Celtics’ Terrence Williams arrested on gun accusation
Terrence Williams was accused of brandishing a gun at the mother of his son.
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NBA Star Terrence Williams Arrested for Alleged Gun Threats
Boston Celtics guard Terrence Williams has been arrested for making threats with a gun and is currently under investigation by Kent, Washington police for a domestic violence case.
According to the Seattle Times staff, Williams—who played high school basketball at Rainier Beach in Seattle—was taken into custody shortly following an argument with a woman who has informed police to be the mother of his 10-year-old son.
At approximately 1:55 p.m., during a scheduled visitation of the boy, Williams exposed the gun in a downtown Kent parking lot, made threats and left before law enforcement could arrive.
The staff of the Kent Reporter found that Williams was taken into custody without issue and received a quote from Police Detective Melanie Frazier concerning this arrest:
“We investigate and treat all cases such as this very seriously regardless of the status of those involved.”
With the investigation ongoing, there aren’t any more details to be found surrounding this case. This is certainly concerning for Williams’ NBA career, as the former lottery pick has bounced around the league during his first four seasons.
After getting selected No. 11 overall by the New Jersey Nets in 2009, the former Louisville Cardinals star has spent time with the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Boston Celtics, Springfield Armor of the D-League and Guangdong Southern Tigers in China.
His most recent contributions in the Association came as a backup point guard coming off Boston’s bench, where he turned a 10-day contract into a multi-year deal that has an non-guaranteed option for the upcoming 2013-14 campaign.
It remains to be seen if general manager Danny Ainge will exercise it, although Williams—who holds career averages of 4.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists—put together some of his finest performances during the Celtics two playoff wins.
Perhaps the results of this ongoing investigation will hold the key to Williams’ future in the NBA, which was looking bright prior to the incident.
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Travis Williams’ Difficult Route to Being a Division I Head Coach
Travis Williams may not be a name you currently know, but one that all college basketball fans should keep an eye on.
Williams is coming off his first season as a head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers. During this past year, despite starting 1-5, the Tigers finished 18-15 overall, including 11-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a win over the OVC Champion Belmont Bruins.
It’s been a long road for Williams to get to this point. After his playing days were over at Georgia State University, he joined the Panthers coaching under the legendary Charles “Lefty” Driesell. During that time, Georgia State won their only game in the NCAA Tournament in school history.
From there, Williams had stints across all levels. He was an assistant for Chicago State, followed by an assistant for the Southern Crescent Lightning of the World Basketball Association—won the championship in the WBA’s inaugural season with Williams on staff—became the head coach of the Fort Valley State Wildcats, followed that by heading to Mercer University, and before finally ending up at Tennessee State, he spent a year with the Dongguan Snow Wolf of the Chinese Basketball League.
At least four of those locations are in the state of Georgia, and the addition of the other three make for nearly 30,000 miles worth of traveling and job changes over the past ten years. For somebody that hasn’t even reached the age of 40, it’s been a winding road.
One of the biggest events in his life happened at the age of 12 when his mother, Patricia Ann, died from lupus at the young age of 30 at their home at 516 Maple Street in Tifton, Georgia. Williams didn’t let the tragedy limit him though, as he went on to become the first member of his family to graduate from college.
““516 Maple Street has a lot of significance,” Williams said in an interview with the Nashville City Paper. “A lot of folks would use [the untimely death] as an excuse not to be successful. I use that as a reason to be successful.”
It is a road that has been very long for Williams to eventually reach his dream of being a Division I head basketball coach, but a dream that has come to reality.
“I am very happy for Travis,” said Lefty Driesell, the only coach to have over 100 wins with four different schools and former mentor for Williams. “(Williams) has worked hard and deserves a shot of being a head coach. I am now a big fan of Tennessee State. Travis is a great man with high morals. He was a very good student-athlete at Georgia State when I coached there and he was a great assistant coach for me. I think Travis will do a great job.”
“I got started at Georgia State and getting to watch (Driesell) coach up close and personal,” Williams said, on Driesell being a major influence on him. “Being able to watch his success up close was a great influence on me.”
Williams absorbed everything from the other coaches he worked with as well, saying that “anybody I came in contact with from my high school coach to internationally” he tried to learn from.
That included a trip this year to the Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia. There, Williams was able to give back to the community of Atlanta by working with some children, watching basketball, and talking x’s and o’s with other coaches.
