Former Illinois PG Frank Williams (AP/Bower)
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Since it is never easy to keep up with the performance and news surrounding former Illinois players in the NBA while you are also watching your favorite NBA and college teams while also keeping up on your fantasy team's performance, IlliniBoard.com thought we would recap the relevant news surrounding the former Illinois players in the NBA over the past week.
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FRANK WILLIAMS - NEW YORK KNICKS
Since returning from his groin injury, Frank Williams has not been seeing that much time on the court for the New York Knicks as he is just averaging 7.5 minutes per game. New Knick head coach Lenny Wilkens, seems content to play Stephon Marbury over thirty-five minutes per game and the initial back up guard in the Knick rotation appears to be Moochie Norris.
Although Frank has not been playing much in the last week, Frank is still the talk of numerous trade rumors, including maybe even a possible move back to the state of Illinois. Could the Knicks be talking about trading Frank Williams to the Bulls? That is exactly one rumor going around that has been reported in the New York Post.
The low-level pawns the Bulls would have interest in are Othella Harrington, Frank Williams, Michael Doleac (only because his contract expires) and possibly first-round pick Michael Sweetney.
Thomas' pursuit of Crawford shows he's still focused on the broad picture of building a championship team.
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The New York Times is also talking about more trade rumors with the Knicks, and Frank Williams' name is once again mentioned in this article. Here is what Frank told the Times about his roller coaster ride of the last month.
Perhaps no one has ridden the roller coaster more than Williams, a second-year point guard who went from third string to starter to backup, but he has not appeared in the last two games.
"I've got to be patient," he said. "I'm pretty sure my time will come again. When it does come, I'm pretty sure I'll be ready for it."
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Once again, the trade rumors that surround Frank Williams and the New York Knicks will be interesting to watch as the week progresses. Of course, you can always talk about these rumors on the IlliniBoard.com Professional Sports Fan Forum.
| FRANK'S STATISTICS FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 12 |
| Date |
Opp |
Result |
Min |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
REB |
AST |
ST |
TO |
PTS |
| Jan. 12 |
vs. Mavericks |
121-127 L |
7 |
3-4 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
| Jan. 14 |
vs. Magic |
120-110 W |
8 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| Jan. 16 |
vs. Sonics |
108-88 W |
7 |
0-3 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
BRIAN COOK - LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Lakers have been an even more depleted bunch since a shoulder injury to Kobe Bryant that was sustained during January 12th's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. At this point in the season, the Lakers are no longer a team of veterans looking to make a run at the NBA Championship; they are a young team made up of names like Brian Cook, Kareem Rush, Luke Walton, and Stanislov Medvedenko. The only name left of the Lakers' "big four" on the court is point guard Gary Payton.
Over this past week Brian has seen the most playing time of his young career, averaging 21 minutes per game. Over this four game stretch, Brian has averaged 7.5 points per game, 4.25 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game. Not only has Brian had to become accustomed to seeing more time during NBA game, the injuries to the Lakers media magnets has forced Brian to become re-acquainted with the media as this Los Angeles Times story shows.
Reporters flocking to Kareem Rush and Brian Cook after Monday's game against Cleveland. With so many Laker superstars injured, where else were they supposed to go?
It was an interesting change of pace for the younger, often overlooked Laker players. Normally they walk off the practice floor without a word from the assembled media, and they get dressed in silence after games.
Cook's locker is next to Bryant's - and Bryant's typical overflow crowd. Cook said, "Usually I have to shoo [reporters] out of the way." Monday, after his 13-point game against the Cavaliers, they were there to see him.
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The playing time that Brian is receiving during this week will be very important for him as maybe he will be able to earn more and more time from Lakers head coach Phil Jackson later in the season and in the playoffs when the games count more.
| BRIAN'S STATISTICS FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 12 |
| Date |
Opp |
Result |
Min |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
REB |
AST |
ST |
TO |
PTS |
| Jan. 12 |
vs. Cavs |
89-79 W |
20 |
4-6 |
0-0 |
5-6 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
| Jan. 14 |
vs. Nuggets |
97-71 W |
19 |
2-4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| Jan. 16 |
@ Kings |
83-103 L |
27 |
2-11 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
| Jan. 17 |
vs. Clippers |
91-89 W |
18 |
3-5 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
KENDALL GILL - CHICAGO BULLS
With Bulls head coach Scott Skiles looking to shake things up with the struggling Bulls, and Kendall Gill in a scoring slump, Kendall has been removed from the Bulls starting lineup and replaced by Ronald Dupree. Over the last four games Kendall is just averaging ten minutes per game and is shooting a paltry 3-for-16 from the floor.
Kendall Gill took his removal from the starting lineup in stride. Gill was replaced at small forward by rookie Ronald Dupree.
"It's not a big deal to me," he said before Saturday's game. "If you've been around the league 14 years, you've seen everything.
"You sort of have to relate the league to the stock market. Sometimes a stock is up, sometimes it's down. But the investor that holds on to that blue-chip stock is always the one that comes out in the long run. So that's the way I look at things."
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| KENDALL'S STATISTICS FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 12 |
| Date |
Opp |
Result |
Min |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
REB |
AST |
ST |
TO |
PTS |
| Jan. 13 |
vs. Pistons |
89-105 L |
17 |
2-5 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| Jan. 15 |
@ Grizzlies |
93-108 L |
8 |
1-4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Jan. 17 |
vs. Knicks |
96-101 L |
8 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
ROBERT ARCHIBALD - TORONTO RAPTORS
There was a very interesting piece of information in the front of Sports Illustrated this past week regarding Robert Archibald. Sports Illustrated reported that as Toronto was looking at Stanley Roberts as a possibility to help shore up what is considered a rather weak front line, he played Robert 1-on-1. The score of the three games played was 15-0 Archibald. Roberts was not offerred a contract by the Raptors.
For those Illini fans that were wondering if Arch still had what it took to get into the grit of a fight in the NBA, I think this blurb about his altercations in the middle with veteran Dale Davis from the Toronto Star tell you all you need to know.
Robert Archibald walked away from the key with his hand in his mouth. He had run into an unknown sector of the very large Dale Davis and was checking to see if his teeth were all there.
"I caught one on the chin at the end and just kind of chipped them a little bit," the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Raptors centre said, shrugging. "It's nothing major. I'll get them fixed (today) and it's not a big deal.
"He just caught me on the chin on the way up. It was nothing intentional. He was going up for a shot and I was smart enough to put my chin in his way."
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| ROBERT'S STATISTICS FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 12 |
| Date |
Opp |
Result |
Min |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
REB |
AST |
ST |
TO |
PTS |
| Jan. 14 |
@ Pistons |
91-95 L |
11 |
0-4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Jan. 15 |
@ Hornets |
78-74 W |
13 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Jan. 17 |
@ Hawks |
70-75 L |
2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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