Latavious Williams has had a pretty interesting journey on his way to the NBA.  Williams was deemed ineligible for college, and instead of taking the Brandon Jennings route Williams chose to enter the D-League.  In my opinion, this decision was very smart, and one that could lead to Williams having an impact for the Thunder this year.

So how has the D-League helped Williams?  Well, he played for the Tulsa 66ers, who are a direct affiliate for the Thunder, meaning that he already has a year’s experience with the Thunder’s offensive and defensive systems.  Even more importantly, Williams was playing in a league that has rules that are exactly the same as the NBA’s rules.  Meaning that Williams already has a knowledge of the unique rules in the NBA, the key one being defensive three seconds.  During his summer league performance’s Williams, looked very comfortable off the ball, and a lot of it had to do with his knowledge of the defensive three second rule:

Before we even get to the real defensive play I want to talk about, Williams does a good job of rotating off to the roll man, to make sure he doesn’t get a wide open catch in the paint.  Now that he is covering the roll man, Williams is standing in the paint.  However, he knows the defensive three second rule and knows that because he is defending someone at arms distance, he can stand in the paint however long he likes.  This means he is in perfect position for help defense, and he is able to get the block.

The play continues with Williams standing in the middle of the lane.  He quickly returns to his man to avoid a three second call, and then as the shot goes up, he gets into the paint and positions himself for the rebound.

And here is another example of Williams moving in and out of the paint pretty efficiently, avoiding the defensive three second call, while still being in position to help.

Compare this to someone who spent a year playing in college, Derrick Favors, who struggled with the defensive three second concept during Summer League, and Williams’ play impresses you even more:

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In addition to his knowledge of the three second rule, his basketball IQ has improved in general during his D-League experience.  In a conversation I had with Scott Schroeder of RidiculousUpside, he had this to say about Williams:

but most of the changes in his game throughout the year were simply basketball IQ type things (which isn’t a bad thing)

This was also apparent during his summer league play.  On defense, Williams played the pick and roll very well:

Here, Williams doesn’t show too hard, allowing himself to be in position to cover the roll man and bother the shot.

And here, Williams makes a very good hard show, knowing that there is little time left and that the ballhandler is probably going to be the one taking the shot. His defensive pressure causes a loose ball here.

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On the offensive end, Williams does a very good job of finding pockets in the defense and making himself available to receive the pass and finish:

So why is this new found basketball IQ so important?  Well, it adds on to what Latavious Williams already has, and that is insane athletic ability.  Without his basketball IQ, Williams is just another one of those crazy athletic guys who may never find a home in the NBA.  With the skills/feel he has developed in the D-League, he can make an impact this year.

Williams will probably start the year in the D-League, and that is a good thing.  He could benefit from a little more strength to help him with his post defense.  Also, he doesn’t have any post moves to speak of, and he doesn’t have a go to move in the high post, and more D-League time could help him with that.  However, with all of that being said, I fully expect Williams to have a productive stint in the NBA if he can get himself a call-up with the Thunder, and it is all thanks to his D-League experience last year.

A huge thank you goes out to Scott Schroeder of RidiculousUpside, who was nice enough to answer my annoying questions both on Twitter and G-mail.