortable posting up.

I could not believe my eyes tonight. It was almost like he was too cool to play hard. He got whipped continually for rebounds by much smaller guys, he played with no heart. I know what I saw tonight. Hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I'll be eating any crow on this one. I'm pretty decent evaluating with a small sample size and I've made my evaluation on Malik.
 
Give Williams time to try to develop at least. No need to write him off before he even sets foot on campus. And even if he isn't able to contribute a whole lot his freshman year it doesn't mean he- or other newcomers- can't improve.
 
People are really jumping the gun on this one. Its an all star game in April. Is Williams the legend that people were saying he was? No, but why are we judging him off one game that did not count vs the seasons on HS he played, or all aau tourney, and camps he attended? People trashed Russ after the Derby Festival game and he did ok. Fans were worried about Chane doing nothing in the mcdaa game his senior season.
 
i did not see the game but from the OP's point, i remember being so excited about samardo samuals and then i saw one him in of these allstar games and i thought the exact same thing as how the OP feels about MW. i said he was soft, slow, and didn't want contact. and as it turns out that's how he played here so i think the OP's point is valid. you are who you are, it's hard for the beast to be released. if you shove them they wilt. if you leave them alone they can go for 30. which is what happens early in the season and then late they are no where to be found.
 
It's one thing to make a judgement on one game. Really it's kinda dumb to do that. Yeah, I know it's all we've got but let's remember that he (MW nor any other of these game participants) have had one instant of coaching from CRP or our staff coaches. I think I'd wait until they've actually had some high level college coaching before pronouncing them as failures.

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
 
I dont get why people were assuming that Williams is supposed to be Mr Tough Guy down low. This class is jump shooters. Every single player can hit a 3 ball on any given time. Without luck. All have somewhat good forms, especially Williams' mid jumper. He will gain the toughness or should this summer or while he's at UofL. I'd be willing to say that he wasnt recruited for toughness as you can look who we already have at that position on our roster.
 
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if you noticed the groups mostly played 5 minutes apiece what stood out to me was the group with the uofL recruits all 4 would lose about 10 points then the other group would get it close then they would pull away when they came back in but all star games are hard to judge i did think perry was one of the 5 best players there
 
Give Williams time to try to develop at least. No need to write him off before he even sets foot on campus. And even if he isn't able to contribute a whole lot his freshman year it doesn't mean he- or other newcomers- can't improve.
I don't believe it is an issue of can they improve, as it is one of how fast they can improve. Our current group of bigs are going on their 3rd and in some cases 4th year of development. Anas and JJ have only one more year to make their mark on the program. Ray is in his 3rd year of development. Some "experts" have ranked us high for next year. If our current bigs don't develop (get stronger, more aggressive, more reliable scorers around the basket) at a faster rate than they have, the team is going to have difficulty in reaching its lofty goals. If the current guys can't do it, there was hope the recruits could have some more immediate impact. Looking at Williams and Thomas, they have a willowy build similar to our current guys with an apparent difficulty in making a presence down low. (I know they are supposed to have an outside shot, but that wasn't displayed Saturday and 4s an 5s have to guard the basket and rebound.)
The fans are anxious to be able to make a run before we start losing the "experienced" bigs and have to start all over. It appears that Mitchell may be leaving, but Q, Adel, VJ, McMahon, and our other back court players (aided by Perry who appears to have a current skill level to contribute) may collectively make up for the loss of DM. Our front court has to contribute at a higher level than it has, however, for this to happen.
 
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I didn't expect anything from the bigs in an all-star game. You never should. Guards run the show, always have. Bigs get lobs and breakout dunks. If you looking for Williams or Thomas to body up in a game where bodying up isn't even necessary you shouldn't watch an all-star game. Have you ever watched an allstar game before? There is 99% no defense and 1% effort by bigs unless they are absolutely some #1 prospect one and done type player. Williams did look a little timid but pump the breaks on him being soft. Rick will get him playing to his potential and he will be going against several other solid bigs in practice. He will be a different player by the time the first game is played. Thomas will need some time to develop though. He may end up redshirting since we already have the post covered and may be in the hunt for a low post grad transfer right now. I don't expect Thomas to get much if any court time without injuries or other issues.

By the way, the uk guard kid is decent but all I saw was a ball hog who was getting open lanes because no one plays defense. Pretty easy to get layups wen no one is in your way. Lot's of people talking him up after being the leading scorer in a game when defense is a novelty. He made it a priority to be the leading scorer in the game when it doesn't even matter. Good for him.
 
