Williams, Jazz always stay in tune as a team
Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams stars in a television ad for a local moving company that is on the air constantly in Salt Lake City.
Williams is standing in his fictional kitchen, which is littered with moving boxes. The plot has Williams unsuccessfully calling teammates on the phone and asking them to help him move.
Maybe in the 1960s NBA players would help each other move, but not today. Johnny "Red" Kerr getting a hand from Dolph Schayes, that would be believable.
Anyway, the commercial is meant to be silly, though it is a little odd since Williams usually is the one passing out assists.
In his third NBA season, the former Illinois star has emerged as one of the league's elite players.
Through Saturday's games, Williams ranked fourth in the NBA at 9.7 assists per game, trailing only Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Jason Kidd. He also contributes 19.1 points, shoots better than 50 percent from the field and is above 40 percent from 3-point range.
The Jazz, meanwhile, has won 17 of its last 20 games.
"Deron does a great job," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He knows where the ball's supposed to go and what we should do. I don't call as many plays as I used to."
It's odd to think that Williams has been more dominant in the NBA than he was for the Illini. During the 2004-05 season when Illinois advanced to the NCAA title game, Williams was the team's third-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game, to go with 6.8 assists.
"I didn't need to score. Dee (Brown) and Luther (Head) were scorers," Williams said Saturday. "I scored when I needed to. I led the team in scoring my sophomore season, but my junior season I really didn't need to. We had so many weapons and we just had such a good chemistry, unless I needed to take over, I didn't really look to score.
"I think on this team, I need to look to score for us to be successful, but only to a certain extent. I think I'm more successful when I have those 17-, 18-point games and 13 or 14 assists."
Williams didn't quite reach his ideal numbers Saturday, but he did contribute 15 points and 11 assists in Utah's 97-87 victory over the Bulls.
The Jazz can be a joy to watch on offense. The players find openings, anticipate cuts to the basket and generally execute as if they grew up together at a common playground.
In fact, this is really their second season together full time. Williams had kind of a rough rookie year when he averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Mention the team chemistry and Williams insists it's no illusion. Utah is at its best when a variety of players contribute.
"Everybody likes each other," he said. "I don't know how other locker rooms are, but I've heard that guys don't like each other. On this team, I think everybody likes each other. Everybody can hang out with each other and get along.
"I think that's another strength of our team. I think we have good chemistry off the court and it carries over on the court. When guys like each other off the court, they're going to like each other on the court and like playing with each other."
Williams even has nice things to say about his notoriously hard-nosed coach, who has been on the job long enough to have coached Bulls assistant coach Mike Brown starting in 1988.
"He's a great coach, a great teacher," Williams said of Sloan. "As long as you give a great effort, just go out there and work hard, you won't have any problems with him. My rookie year was difficult. Other than that, (the NBA) has been fun. It's been a blast."
Salt Lake City is quieter than most any other NBA stop. But at 23, Williams already is a family man, with his wife, Amy, and two young daughters. So he fits right in.
"It's a good place to raise a family," he said. "The fans are terrific and they respect you off the court. I've loved my Salt Lake experience."