“Going to the games and getting a chance to see it at that level, teams battling at the Final Four,” Williams remarked on what he enjoyed about the trip. “More important though, being able to sit in those head coach meetings and see the bright minds in college basketball today.”
Being a former player at this level as well, Williams is able to connect to the players in another way.
“It helps out tremendously, having been in the heat of the battle and understanding the knowledge of the game playing as a player,” Williams said.
Williams also understands the “dedication and desire” that goes into playing basketball at a high level. That is probably why he thinks of himself more as a player’s coach.
“More of a player’s coach, but being a coach that demands accountability and responsibility” said Williams. “I truly generally care for my players.”
Williams also cares about his past teammates. One of his assistants, Rodney Hamilton, is one of the greatest to ever suit up for Georgia State. The all-time leader in points, assists, and steals, Williams was able to see a glimpse of Hamilton when Williams was in his senior season and Hamilton was a freshman. Hamilton was a starter at point guard in his first season and showed a lot to Williams.
“Being able to see how (Hamilton) runs the team and runs an offensive set, but having a point guard that is near to me on a personal and professional level. It says a lot about him,” Williams said.
Now the Tigers are battling in a tough OVC conference. They have done it by adding guys who can offer versatility, play their style, and most importantly for Williams, are strong individuals.
“We want some talented young men, but men with character,” Williams stated. “Good relationship guys.”
Williams also wants his team to buy into the ideas of defense and hustle on the court.
“We want to be in a game every day with our defense,” said Williams with enthusiasm. “When you play, I expect you to play and produce. It’s hard to teach effort in the game of basketball. Don’t make excuses in our program or when the going gets tough. Be bought in to what we do in our program. Be all about what we are doing, the culture here.”
Three of his players last year clearly bought into that. Patrick Miller was awarded with first-team conference honors, while Robert Covington (despite injuries) and Kellen Thornton made the second-team. The Tigers will be without Covington and Thornton next season, but will have Miller returning to the fold. This will be a big help following a year in which Tennessee State produced their best conference record since the 1993-94 season.
“We have a very, very good conference,” Williams said. “Just have to be ready to play any given night.”
After reaching the CIT in what was only the third postseason appearance in school history, Williams feels good about his program for the future.
“It says a lot about our program,” said Williams. “We have the capability to do it the right way. Getting close, just have to get over the hump.”
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Josh (@JGleas) for more sports related content.
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Nate Robinson crosses over Deron Williams
One of the great things that has come from the Brooklyn Nets/Chicago Bulls series is the re-emergence of Bulls guard Nate Robinson. In the third quarter of game four, Robinson showed Nets guard Deron Williams that his speed might be the most dangerous thing about him. Watch as Nate crosses Williams over and scores on a scooping lay-up:
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How 2013 Playoffs Will Impact Deron Williams’ Place Among NBA’s Top Point Guards
The 2012-13 NBA regular season was one of marvelous hype for the recently relocated Brooklyn Nets. While the excitement was undeniable, there was reasonable concern over the sudden decline of point guard Deron Williams.
The question is, how will the 2013 NBA Playoffs impact D-Will’s place amongst the NBA’s elite point guards?
From 2005 to 2011, Williams was the leader of a Utah Jazz team that consistently made the playoffs and once reached the Western Conference Finals. In that time, D-Will averaged 17.2 points and 9.1 assists per game.
In turn, Williams rivaled Chris Paul as the best point guard in the NBA and two-time MVP Steve Nash as the top pick-and-roll facilitator.
Since coming to the Nets in 2011, however, Williams’ numbers have not been indicative of his efficiency. Averages of 19.3 points and 8.5 assists will impress, but here’s what doesn’t.
With Utah, Williams posted a career field goal percentage of .466—with Brooklyn, that number dropped to .419.
During Game 1 of Brooklyn’s series against the Chicago Bulls, we saw a flashback to the D-Will we used to know. Williams finished with 22 points, seven assists and three steals on 9-of-15 shooting.
A majority of those numbers came while the game was still competitive—you know, before the third quarter.
Health is the Key
In April of 2011, Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams underwent surgery on his right wrist to remove bone fragments and scar tissue. While the surgery transpired two calendar years ago, there was speculation that it was hurting him throughout the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
In January of 2013, Williams expressed to Roderick Boone of Newsday that it was all about confidence, not injuries.
