Marcus Williams Interview

[timvp]

Marcus, when we talked last, you'd just finished a great workout with the Phoenix Suns. But it seems the Spurs were a tad more enamored with what they saw in you. How does it feel to land with a great franchise like San Antonio?
It feels great. I feel blessed, you know. It's a great organization -- a championship organization, and it feels great to be a part of it. It's going to be a great learning experience for me and I'm just going to be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge I can get.

With the rotation they have and the talent there, that's probably what you're going to be doing a lot of ... watching and learning. I can't imagine there will be a whole lot of playing time to go around in the early goings. I imagine you could get yourself quite an education, indeed.
You just got to fight, that's what it is. It was the same thing at Arizona. No one expects young guys to get playing time on a veteran team. But you've just got to keep thinking positive. Obviously I haven't been able to talk the older guys on the team yet, like Tim (Duncan) or Tony (Parker). Actually, I was only in San Antonio for two or three days. But during the season, that's what I'm going to look for. Someone I can learn from and be able to find someone that can help me with the NBA game. They're the best, so ...

You've got a couple of games under your belt here now. What are Don Newman and the boys saying to you?
They're great. They say 'keep hanging your hat on your defense and getting after it, and everything will come ... everything will be fine.'

On this (summer league) squad, you've got some seasoned D League and CBA guys, who know what this is about. And then there's you, with the talent but new to this level. Some of them are here year after year and that's about it, while you've got the talent level to actually make this roster. How much of a dogfight is it, given that you were drafted without a guaranteed contract?
I'm gonna be fine, man. I don't worry about too much to be honest with you.

A pretty deep draft, though, for the Suns to get a guy like D.J. Strawberry with the 59th pick and you guys to get (Giorgis) Printezis when you did. Does that help make you feel pretty good about where you got drafted?
Yeah, yeah, I feel good.

What will you bring to San Antonio?
Athleticism, youth, get after it defensively and just grow. I see myself surpassing everyone's expectations.

Link. (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22696.shtml)

[timvp]

Hopefully he is using 100% of his energy defensively because his offense has been garbage so far in summer league.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

just out of the blue comment here, but how bad does sandizkide have to be to get zero playing time in the summer league?

[whottt]

I wonder if Sanikidze is going to be playing in the second summer league and perhaps he will get more minutes there.

He didn't look bad when he played...and he was rebounding...something the Spurs desperately need at the SF position.

Maybe he just has a bad attitude or something...he certainly didn't suck worse than anyone else when he was on the court.

[Darkwaters]

I wonder if Sanikidze is going to be playing in the second summer league and perhaps he will get more minutes there.

He didn't look bad when he played...and he was rebounding...something the Spurs desperately need at the SF position.

Maybe he just has a bad attitude or something...he certainly didn't suck worse than anyone else when he was on the court.

Nah, the way the Summer League works you can have a breakout game one day and a DNP the next. The roster is entirely too full to give everybody a reasonable amount of playing time so some games players simply sit out and others they log big minutes.

The Spurs might simply be featuring Williams and White on the wings right now and intend to feature Sanikidze later.

[AFBlue]

Hopefully he is using 100% of his energy defensively because his offense has been garbage so far in summer league.

He's showing good enough effort defensively that I think the Spurs won't pass on giving him the standard second round contract (sub $1M w/o the second year fully guaranteed).

Hopefully he is able to focus on the D and let his offensive game correct itself.

I know this is all standard "player-speak", but he seems to have the right attitude (work hard, learn, and be aggressive) to succeed.

Not sure about the character issue...the only thing I picked up on was that he said he wasn't worried about receiving a guaranteed contract and that he thought he would surpass everyone's expectations.

Do you call that cockiness or confidence?

[jag]

Nah, the way the Summer League works you can have a breakout game one day and a DNP the next. The roster is entirely too full to give everybody a reasonable amount of playing time so some games players simply sit out and others they log big minutes.

The Spurs might simply be featuring Williams and White on the wings right now and intend to feature Sanikidze later.

This is good to hear, and i hope this is what's goin on. I'm really wondering if any of this matters. I'm thinking we might only have 1 roster spot anyway.

[yourcheatinheart]

Marcus, when we talked last, you'd just finished a great workout with the Phoenix Suns. But it seems the Spurs were a tad more enamored with what they saw in you. How does it feel to land with a great franchise like San Antonio?
It feels great. I feel blessed, you know. It's a great organization -- a championship organization, and it feels great to be a part of it. It's going to be a great learning experience for me and I'm just going to be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge I can get.

With the rotation they have and the talent there, that's probably what you're going to be doing a lot of ... watching and learning. I can't imagine there will be a whole lot of playing time to go around in the early goings. I imagine you could get yourself quite an education, indeed.
You just got to fight, that's what it is. It was the same thing at Arizona. No one expects young guys to get playing time on a veteran team. But you've just got to keep thinking positive. Obviously I haven't been able to talk the older guys on the team yet, like Tim (Duncan) or Tony (Parker). Actually, I was only in San Antonio for two or three days. But during the season, that's what I'm going to look for. Someone I can learn from and be able to find someone that can help me with the NBA game. They're the best, so ...

You've got a couple of games under your belt here now. What are Don Newman and the boys saying to you?
They're great. They say 'keep hanging your hat on your defense and getting after it, and everything will come ... everything will be fine.'

On this (summer league) squad, you've got some seasoned D League and CBA guys, who know what this is about. And then there's you, with the talent but new to this level. Some of them are here year after year and that's about it, while you've got the talent level to actually make this roster. How much of a dogfight is it, given that you were drafted without a guaranteed contract?
I'm gonna be fine, man. I don't worry about too much to be honest with you.

A pretty deep draft, though, for the Suns to get a guy like D.J. Strawberry with the 59th pick and you guys to get (Giorgis) Printezis when you did. Does that help make you feel pretty good about where you got drafted?
Yeah, yeah, I feel good.

What will you bring to San Antonio?
Athleticism, youth, get after it defensively and just grow. I see myself surpassing everyone's expectations.

Link. (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22696.shtml)


and a heart as soft and sweet like tiramasu

[jdaveah]

Its looking more and more like he wont be on the roster unless White gets cut, which I don't think is likely. With the talk about Ian and Viktor looking good in summer league, it may be foolish to use spot 15 on Marcus.

[Mr. Body]

Its looking more and more like he wont be on the roster unless White gets cut, which I don't think is likely. With the talk about Ian and Viktor looking good in summer league, it may be foolish to use spot 15 on Marcus.

This isn't a completely foregone conclusion. Mahinmi can be found a spot in Europe somewhere, and there is absolutely no indication that Sanikidze will come over this year at all, just some wild speculation from a fanboard needing things to be excited about.

I don't believe the Spurs would be so rash to toss away Williams just to make room for one of the two. There are too many options in store to create the room or to wait one more year.

They must have seen this coming. The signing of Bonner indicates they did not anticipate a true roster crunch; they would move a piece or two to make room if they had to.

[Bruno]

On this (summer league) squad, you've got some seasoned D League and CBA guys, who know what this is about. And then there's you, with the talent but new to this level. Some of them are here year after year and that's about it, while you've got the talent level to actually make this roster. How much of a dogfight is it, given that you were drafted without a guaranteed contract?
I'm gonna be fine, man. I don't worry about too much to be honest with you.

It's possible that Williams get a guaranteed contract (a reason why he isn't worried at all). Early second round picks often get a guaranteed contract.