Category Archives: Marvin Williams

Williams out of lineup for Hornets

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams, starting power forward for the Charlotte Hornets, missed Friday’s loss against Golden State because of a strained shoulder. He injured it in the first half of Wednesday’s loss against Portland.

Williams has been playing with a nagging knee injury, the Hornets said earlier this month.

The 6-foot-9 Williams is averaging 6.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 24 minutes a game for the Hornets. He started Charlotte’s first 16 games. He’s also expected to miss Saturday’s game at Atlanta.

Charlotte is off to a disappointing 4-13 start.

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Where’s Marvin Williams going to land? Charlotte? San Antone? Utah?

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams, 28, appears to have some options as the free-agent forward heads into his 10th NBA season.

Williams, who played his first seven seasons in Atlanta and the last two with Utah, has reportedly been targeted by the Charlotte Hornets.

In an earlier report, Williams was linked as a possible fit for the San Antonio Spurs.

Adrian Worjanowski of Yahoo! Sports, who broke the story about Charlotte’s interest in Williams, also writes that the Utah Jazz are still interested in keeping Williams.

The former Bremerton High star, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, averaged 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Utah Jazz last year. He shot 36 percent from 3-point range.

His career numbers are 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds. There are not a lot of power forwards available and the 6-fo0t-9 Williams is valuable because of his ability to shoot the three and teammates and coaches in Utah raved about this leadership the past two seasons.

If it comes down to Charlotte and San Antonio, that would be a tough decision. He made $7.5 million a year ago and would likely make around $2.5 million if he joins the NBA champion Spurs. The Hornets are in a position to pay a lot more. Plus, Charlotte needs a starting power forward after losing Josh McRoberts to Miami.

 

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Tuesday ramblings and notes: Heathcote, Hammel, TyBaum, Erynne/earthquake & more

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE champion Wichita State enters the NCAA Tournament unbeaten and seeded No. 1 in the Midwest region. The last time a Missouri Valley Conference team entered the tournament unbeaten was 1979, when Larry Bird and Indiana State was grabbing all of the headlines in March.  The No. 1-ranked Sycamores didn’t come away with the title, though.

“Somebody beat them in that championship game,” said Jud Heathcote during a conversation Monday. “It’s been so long, I can’t remember who is was.”

The 86-year-old Heathcote was joking. The South Kitsap grad who grew up in Manchester was the coach of the Michigan State Spartans that year. The Spartans, with a gangly point-guard named Magic Johnson, beat Bird and the Sycamores in the most-watched game in college basketball history.

Heathcote, who lives in Spokane and has season tickets to Gonzaga games, will be in the stands this week when Michigan State plays its first-r0und East regional game on Thursday. Sparty faces Delaware at Veteran Memorial Arena in Spokane. My weekly Thursday column will center on Heathcote, who is still funny as ever and still consumed by the college game.

JASON HAMMEL OF THE CHICAGO CUBS starts Tuesday night in Surprise, Ariz., against the Texas Rangers. It’ll be just his second Cactus League start, but the right-hander out of South Kitsap High hasn’t been inactive. He’s started a “B” game and went six innings last Thursday against Cubs minor leaguers.

“My first year with the (Orioles), because Florida Spring Training is all (American League) East, I didn’t pitch in a big league game until we’d been through two or three rounds of cuts,” Hammel told MLB.com.  “As long as I can get my work in and make sure I’m building the arm strength, I’m OK.”

WAS HOPING ONE-TIME Olympic College basketball coach Ken Bone would get over the hump at Washington State, but too many injuries and lack of depth were his undoing. Seattle U might be a good fit for Bone if Cameron Dollar gets the axe, and it’s been suggested that he might. A lot of people forget that Bone was 77-49 in four years at Portland State, taking the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament his last two years. Bone was 254-97 in 12 years at Seattle Pacific.