“I’m just overthinking,” he said. “I’ve never been a player than can go out there and look to play and think. I just react and now I’m kind of like, I come off and am thinking, ‘Should I shoot this. Should I not?’ I’m just not playing the way I should be. That’s all on me. It’s not on injuries. It’s just in my head and I’ve got to get it out.”
While over-thinking was certainly an issue, we’re inclined to believe that injuries did play a part.
In October of 2012, Williams required an injection to keep down the swelling from left ankle synovitis. Shortly thereafter, Williams underwent an MRI and found that he was suffering from bone spurs in his left ankle.
Roughly three weeks later, D-Will underwent an unrelated dental procedure and was forced to miss practice—that came at a time in which he was nursing a sore elbow.
Williams was later reported to have suffered a sprained joint in his right wrist, although he claimed it was unrelated to the previously alluded to surgery. If you can believe it, that wasn’t the end of the injuries D-Will sustained in 2012-13 alone.
He also battled a left quadricep contusion and a bruised right wrist—we’ll go with health being an issue.
Since the All-Star Break…
During the first half of the 2012-13 NBA regular season, the injuries Deron Williams’ battled clearly effected his quality of play. He averaged a respectable 16.7 points and 7.6 assists, but did so on a slash line of .413/.347/.855.
Since the All-Star Break, however, Williams has been healthy and his numbers are up to 22.9 points and 8.0 assists on a slash line of .481/.420/.866.
As for the previously alluded to factor of over-thinking, that appears to be cleared up, as well. Not only is Williams shooting at a significantly higher clip across the board, but he’s become a stronger decision maker.
All in all, we’ve seen D-Will return to the days in which he was an unquestioned top five point guard and Top 15 player—but why?
Feeling the Flow
When Deron Williams first arrived with the New Jersey Nets, the burden of expectation was indescribably powerful. D-Will had just been accredited for running legendary head coach Jerry Sloan out of town and thus controversially left the Utah Jazz (via Yahoo! Sports).
Upon joining the Nets, the world was stunned to see a player that we simply did not recognize.
For all of his off-the-court issues, there was never a single question about what Williams could achieve while on the court. For that reason, there was a unanimous gasp of disbelief when we saw D-Will’s slash line fall to .349/.271/.793.
While those numbers went up in 2011-12, one thing was perfectly clear: Williams was trying to do too much.
Known as one of the world’s elite facilitators, D-Will became of a score-first mentality. He posted career-high numbers of 17.5 field goal attempts, 6.2 three-point field goal attempts and 4.0 turnovers, all the while shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and 33.6 percent from beyond the arc.
In 2012-13, that hasn’t been the case.
D-Will closed out the regular season with averages of 14.4 field goal attempts, 5.7 three-point field goal attempts and 2.8 turnovers per game. He did so while shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc.
So why the sudden change?
For the first time in his Nets tenure, it appears as if Williams is letting the game come to him. With Joe Johnson alongside him and Brook Lopez down low, D-Will seem to feel comfortable allowing the game to run through his All-Star teammates.
In turn, D-Will has returned to his perch amongst the NBA’s elite—temporarily.
If Williams is able to continue at this pace during the 2013 NBA Playoffs, there’s no question that he will solidify his return to the ranks of the elite. If Williams is unable to maintain his current level of play, however, the questions will arise once again.
The ball is in D-Will’s court as he battles the demons of perception—can he trust his teammates enough to salvage his deserved reputation as an elite?
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Deron Williams’ leadership on display on and off court
Being in New York, Williams has found a school perfect for his autistic son
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Video: Deron Williams no-looks to Brook Lopez for the smash dunk
The Brooklyn Nets saw to it that the Chicago Bulls had a rough night on Saturday.
Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series was not a game as much as it was a beating.
The 106-89 score does not even do much justice to how poorly Chicago played on Saturday.
The sloppy, uneven mess was uninspired as they allowed Deron Williams and Brook Lopez to score a combined 43 points.
Despite what it looks like, the Bulls won’t stay down for long.
In the meantime, enjoy this smooth no-look pass from Deron Williams to Brook Lopez for the power dunk.
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Deron Williams, Brooklyn Nets rout Chicago in Game 1
Williams-led Nets dominated the Bulls in Game 1
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Williams carries Nets to 101-93 win over Celtics (Yahoo! Sports)
BOSTON (AP) — Comfortable and in control, Deron Williams was more than the Boston Celtics could handle.
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Chicago Bulls hold off Deron Williams, Brooklyn Nets
Bulls best Nets in battle for seeding and possible playoff preview
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