It’s really easy to buy into narratives sometimes. More specifically, it’s really easy to talk yourself into the notion that a player with potential will breakout and progress exactly as much as they theoretically could.
It’s like the video game model of a player with a lot of potential whose overall rating grows five points each season. In real life, that is not always the case.
So watching junior forward Troy Williams play Division II Bellarmine on Monday made it really hard not to buy in. Williams is a 6-foot-7 explosive wing player that excites crowds with putback dunks and electrifying fast breaks.
He has always been those things, but his play and NBA Draft stock has always been kept back by things like poor decision-making and lack of shooting range. Then, he won the 3-point contest at Hoosier Hysteria over what could be the best shooting roster in the country, and I couldn’t help but think, “Maybe.”
He put up a smooth 20 points on 50 percent shooting and compiled eight rebounds Monday against Bellarmine. It wasn’t the numbers. He should put up those numbers in a game like this.
It was how he looked doing it that has me trying really hard not to buy into Williams having that breakout season this year.
This isn’t me saying he won’t — he absolutely might. It’s me holding myself back from going overboard, because he has looked the part at times lately.
The highlight of the night might have come in the first half on a Bellarmine fast break. Williams chased a Knight guard down and swatted his seemingly-easy layup against the backboard, got the rebound and heaved a deep pass down court to sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr. for a fast break dunk. This all happened in a matter of seconds.
But again, he has always been a highlight reel type of player. The difference was how he looked smoother and more polished Monday.
When senior guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell hit him down low on a backdoor cut, Williams instantaneously brought it up for a backwards dunk when most people would have needed to dribble or take a moment to settle before going up.
Yet here I am reminding myself not to buy in yet. This was against a Division II program. A good Division II program, but Division II nonetheless. It was the kind of less athletic team Williams should flourish against.
Williams said it himself.
“They’re a great team, but this is not the Big Ten,” he said. “This isn’t Creighton next Thursday.”
Williams will always be exciting, and the sky’s the limit for him. What he has needed is a more polished offensive game.
He needs to be able to hit 3-pointers just well enough for defenses to have to respect him. He needs to limit his turnovers — he had four tonight — and play under control.
ESPN’s Chad Ford currently has him as the No. 33 ranked prospect for the 2016 NBA Draft. Williams is also the type of player that could quickly rise up that list with an impressive junior year.
So let it be known. I’m not buying in after this game. I’m making sure I don’t. But I saw things today that made me think Williams could have that breakout year this season.
brodmill@indiana.edu