Also

Glad to see I didn’t jinx Tyler Baumgartner with this column. The Central Kitsap grad, a senior outfielder at Oregon, was 5-for-11 in a three-game series against USC. Baumgartner was 2-for-5 with a bases-clearing double in a 7-2 series-clinching win on Sunday. He’s now hitting .400 through 19 games. …. Former North Kitsap  and Washington State athlete and ex-professional baseball player Jared Prince is an assistant with the South Kitsap baseball team. Prince, who is living in Tacoma and working toward his masters in education at the University of Puget Sound, was also an assistant with SK’s football team. He’s doing his student teaching at South. … Bremerton’s Marvin Williams has missed 12 NBA games this season because of various injuries. The Utah Jazz are 0-12 in those games. His numbers (9.5 points, 5.1  rebounds) aren’t eye-popping, but the 27-year-old forward has become a solid all-around player and leader for the young Jazz.  … I was always impressed with Denise Baxter, who announced that she is retiring at Central Kitsap as the girls basketball coach. Her teams always played hard and she had a no-nonsense approach and she didn’t seem to let those bothersome parents (you know the ones) get in her head. Central Kitsap’s lucky to have had her around for 20 years.  … Bremerton High grad Jack Evans passed away recently in California. Evans was a member of the 1953 Bremerton High baseball team thet was inducted into the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame. … Former Kitsap Pumas goalkeeper Liviu Bird is now writing about soccer for SI.com, among other outlets. Here’s  his story on the Toronto FC after the 2-1 win over the Sounders. … Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly plays in the Web.com Tour’s Panama Claro Championship in Panama City this week. After a tie for 23rd in Chile, he missed the cut by two strokes in Brazil last week. He plays in the Louisiana Open in Broussard, La., next week, then returns to the PGA Tour, teeing it up in the Houston Open, April 3-6. … Central Kitsap alum Drew Vettleson got a couple more at bats in a Grapefruit League game for the Washington Nationals. He’s 0-for-3 in two appearances with the big club this spring. … UCLA junior golfer Erynne Lee, a Central Kitsap grad who was picked to play in the Curtis Cup, tweeted this from Los Angeles on Monday:  “Woke up from a nightmare by an earthquake just now. #frazzled #homesick” … Keep your eye on Ben Tamm, hard-throwing  freshman pitcher at Everet CC. The North Kitsap grad was named MVP of fall ball and has got off to a good start for the Trojans.

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Dawgs, Cougs both headed in right direction

The Apple Cup is in the books, the Civil War is over and the 2-year-old granddaughter is finally in the rack after watching the Disney-movie Ratatouille.

It’s been an exhausting day. Here’s some quick thoughts and links:

Apple Cup: Seven is the ugliest number when it comes to the Huskies during the Steve Sarkisian era, and Washington’s win over Washington State means they can put that number to rest. The possibility of four straight 7-6 seasons has been avoided. The Huskies will take an 8-4 record into whatever bowl game they wind up in. Some are speculating the Dawgs could face BYU in the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco on Dec. 27. If you’d have told serious Husky fans at the start of the season that their team was going to wind up in the Fight Hunger Bowl, they wouldn’t have been pleased. The expectations were higher than that, but losses to Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State and UCLA brought the program back to earth. But a win in a bowl game and a 9-4 record will might make a lot of those fans forget about those lofty preseason expectations.

Washington State’s 6-6, and likely headed to a bowl (although there’s no guarantee). The Cougars probably exceeded most expectations, if not in the number of victories, certainly in how the program is now perceived. In two years, Mike Leach has the Cougar faithful believing because he’s got his players believing. WSU went to Auburn for its season opener and nearly beat the team that is ranked No. 4 in the country. The Cougs won three Pac-12 games on the road, and for a half, they out-played the Huskies. This year’s Apple Cup was decided by three or four plays.

Compared to the bad times that these programs have been through in the last 10 years or so, I suppose we should feel pretty good that the Huskies and Cougars are headed in the right direction. At least the programs matter. There were times when you couldn’t say that.