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This. All of this. People reacting to an all-star game like this is unbelievable. I'm excited about Williams, guy will stretch the floor for us!
I didn't expect anything from the bigs in an all-star game. You never should. Guards run the show, always have. Bigs get lobs and breakout dunks. If you looking for Williams or Thomas to body up in a game where bodying up isn't even necessary you shouldn't watch an all-star game. Have you ever watched an allstar game before? There is 99% no defense and 1% effort by bigs unless they are absolutely some #1 prospect one and done type player. Williams did look a little timid but pump the breaks on him being soft. Rick will get him playing to his potential and he will be going against several other solid bigs in practice. He will be a different player by the time the first game is played. Thomas will need some time to develop though. He may end up redshirting since we already have the post covered and may be in the hunt for a low post grad transfer right now. I don't expect Thomas to get much if any court time without injuries or other issues.

By the way, the uk guard kid is decent but all I saw was a ball hog who was getting open lanes because no one plays defense. Pretty easy to get layups wen no one is in your way. Lot's of people talking him up after being the leading scorer in a game when defense is a novelty. He made it a priority to be the leading scorer in the game when it doesn't even matter. Good for him.
 
Never said I won't pull for him. Never said he won't get better. Never said anything about laying out his college career after one opportunity to watch him. I said he is soft - that's my opinion. I said he got punked Saturday night by smaller guys for rebounds - that's a fact, watch the game. I saw him challenge very few drives by guards to the rim- that's a fact. I saw him not hustle - that's a fact.

It may have been an all-star game that meant nothing but you can learn a lot watching a kid in any setting. Give me the warrior type that will compete at the dirt bowl, or at open gym with no one in the stands, or at Crawford gym (I know it's no longer) when there are 50 people watching and it's 105 degrees in there.

In other words, give me Derek Smith. Derek would have ripped this guy if he'd have given Saturday night's effort in a Crawford pickup game.

Williams first opportunity to play in front of the home folks and he cruised, that's a fact. I learned a lot watching him - disappointed, so far, unimpressed. Hope Rick can get it out of him, not holding my breath!
 
A large percentage of the hardcore fans were banking on Malik coming in, pushing our bigs for playing time and forcing them to improve or get out of the way...
Did any of those people watch VJ King play this past year?...
 
if you noticed the groups mostly played 5 minutes apiece what stood out to me was the group with the uofL recruits all 4 would lose about 10 points then the other group would get it close then they would pull away when they came back in but all star games are hard to judge i did think perry was one of the 5 best players there
Didn't notice, but I'll have to check the Fox Sports replay tonite to see if that's true.

If so, it could have been because the best players in the game for U of L were on one Thunder squad, and the best Thunder players from the rest of the country were on the other squad. That would be some mighty tall recruiting by U of L to expect different results...
 
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Did any of those people watch VJ King play this past year?...

OP and the "real" fans have needs!!!!

LOL - well hey the OP did create a hateful thread about VJ too. And Adel. And Ray. And who knows who else. The guy is so lost in one thread he slams Rick for not taking local kids and then in other threads he creates he slams a local kid named Ray.

So now he's upping his game to the soon to be Cards, not just the guys that are already here. I'm sure next up he'll have a critique for the 5 year olds that get shown on the stadium jumbo tron during time-outs.

This guy just hates what UofL basketball is - I mean I get it there are frustrating aspects for fans.

But the OP has slammed a third of the roster and clearly despises the coach, I mean we get it!!!!

Hire Short Creek, faaaahhhr Rick!
 
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Unfortunately, there are trolls who don't even know they're trolls who howl that they are true UofL fans. There are some who get more satisfaction out of being miserable. I wish those type fans would keep their mouths shut so everyone else can enjoy the teams and the games and actually enjoy player development. If you want instant gratification then go join the bluenecks and their ilk....PLEASE!
 
Never said I won't pull for him. Never said he won't get better. Never said anything about laying out his college career after one opportunity to watch him. I said he is soft - that's my opinion. I said he got punked Saturday night by smaller guys for rebounds - that's a fact, watch the game. I saw him challenge very few drives by guards to the rim- that's a fact. I saw him not hustle - that's a fact.

It may have been an all-star game that meant nothing but you can learn a lot watching a kid in any setting. Give me the warrior type that will compete at the dirt bowl, or at open gym with no one in the stands, or at Crawford gym (I know it's no longer) when there are 50 people watching and it's 105 degrees in there.

In other words, give me Derek Smith. Derek would have ripped this guy if he'd have given Saturday night's effort in a Crawford pickup game.

Williams first opportunity to play in front of the home folks and he cruised, that's a fact. I learned a lot watching him - disappointed, so far, unimpressed. Hope Rick can get it out of him, not holding my breath!
I want a warrior who knows when to go to war. It's a freaking all-star game dude. I remember people saying the same about Francisco Garcia, and I'd go into any dark alley with that guy.
 
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