Post by Rog on Oct 30, 2016 2:02:35 GMT
The 56th nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame was a phenom from the second he stepped into the league. Jay Williams was a really good point guard who could do it all. Was he good enough, long enough to be considered a legend, a Hall of Famer? Lets take a look at the facts.
Career Stats
35.6 MPG, 22.6 PPG, 8.3 APG, 5.2 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 2.4 TOPG on 46.1% from the field, 80.7% from the line, and 39.1% from three
Best Season
Pacers(2004) - 29.8 PPG, 9.5 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 0.1 SPG, 2.0 TOPG on 47.7% from the field, 79.7% from the line, and 42.7% from free
Career Highs
Points: 55
Rebounds: 14
Assists: 23
Steals: 9
Blocks: 2
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 319
Player of the Week: 14
Player of the Month: 4
Double Doubles: 451
Triple Doubles: 30
-
Awards
2001 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2001 - All-Star Game Participant
2001 - Rookie of the Year
2001 - All-League Second Team
2001 - All-Rookie Team
2002 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2002 - All-Star Game Participant
2002 - Most Valuable Player
2002 - All-League First Team
2003 - All-Star Game Participant
2004 - All-League Second Team
2005 - All-Star Game Participant
2005 - All-League First Team
2007 - All-Star Game Participant
2009 - All-Star Game Participant
Arguments For Induction
- Williams played in six All-Star games over nine seasons. He was also named to two All-League first teams and two All-League second teams. Best of all, Williams was an MVP in this league, achieving the highest honor possible for an individual player, maybe other than playoff MVP.
- Jay Williams was a force to be reckoned with scoring wise in his prime. He averaged 22 points on his career and for 6 years in a row, and 7 times in his career, he averaged 26+ a game. In fact for 11 straight years, if you penciled Jay Williams in at point guard, he got you 20 points a game. That is consistent as hell.
- He not only was a great volume scorer, but he did it with at times insane efficiency. His 46.1/80.7/39.1 line is great on its own but it doesn't tell the whole story of his 7 year peak. During that time you could count on him shooting closer to 47/82/41 which is elite.
- Never an elite passer, well statistically one year he was, but he was a good one. He averaged 8.3 a game for his career, unarguably dragged down by his last five seasons. He was good for 9+ assists for his first five years, and six years total but always being close to 9 the rest of his prime.
- For a guy with that volume of scoring, those assist numbers, he was incredibly not a turnover machine. He got high a bit at times, but mostly kept it under 3, which for a guy doing the number he did, thats all you can ask.
- Top it all off with a triple double threat, getting 30 a game and being a 5+ rebounder in his career and you have an all around guy. Overall you just have to wonder what you could say about this guy that could build a legitimate case against him. His six year stretch of 30/9.5/5.5 with good percentages alone is case enough, and then he has another 5 seasons where he gets you 20/8/5 on still good percentages? Plus no obvious flaws, this is an easy vote isn't it?
Arguments Against Induction
- Not so fast, he doesn't have enough awards does he? Four years of top 3 positional ball, six all-star games doesn't sound like a legend to me.
- Questionable defender, held an A- defensive rating but just didn't generate turnovers and had no awards, hard to say that he was a good defender.
- Never won a title, never even really got close as a prime time player. His Pacer teams at times were solid, but never made the finals and got walloped in the Eastern Conference Finals they were in against the Nets. Hard to say his stats were anything much more than blank stats that didn't have any meaning.
- You have to wonder, he had a great 7 or so year stretch, and if you look at his ratings they do not compare to what we see now. Was he a product of a weaker league and is that something to hold against him? As the talent level was brought up in the league, Jay Williams stats declined. Coincidence and is that a case against him? Its really for you to decide.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
*