Civil War: Oregon State’s Victor Bolden scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 25-yard run with 1:38 left. They scored too fast. I knew it, you knew it, we all knew it. Oregon marched down the field and scored with 29 seconds left for a 36-35 victory. Bolden should have fallen down at the 10 and the Beavs could have run a couple plays up the gut and kicked a game-winning field goal. Of course, that’s easy to say and hard to do.

Marvin update: It’s taken a while, but it looks like Marvin Williams is finally going to be an option at the offensive end. Primarily an unselfish role player through the first eight years of his NBA career, the Bremerton High grad is getting more looks this year with the Utah Jazz. He had 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field in a Friday loss to Phoenix, had 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting in a win over Phoenix earlier in the week and had a 19-point game on 7 of 13 shooting in a loss against Dallas last week. He’s making 42.1 percent of his three-point attempts. The 27-year-old Jazzman missed the first five games after having Achilles surgery in the summer and missed another game after breaking his nose on Nov. 15.

Also

This story about former NBA player Bison Dele, formerly known as Brian Williams, is one of the best I’ve read. And the design is incredible. I never imagined you could that kind of work on the internet. If you’ve never read any of the stories at SI.com/longstory, check ’em out. It’s some of the best writing out there.

South Kitsap grad and current MLB  free agent Willie Bloomquist partnered with an NRA group at a hog hunt in Texas to raise money for his Abe and Max Fund, which purchases electronics for patients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Black Friday? What about the black days. Joe Posnanski takes a look at Black Monday, Black Tuesday, Black Wednesday, etc.

Lots of connections between the Saints and Seahawks.

I know you take the games one at a time, but I think the Cardinals, who visit the Clink on Dec. 22,  could pose more of a threat to beat the Seahawks than the Saints on Monday night. Arizona’s rolling. And if Seattle’s got the NFC West title wrapped up by its regular-season finale on Dec. 29, the Rams could steal one, too. The closing schedule is tough. Saints this week, and at the 49ers and Giants the following two weeks. That’s no picnic. And don’t sleep on the Cardinals or Rams, who outplayed Seattle but didn’t get the win earlier.

In case you missed Ken Rosenthal of msn.foxsports.com writes that two sources used the word “desperate” to describe the state of the Mariners, who likely considering all free-agent options.

 

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Marvin Williams returns from Achilles injury

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams made his season debut on Friday for the Utah Jazz. He had Achilles surgery in the offseason.

He’s still not 100 percent,and Denver’s J.J. Hickson took advantage by slamming on Williams Monday night. Check out the video.

Williams had six points in 18 minutes on Monday, his third game back.

Wanna plan a trip to Portland to watch the former Bremerton High star? Utah is at Portland Dec. 6 and Feb. 21.

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Monday morning links: Seattle Coyotes, M’s, Marvin, Pumas, Jackets & More

Coyotes to Seattle?: By now, you’ve probably heard about the Phoenix Coyotes possible move to Seattle. If not, check out this report by the Seattle Times. Might be time to revitalize that NHL fantasy league. I once had a team named the Ice Tkachuks, after Keith Tkachuks, a former captain of the Coyotes.

Told you so: For all three of you who read this blog, I just want to remind you that I never liked the idea of turning Dustin Ackley into a second baseman. I thought Kyle Seager, a second baseman at North Carolina, was a better fit at second, and Ackley, an outfielder at North Carolina, should be the starting left-fielder. Ackley’s now playing outfield for Tacoma, where he’s also found his hitting stroke. Now that Nick Franklin is holding down second, I suppose it’s OK to keep Seager at third. But with Franklin, Brendan Ryan, and Carlos Triunfel all on the big club and Brad Miller waiting in the wings, the M’s are going to have to figure out what to do with all of those middle infielders. Miller’s hitting .341 with four HRs and 23 RBI since coming up to Tacoma 20 games ago. There’s probably no reason to rush him to the big leagues, but why not? When the July 31 trade deadline rolls around, look for Ryan to wind up back in the National League, and Triunfel, or even Franklin, could be pieces for a potential trade. If I’m the GM, I’d envision Miller at shortstop, Seager or Franklin at second, Ackley in left and a power hitter, someone acquired by trade or free agency, at third base, when Opening Day rolls around in 2014.

