Darien Williams

B

boo haarvey

Active member
Williams was the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal game. It would be great if he could continue to give us productive minutes off the bench.

A number of posters have commented that he appears rather unathletic. I agree. My understanding is that he was a somewhat heralded JUCO recruit, but that two shoulder surgeries have set him back. He also appears to wear a significant brace on his knee. Does anybody know whether Williams suffered a knee injury in the past? Did he used to be more athletic? It seems to me that shoulder surgeries should not affect his ability to run and jump.
 
Are going to need his energy and a few fouls from him. Would be great if he could provide some physical interior defense in short stretches and be a pain for opposing bigs to deal with his activeness.
 
Are going to need his energy and a few fouls from him. Would be great if he could provide some physical interior defense in short stretches and be a pain for opposing bigs to deal with his activeness.
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It's only one game, but watching Williams felt like getting a brand new recruit dropped into our lap.
 
Are going to need his energy and a few fouls from him. Would be great if he could provide some physical interior defense in short stretches and be a pain for opposing bigs to deal with his activeness.
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It's only one game, but watching Williams felt like getting a brand new recruit dropped into our lap.
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Way I would look at it is the only things that are locked are Lovett, Ponds, Ahmed 1-3, with Mussini as the primary guard off the bench.

After that everything is up for grabs game to game with the primary determinants being who is willing to defend (especially on the interior) and rebound. There are 90+ minutes to be divied up here between 4 and 5 + the 10-15 minutes Ahmed isn't in the game, minus stretches we go 3 guards.

So there is no shortage of opportunity for Owens, Yawke, RF, Williams, Amar, and Ellison. Subject to gameflow, this is how this group should primarily be getting their minutes.
 
If Williams has been healthy how is it possible that the staff played Ali before him?
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How is it possible staff played Holyfield before him. Williams didn't even get garbage time against Fordham. Sure looked pretty good to have been sitting on the bench all year and not worked into games for more than a minute or two. Especially when analyzing Freuds performance.
 
I won't second guess staff on this. Maybe he's completely sucked in practice. Maybe he hasn't had any confidence for two years and it only came back after his second made basket in the LIU game. He put up decent numbers in juco and was well regarded, so it won't be a complete shock if he can give us something in the absence of Sima. Hopefully he does, but if not, glad he had one good game to tell his grandchildren about.

We probably won't go on an 18-game win streak, so I'll settle for small positives and feel-good stories along the way.
 
He's been out of competitive basketball with injuries and surgeries the past 3 years. He came in last season, had his arm up over his head which got pulled back (which happens dozens of times in any game) and he was out. He comes in this season and looks really rusty and immediately makes mistakes. There is no second guessing the staff here, he played against LIU as a desperate act and a minor miracle for him that he can still play at all. That he stepped up, is great on him but I expect ZERO physicality from him on interior defense.
 
Anyone remember the old Chicago White Sox and New York Yankee outfielder Walt "No Neck" Williams? Appears we have Darien "No Shoulders" Williams. :)
 
He's been out of competitive basketball with injuries and surgeries the past 3 years. He came in last season, had his arm up over his head which got pulled back (which happens dozens of times in any game) and he was out. He comes in this season and looks really rusty and immediately makes mistakes. There is no second guessing the staff here, he played against LIU as a desperate act and a minor miracle for him that he can still play at all. That he stepped up, is great on him but I expect ZERO physicality from him on interior defense.
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My understanding is that he's been out of competitive basketball the better part of two years and not three. Assuming that the injuries did not have a lasting effect (I'm not sure how shoulder injuries affect one's ability to run and jump), why would you expect "ZERO physicality from him on defense?"
 
Anyone remember the old Chicago White Sox and New York Yankee outfielder Walt "No Neck" Williams? Appears we have Darien "No Shoulders" Williams. :)
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Reminds me of a less athletic Obekpa. Just the way he runs around.
 
He's been out of competitive basketball with injuries and surgeries the past 3 years. He came in last season, had his arm up over his head which got pulled back (which happens dozens of times in any game) and he was out. He comes in this season and looks really rusty and immediately makes mistakes. There is no second guessing the staff here, he played against LIU as a desperate act and a minor miracle for him that he can still play at all. That he stepped up, is great on him but I expect ZERO physicality from him on interior defense.
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My understanding is that he's been out of competitive basketball the better part of two years and not three. Assuming that the injuries did not have a lasting effect (I'm not sure how shoulder injuries affect one's ability to run and jump), why would you expect "ZERO physicality from him on defense?"
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you misquoted a key part of what I said: "interior" and beyond that fact that he's thin and lanky, the primary reason being that he's had three or four shoulder surgeries. I'm pulling for him but I cringed even when he went for that dunk yesterday and then when a teammate yanked him up from the floor.
 
He's been out of competitive basketball with injuries and surgeries the past 3 years. He came in last season, had his arm up over his head which got pulled back (which happens dozens of times in any game) and he was out. He comes in this season and looks really rusty and immediately makes mistakes. There is no second guessing the staff here, he played against LIU as a desperate act and a minor miracle for him that he can still play at all. That he stepped up, is great on him but I expect ZERO physicality from him on interior defense.
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My understanding is that he's been out of competitive basketball the better part of two years and not three. Assuming that the injuries did not have a lasting effect (I'm not sure how shoulder injuries affect one's ability to run and jump), why would you expect "ZERO physicality from him on defense?"
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you misquoted a key part of what I said: "interior" and beyond that fact that he's thin and lanky, the primary reason being that he's had three or four shoulder surgeries. I'm pulling for him but I cringed even when he went for that dunk yesterday and then when a teammate yanked him up from the floor.
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I think he's had two shoulder surgeries, but point well taken. I too was cringing when he went up for the dunk, partly because I wasn't sure he would get up high enough. I vaguely recall watching him miss a similar dunk during the exhibition game.
 
I think he's had two shoulder surgeries, but point well taken. I too was cringing when he went up for the dunk, partly because I wasn't sure he would get up high enough. I vaguely recall watching him miss a similar dunk during the exhibition game.
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He definitely had at least two surgeries (both shoulders) before coming to St Johns then another after last season's injury. My only question was whether or not one of the shoulders had been worked on twice before i.e. 3 or 4 total surgeries. Between Lovett, Williams, Amar and Ellison I'm thinking we are more China Shop than Bull. More reason than ever that we need a tough, junkyard dog to replace Sima (also on the fragile side).
 
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