Interesting Finals: All but one game has turned into a blowout, but these NBA Finals have been pretty compelling. There’s been a different story every game. Manu Ginobili showed that he still has some game left in his tank on Sunday as he led the Spurs to a victory and 3-2 advantage over LeBron and the Miami Heat. Gonobili, 36, had 24 points and 10 assists. Last time the Heat was in this position, down 3-2 and going back to Miami, they watched the Dallas Mavericks celebrate on their homecourt. Lebron said he’s looking forward to the challenge.

Marvin returning to Jazz for another: Marvin Williams, who is recovering from heel surgery that will keep him out of the start of the next NBA season, has declined an option that would allow him to get out of his contract. So the Bremerton High grad is guaranteed $7.5 million next season. Here’s a blogger’s take on Marvin’s first year with the Jazz.

Hopson to T-Tech: Former Sequim fastpitch star Lea Hopson, a two-time Olympic League MVP, recently signed to play at Texas Tech. Hopson, who helped the Wolves to an unbeaten season and Class 2A state title, was a first-team junior college all-american at the College of Southern Idaho. Her offensive numbers were mighty impressive.

No. 2 and feeling blue: “I just keep feeling heartbreak,” said Phil Mickelson after his sixth second-place finish at the U.S. Open. Did he blow it or did Justin Rose win it?

Willie still hot: Willie Bloomquist is hitting .409 in 14 games for the Diamondbacks after going 2 for 4 on Sunday. The South Kitsap grad hit the ground running after being activated from the disabled list and continues to swing a hot bat for the Diamondbacks, who went 0-3 at San Diego but still cling to a first-place in the tight NL West. Only two games separate the four teams.

Unbeaten streak: The Kitsap Pumas can’t win, and they can’t lose. The Pumas are 0-0-5 in their last five games. The latest tie: 2-2 vs. the Portland Timbers U-23s on Saturday leaves the Pumas (1-2-5, 8 points)  in fifth-place in the Northwest Division, which is led by the Timbers (5-1-2, 17 points). The Pumas and Timbers tied 0-0 two weeks ago at Gordon Field, and they will play again in Portland on Friday, June. 21.

Jackets back home: The Kitsap BlueJackets (4-8) get a day off on Monday, but will be back in action on Tuesday for the first game of a three-game series against the Bend Elks. Kitsap beat the Elks 5-3 on Sunday in Bend, ending a four-game losing streak. Catcher Alex McKeon (.371) leads the offense, but Kitsap is hitting just .234 as a team. Pitching has been decent in the early going as the staff has a 3.72 ERA. Here’s the pitching stats. And hte hitting stats.

Struggling: Todd Linden is in the midst of a 2-for-25 stretch with Fresno, the Giants’ Triple-A club, and is hitting .179 in 27 games. The Central Kitsap grad missed most of the early season with a foot injury after fouling a ball off it and suffering a deep bruise.

Good genes: Taryn Griffey, daughter of Ken Griffey Jr., recently committed to play basketball at Arizona. She’s just now coming back after missing her junior season with a knee injury. She gives her dad credit for helping her through the recovery process.

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State has no shortage of NBA guards

Here’s a trivia question for any NBA fans out there. And, no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the possible move of the Sacramento Kings to Seattle. That seemed like a slam-dunk six weeks ago. Now, not so much. One gets the feeling David Stern is working some creepy behind-the-scenes magic to keep the team in Sac-town. And I’m OK with that, as long as the league delivers Seattle an expansion team that will being play no later than the 2015-16 season, which is when Chris Hansen’s new arena in SoDo is expected to be completed and ready to open.

Anyway, back to the trivia question? How many guards on NBA rosters played their high school or college basketball in the state of Washington? Hint, it’s probably more than you think. (Answer below).

Before I get to the answer, there are four e four NBA forwards from the state: Martell Webster (Seattle Prep), Washington Wizards; Marvin Williams (Bremerton), Utah Jazz; Aron Baynes (Washington State), San Antonio Spurs; Quincy Pondexter (Washington), Memphis Grizzlies.  Of that foursome, Webster’s the top player, averaging 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. Williams’ play has really tailed off this season. The former B-town star is averaging a career low 7.4 ppg and 3.6 rpg for the Jazz, but has been nagged by a series of ailments. The latest is a tendinitis in his right heel.

And there’s three centers: Spencer Hawes (Seattle Prep/Washington), Philadelphia 76ers; Robert Sacre (Gonzaga), LA Lakers; Ronny Turiaf (Gonzaga), LA Clippers. Hawes averages 11 ppg, 7.3 rpg. He averaged 14 points in March while playing the best basketball of his career.

That brings us back to the trivia question. How many guards?

Did you say 14? By my count, that’s how many were in the league last week. But Dallas didn’t sign Justin Dentmon (Washington) to a second 10-day contract, so there’s only 13. That’s still a pretty high number, don’t ya think? (Update: There are 14; Justin Holiday is now in the league after signing with Philadelphia in early April).

They are, in no special order:

Nate Robinson (Rainier Beach/Washington), Chicago Bulls. Nate the Great came off the bench to score 35 points in 33 minutes on Thursday in an overtime win over the Knicks. The season-long injury to Derrick Rose gave Robinson an opportunity in Chicago and he’s averaging 14.4 ppg in his seventh NBA season.

Jason Terry (Franklin/Arizona), Boston Celtics. The veteran averages 10.2 points, coming off the bench for the Celtics.

Avery Bradley  (Bellarmine Prep/Texas), Boston Celtics. Former backcourt partner with UW’s Abdul Gaddy, who was the higher-rated player out of high school, averages 9.1 points. Injuries have limited this quick, defensive-oriented player to 47 games, but he had stretches early where he really played well.

Terrance Williams (Rainier Beach/Louisville), Boston Celtics. Yep, three state players on the C’s roster. Williams was in Spain earlier this season and is getting limited minutes. Technically I suppose, you’d list T-Williams as a G-F.

Rodney Stuckey (Kentwood/Eastern Washington), Detroit Pistons. I still remember him coming off a screen and hitting a deep jumper in front of press row in the 2004 Class 4A state finals victory against South Kitsap. “That was an NBA jump shot,” I remember saying to the guy next to me. Stuckey’s coming off the bench now, but he’s still an above-average NBA guard, averaging 11.7 points.

Terrance Ross (Washington), Toronto Raptors. Averages 6.2 points per game in rookie season.

Luke Ridnour (Blaine/Oregon), Minnesota Timberwolves. Ridnour’s probably a better player now than he was in Seattle years ago. Averages 11.6 points. 3.8 assists in his 9th season. He was the 14th overall pick in the 2003 draft by the Sonics.

Brandon Roy (Garfield/Washington), Minnesota Timberwolves. Perhaps the greatest guard to come out of our state, Roy came back for one more season, but appeared in just five games before his knee gave out on him again.

Tony Wroten (Garfield/Washington), Memphis Grizzlies. A classic case of a player who needed more time in college to refine his game, but you can’t blame him for turning pro, not with the money they’re throwing at guys these days. He’s getting 8.5 minutes a game, all of it garbage time, with the Griz.

Aaron Brooks (Franklin/Oregon)m, Houston Rockets. Fourth-year player’s once-promising career seems to be headed in another direction. He was let go by Sacramento and picked up by the Rockets, but isn’t getting much court time.

Isaiah Thomas (Curtis/Washington), Sacramento Kings. The second-year guard has matured into a really good player in just his second season. Thomas averages 14 points, 3.9 assists and would become an huge fan favorite if the Kings move to Seattle.

Klay Thompson (Washington State), Golden State Warriors. Second-year pro seems destined for stardom. Averages 16.4 points while shooting at a 40 percent clip. His genes are pretty good. His dad Mychal Thompson was the top overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. He won two rings with the Lakers. His mom played volleyball at the University of San Francisco. Older brother Mychel Thompson played basketball at Pepperdine. Younger brother Trayce Thompson is an outfielder and the top prospect in the White Sox’s minor league organization.

Jamal Crawford (Rainier Beach/Michigan), LA Clippers. Crawford could always score, and he’s not slowing down at age 33. The 8th overall pick out of Michigan in 2000, the 12-year pro is averaging 16.9 points off the bench and could be this year’s Sixth Man of the Year award winner.

Justin Holiday (Washington), Philadelphia 76ers. Holiday was signed to a 10-day contract at the start of the month. He’s a strong defender who was playing in the NBA D League. He joins his brother, Jrue Holiday, in Philadelphia. Jrue is Philly’s leading scorer.

 

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Marvin loses starting job to neighbor in Utah; Kelly struggling on PGA Tour

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams is averaging career low numbers in his first year with the Utah Jazz, and was recently benched.

Williams, the consummate teammate, seemed to take it all in stride, said his coach Tyrone Corbin. Williams has never complained about playing time or getting a lack of shots during his career. Winning, he has said over and over, is what matters most and the Jazz are on a four-game winning streak and tied with the Lakers for eighth in the NBA Western Conference. Here’s a look at Marvin’s numbers.

Troy Kelly will try to jump-start his season at the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio this week. The Central Kitsap grad and former University of Washington golfer has made just three cuts in nine tournaments, and is No. 180 on the money list ($32,350). He tied for 62nd (Pebble Beach), 63rd  (Puerto Rico) and 67th (Tampa Bay). He’s played 24 rounds and broke 70 just three times, only once in his last 16 rounds. His scoring average (72.726) ranks No. 170. But the beauty of pro golf, as Kelly found out a year ago, is all it takes is one tournament to secure his card for another season. Last year, Kelly’s second-place finish at the Greenbrier paid $658,800. There’s still a lot of golf to play.

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Marvin still has homework; check out Willie B’s big elk; Linden re-signs with Giants

Marvin Williams is still working towards a degree in sociology, and adjusting to life in the new in Salt Lake. The Utah Jazz forward and former Bremerton High star recently sat down for an interview with a Utah TV sports anchor. Williams averages 8.4 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Jazz. He’s started 38 of the 40 games he’s played in.

I meant to link to this picture a week or so ago when the I did a Q&A with Port Orchard native Willie Bloomquist, who was recently named to Team USA. Bloomquist is preparing for his 11th full-time MLB season and third with the Diamondbacks.

Todd Linden is going back to camp with the San Francisco Giants. He signed another minor-league contract on Jan. 25. Linden hit .280/.368 on-base percentage/.449 slugging percentage with 11 homers and 66 RBI at Triple-A Fresno in 2012. The Central Kitsap grad was the 41st overall pick in the 2001 draft by the Giants. Linden, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2007, holds most of the career hitting records at Fresno.

 

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‘Big Marv’ Williams still working with ‘Little Marv’

Bremerton’s Marvin Williams has struggled to find his shot with the Utah Jazz, but he hasn’t lost his work ethic.

This story does a pretty good job of capturing what the low-key NBA player is all about.

“I like to laugh at jokes,” he said, “but very rarely will you catch me making jokes.”

However, that shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Williams is struggling to fit in with his new team.

 “I enjoy playing with everybody,” he said. “I feel like the guys who have been here have really embraced me and accepted me.”

Williams, by the way, came off the bench, in Saturday’s win for the Jazz. He started the first nine games of the season. Williams had seven points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes.

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